KISS Costume

Each year I create costumes for the whole family which includes my husband (as Gene Simmons this year), our 6.5 year old (as Ace Frehley), our 2.5 year old (as Peter Criss), and me (as Paul Stanley). We let our 6 year old son pick the theme but we insist on helping him with ideas and we get final approval. I try to use as few ready made components as possible. In this year's KISS costume, I used the following materials: Black fleece, silver rain coat material, black vinyl, swimsuit lining, football pads, elastic, foam, batting, stuffing, snow boots, wigs, instruments, 600+ silver studs, spray paint, plain white masks in child sizes, trim, hot glue, contact paper, blue tape, thread, and a few cool caffeinated beverages to get me through the long evenings. I create patterns using clothing from our closets that I already know fits well and the kids have come to expect that some mornings they'll be asked to try on bits and pieces of their costumes before we start our day. It usually takes around 2 months from the point that we lock in the idea to when I finalize the last costume. I put many many hours of research and labor into each costume.

We trick-or-treat together at our town's hosted event at local businesses. The event is well attended and our costumes were a huge hit. Lots of people took pictures of us.