This Is My Secret: The Blog and Website of Writer Kristin Cashore

The news is relentlessly bad, triggery, and heartbreaking. I go back and forth about these blog posts, because I don't want to seem frivolous when so much bad stuff is going on. But -- I want to celebrate our creativity, and I also want to express gratitude for our friends who've made a recent four weeks of costume parties possible. And I'm also hoping that our silly costumes will bring a smile to the face of you, Reader.









No more costumes for us for a while. But I'm brainstorming next Halloween :o).

And that's that. I hope you are finding some light this November, dear readers.

This year, for Halloween, I was a library.

Last year, while searching for appropriate teapot/flower fabric for my Mad Hatter costume, I stumbled across the book fabric shown in the skirt above. That's when I realized I wanted to be a library this year... I've been planning this costume for over a year :o).  
I made most of this costume myself, including the skirt, top, and hat. The "QUIET PLEASE" sign on the top is cut out of felt. I glued it on while wearing the top and looking in the mirror (bugging Kevin every three minutes to ask if any of my letters were backwards), because that was the only way to know how it would look while I was wearing it.

Same with the book spines that make up the torso. I found old, falling apart books no one wanted, removed the spines, and attached them to a bustier, with staples, thread, and fabric glue, while wearing the bustier... because the bustier was stretchy, and this was the only way to know exactly where and how things needed …

Jane, Unlimited is out in the world now! And I leave for my book tour momentarily, so it's not really the time to be blogging about something completely unrelated, BUT -- in case you're a person who likes to plan ahead for Halloween, and a person who's handy with scissors and glue, AND a person who has lots of cereal boxes lying around....

I wanted to make sure you know about an Etsy shop called Wintercroft that sells downloadable templates for making the most beautiful masks all by yourself!

They have animal masks, polygon faces, imaginary creatures, etc. As long as you're careful to read and follow all the instructions (and enjoy this sort of thing), it's pretty straightforward. I just made this bear.





Good look at Wintercroft! And have fun! And I hope to see you on my book tour.

This summer I turned 40. This means that my life has become a model of solemnity and propriety.





So yes! This year we were the White Rabbit...

...and the Mad Hatter.

The genesis of this costume was this fascinator at Doramarra's shop on Etsy, which I've owned for a while but been stymied by. It's certainly evocative of the Mad Hatter, but it looks nothing like the hat the Mad Hatter wears, so I was afraid it wouldn't work as a costume. I'm glad we decided to try it, because this ended up being a lot of fun. I added a ribbon and the sign to the fascinator. I made the shirt and the corset, and even made spats. The ruffle on the shirt and decoration on the spats is one of those fabric ribbons with wire running through each edge, for wrapping fancy presents. The wire gave me control over the shape of the ruffles, which was great.

I found the leggings and the wig online, slapped on some sparkly makeup, and that was it. Kevin wore his own suit, carried one of my umbrella…

Japanese artist Chooo-San does the most incredible stuff with face- and body-paint, some of it creepy and scary, some of it just plain beautiful. Here's a representative collection of her stuff at My Modern Met.

Reminds me that I need to sort out the makeup for my (much less spectacular) Halloween costume, which I promise I'll post pictures of here, provided it all comes together :o). Here's a hint.