Welcome to Middle-earth / Halloween 2013

This year for Halloween, Svea, Elin, and Viggo have been talking for months about being Tolkien characters.  I really didn't know how we could pull that off, but we managed!

 

Please meet Éowyn, Thorin and Arwen!

 

 Viggo wanted to be Thorin Oakenshield.

Elin wanted to be Arwen.

And Svea wanted to be Éowyn. 

 

Oh sure, no problem.

 

Just in case you are not well-versed in Tolkien's works, we'll give you a quick primer:  Svea and Elin are Middle-earth princesses - Éowyn is a human from Rohan, Arwen is an elf from Rivendell.  Thorin, a dwarf, is son of Thrain, son of Thror, King Under the Mountain and is trying to reclaim his kingdom.  Éowyn and Arwen are in The Lord of the Rings trilogy.  Thorin is in The Hobbit.  But they all live in Middle-Earth - just at different times.

 

Now that you've got that all straight let's move on to how to dress like a middle-earth princess.

 

 First we start with the princess.

Then we add a satin tunic.

And a sword that Daddy made.

Next, a velvet cape and a fierce expression.

 Finally, hair and lots of it.

Arwen and Éowyn are ready to do battle!
Those wigs.  Oh my goodness.
Elin kept telling people that it was a wig!  No - that is not her real hair.  Hard to believe, I know.

 Thorin, King under the mountain!

 Thorin gives Arwen a kiss (:

 Our hairy little clan. 

 Nate thought I was taking too many pictures.
Do you know how much time I spent sewing all this stuff?  I felt perfectly authorized to take as many photos as I wanted.

Next year, Nate's in charge of the costumes.

 They came home happy after trick-or-treating, with lots and lots of junk.

We offered a buy-back deal:  you give us your candy, we give you cash.  Viggo didn't want to keep this candy, so in exchange he got $2.00 from Nate.

This was how much Elin was willing to part with.  She got a nickel.

But once she saw Viggo and Svea with bills in their hands, she changed her tune and cashed in a little - and I mean a very little - bit more.

It was lots of fun - and I'm glad it's over!  I can't wait to see what Nate comes up with for Halloween 2014!