WHEN did Halloween turn into such a big affair? I remember dooking for the odd apple and my mum buying enormous bags of never-eaten monkey nuts. As for dressing up, it was the toilet roll-wrapped mummy every time.
Things have changed. Halloween is more fun now. But not for the parent who said she would make bat costumes for her daughters, even when she knew it was a rash statement made whilst not really listening as she bundled her children into the car. Apparently I promised. I then ignored all those finely finished fancy dress outfits, for something I was sure would be cheaper and that I imagined I could throw together. I mean, it’s a bat, two little wings, how tricky could it be?
It’s tricky. It could be mission impossible. By midnight on the first ‘making’ night I had two headbands (to attach the ears to), two sets of fluffy ears (very messy, should have listened to the shop assistant who said that material would moult), two ‘bodies’ (old shop-bought skeletons with the bones picked off, which I thought was pretty clever), but no wings. I still can’t work out how to make wings that won’t rip the minute an arm is raised in flight. I have two nights left. The silver lining is I won’t need any ghoulish make-up for my helper stint at the Halloween disco. I’ll simply turn up, ashen-faced and dark circled from my ‘fun’ evenings crafting, hopefully with a be-winged bat-child in tow.