Growing up, I had one “homemade” Halloween costume that I can remember.  Our yearly ritual usually consisted of picking out a prepackaged costume that included a hard plastic mask that left your face all sweaty, and a generic plastic jumpsuit printed with your character on the front.  I had fun picking out my costume each year, but I was really focused on the upcoming candy haul.  Then one fall a neighbor let me borrow an old witches costume she had made when her children were small.  Although this costume was a 20 year old hand-me-down, it was GREAT and I tried it on every day in the weeks leading up to Halloween and for several weeks after!  The cardboard witches hat had long, flowing gray hair that I think came from a mop.  I had always wanted long hair.  The full black cape was lined with satin.  And the shoes, oh, the shoes…they looked like real witches shoes, with curled up toes and high heels!  This was the first pair of high heels I ever wore and I can still remember the click-click-click they made as I walked along the sidewalk.  I’m not a “shoe girl” by any means, but boy, was that fun!  I can’t believe that one costume can still invoke such fond memories 25 years later.