OK, starting on Youngest Daughter's costume...

As I may have mentioned, I love to buy things second hand and am a big advocate of thrift store shopping.

Before Halloween, at my favorite thrift store, the manager let me take some photos of some mermaid costumes that came in, so I could use them as inspiration. (I took a few of the torn costumes home to fix and then bring back to be sold.) There were two "Arial" costumes that looked pretty simple to me. My foot is in one photo for scale. Several weeks ago I answered a for sale ad from a woman and her teenaged daughter who were selling "80s Prom Dresses and Princess Cape". The princess cape was in like new condition, from the Disney Store, and became a gift for E's birthday. The prom dresses, well, they were certainly 80's... But the gold one said "Mermaid" to me and the huge pink one with puffed sleeves had loads of tule under the skirt. Yay! I thought, as I exchanged five one dollar bills for a garbage bag of fun and opportunity. So, I think I have a basic idea of the mermaid costume. The princess Jasmine costume pattern has arrived ("Genie, arab princess, fortune teller", is what the package said, thank God for Etsy!) but I am having trouble finding the shade of blue green turquoise that E insists in the only acceptable color for the costume. (I bought a ten dollar piece of white silk, thinking of a scene I possibly imagined, but that is not the color outfit my Little Princess wants to wear. And yes, it is unreturnable. Perhaps I will make it and she will decide to like it.)

For the mermaid costume I will add a shell necklace or something along those lines and it will be all or mostly gold. If you are having trouble picturing this, look forward to some preliminary photos tomorrow.