The boy needs a hat!

Halloween is coming, yes it is.

Have I mentioned that Saul is going to be Zorro?

Bestill my heart. Ahhh.

As we prepare for The Big Day, let us review.

Black head scarf? Check.
Black domino mask? Check.
Black shirt? Check.
Black cape? Check.
Black pants? Check.
Black gloves? Check.
Black hat? NO.
Black boots? NO.
Sword. NO
Bullwhip? NO.


OK, the kid's not getting a bullwhip. Sorry, but no. (I wouldn't mind a bullwhip should I ever go out in public as Zorro, but the kid's not getting one. The kid says, "But Mom! That's not AUTHENTIC!" My son, all the way.)

Sword? Gonna have to be a stick or a pole covered with that Halloween staple, tin foil. Sorry, but I just can't bring myself to bring one more plastic THING (light saber, medieval sword, light saber, and light saber) into the house.

Boots? Eh. I figure I can cut out a cylinder of black fabric for his lower legs and call them boots.

Hat? Oh good lord, I've lost my perspective. I cannot bring myself to plop a black cowboy hat or "Gansta fedora" (of which there are plenty in the Halloween supply store) on his head and call it a Zorro costume. I'm using the Darth Vader gloves as Zorro gloves, that's fine. And we are recycling his Dracula cape with the bright red satin lining as his Zorro cape, true. However, the hat needs to have a flat brim, a low crown, and no creases or shaping. Sorry. It just does.

So how do you send a nine-year old out as Zorro with no hat?

You don't.

And that's where I've lost it. I'm making the darned thing. I recognize that this project demonstrates that I must have misplaced my last bit of sanity somewhere amongst the dust bunnies, but I know how I'm going to build it, I have the materials, and darn it, I'm making the thing.

Did I mention that I need to make a crown for the Ariel costume and that I'm making a string of beads to dangle from Neo's pirate bandanna? Bizarrely focused on headgear this year.

By the way, Neo's going to look AMAZING this year. Found a fantastic Pirate coat for her. I'm jealous of it actually. I wanna go Goth too now. If going Goth means that I can wear a fitted black coat which sweeps out at the waist and ends at the knees, with silver frogging down the front, WIDE turnback cuffs and a small mandarin collar, then I wanna go Goth.

Or just hop on a nearby black horse in my knee-length dashing coat and gallop off into the sunset. Yeah. That sounds good.