A DIY Darth Vader Halloween costume…in Pink.

My then 5 year old daughter. Last October.

“Mommy, I want to be Darth Vader for Halloween.”

“Ok! Awesome!”

“But I want him to be Pink.”

“Sorry, what?”

“And have a pink face and wear a skirt.”

Silence.

“And a pink lightsaber.”

I went from “Oh my God, my child shares my passionate love of Star Wars! I’m so proud!!” to “Where the hell am I going to find a pink lightsaber?” in about 10 seconds.

I would have shared this costume last Halloween but we moved into our new home last Oct 30th and it was just nuts. I had no time to post anything. But that’s ok because that means I can share 4 Halloween costumes this week.

Now if at least one of my kids didn’t choose a Disney character every single year for Halloween, I think Halloween itself would self implode.

The Disney character thing started with my older daughter. First it was the Evil Queen and Snow White.

Then it was Alice in Wonderland and the Queen of Hearts.

Followed by Maleficent and Princess Aurora.

Then last year the matchy matchy sister Halloween costumes ended. It was to be Pink Vader and a Haunted Dead Halloween Bride.

It was fun while it lasted.

But back to Vader, secretly I think I was more thrilled than my 5 year old that she wanted to be Vader than she was (it’s a tie for her favourite between Vader and BB8). Mainly because when I was 6, this was me on Halloween. Homemade, old school, yarn buns and all, Princess Leia. Check out that tweed wallpaper in the back.

I was like that “I am your father” toy commercial come to life.

How does one make a Pink Darth Vader costume? Well. Spray paint. A tutu. And bit of creative juggling for the t-shirt. None of the regular Vader costumes fit the idea for her “Vaderella” (that is we affectionately nicknamed her costume) as the colours on the Vader chest panel were red and green and we wanted pink and well, pink. So this is what I used to make her front Vader Panel.

• self adhesive vinyl
• pink construction paper
• DYMO embossing aluminum tape
• Martha Stewart Heart Shaped punch
• a plain black long sleeved t-shirt
• scissors

Self adhesive vinyl is basically clear plastic with a sticky backing (a giant clear removable sticker). Something that you would use to put over a photo or picture to laminate it. It comes in a roll or a pre-cut sizes. I’ve used it in many projects before and it works so well as a removable stencil.

Because the image is to go stick onto a shirt, everything that I put on it had to be done in a mirror image. That way when you pick up your sticky cut out piece of vinyl and stick it on the front of your shirt, it will appear the right way. I hope I am making sense.

I cut out a bunch of shapes that matched Vaders chest template except use hearts instead of the red and green button shapes. I stuck all the shapes onto the sticky side of the vinyl that I had cut out to correspond with the size of her t-shirt.

Remember do this in a mirror image and not as if you were looking at the chest.

Then I just stuck it on the t-shirt. This photo is a full year later, dragged out of her closet. Still stuck on.

But the best part?

Amazon has pink lightsabers. No really. Pink lightsabers. We got this one.

And this is how the rest of the Pink Darth Vader costume came to life.

• 2 party capes from Party City, one pink, one black that I stitched together…by hand…like only a crazy person would do.
• The Vader mask was spray painted with Rustoleum Berry Pink (make sure you do not spray paint the eyes so your kid can see at night so cover the eyes with painters tape before you spray the mask!)
• A pink tutu, star leggings and fancy sparkly shoes (because why not?)

I can’t. I just can’t.

My Star Wars addicted self is wiping tears of joy. She looks all innocent and cute right? Yeah. There’s a reason Darth is her favourite character. Don’t let the sugar and spice fool you. Wait til you see what she is this year.

Now if you’re reading this post, there’s a good chance you’re a Star Wars fan or know someone who is. Well, the wonderful folks at Disney who have made my Star Wars marketing dreams come true, want to give you a chance to win some nice Star Wars swag.

Because well, Christmas is coming.

And who doesn’t want their own Millennium Falcon?  And all of this! A Vader remote control car, I mean hello?

Enter in the Rafflecopter below. Contest open to Canadian Residents only over the age of 18. Contest ends on Halloween Oct 31st, 2016.

a Rafflecopter giveaway