TOTW: Ella Dynae Daily Dress-up (& Giveaway!)

photo-19 Ballerina Fairy (wings worn upside down because she likes the way it looks)
photo-11 "Fairy Princess Party Dress" (skirt worn inside out because she likes the way it looks.)
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I've been looking forward to this post for the the last month, ever since Richelle at Ella Dynae sent Fable a custom costume just because.

"I think Fable would appreciate this," she said.

I fell out of my chair when I looked through her links. And then Fable fell out of her chair when I showed her the links and then we both fell out of our chairs together and died and came back to life and then jumped up and down and then Fable picked the colors she liked and two weeks later, BAM.
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(This picture was taken moments after Fable opened the box and put on her "ballerina fairy" costume for the first time. I literally cried when she put it on because it was magical and I had never seen a costume like this before and how LUCKY ARE YOU, FABLE! YOU ARE SO LUCKY!!!) 
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For the last year Fable has spent more time in costumes than not. She wears princess dresses to school, to the breakfast table at 7am, to bed... 95% of the time, Fable is wearing a "costume" because that is who she is and what she feels most comfortable in.
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A few weeks back Richelle sent Fable a second costume to experiment with and wear for the holidays. Something she could wear to holiday dinners and over leggings to play outside. Something that could be mixed and matched with her other costume or her clothes or whatever.
Fable's Dress 5 Option #1
Fable's Dress 6 Option #2
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Fable assumed the tulle that was included in the box (for decoration) was part of the costume so she created a veil by wrapping it around one of her headpieces because she is a costume wearing genius of make believe dress up costume design.
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(flowers plucked from the vase on the living room table)
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I kept her home yesterday to have a mother-daughter day where amongst other things, she played dress up, and then (of course) wore her get-up to lunch. (We left the wings in the car.)

When the server asked what the special occasion was, Fable smiled shyly.

"This is just how she rolls," I said.

And it's true. Six days out of seven, this is her stitch:
photo-18 Fable, yesterday, in one of her Ella Dynae skirts. Mixing it up with some striped tights. photo-4
In the past, Fable's costumes have been store-bought princess costumes. Which are wonderful in their own right and Fable loves those as well (Ariel, Rapunzel and Cinderella are faves) but the Ella Dynae costumes are different. Not only are they handmade, customizable with many different layers and parts to change-up every time she wears them, they're TREASURES. Heirlooms. The kind of pieces Fable will pass on to her own children.
photo-12 (and sisters) IMG_8880
Are they expensive? Yes. Should they be expensive? Yes. They are IMPECCABLY crafted multi-piece works of art, handmade by Richelle who is awesome.
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Richelle has been so generous with us and I'm so grateful for all of the hours Fable has spent make-believing she's a fairy and a princess and a fairy flower princess bride (who is getting married to herself) in Richelle's creations. They're truly works of art. (Thank you, Richelle!) 
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Richelle has generously offered to make a handmade costume for the child in your life who lives (and loves) to dress up. To win? Leave a comment with your favorite childhood pastime (mine was keeping pet rats. And snails). I'll pick one winner next Friday, December 7th.

Richelle has also offered a discount code for GGC readers. Use code GIRLSGONECHILD at checkout for 15% your entire order + a free headband of your choice. (ED: All orders placed before December 14th should get to you by Christmas.)
photo-8 Good luck/happy dress up!

GGC

P.S. For those looking for other gift ideas for costume/play, I just bought Fable another Kevin Murphy Color Bug, this time in purple to match her costumes. 

UPDATED: Congratulations to disqus randomizer winner, Gerry! I loved your comment! Thank you so much for sharing! (And to everyone else who participated! Thank you. So many amazing stories.)
costume


32 comments:

t. | 2:02 PM

These a gorgeous! I loved playing "horse" with my neighbor. She has this huge backyard and her dad nailed some boards to studs and we went to town. We built a whole barn complete with tin foil saddles and shoestring bridles. It was awesome.

Sarah Wilson | 2:16 PM

I have three girls who live for dress-up too. Especially my middle. My brother and I use to dress up and roller skate in the garage.

Anonymous | 2:41 PM

I remember roller skating everywhere. My 4 year old would love one of these!
sarahfound@hotmail.com

Anonymous | 4:17 PM

The photo of Fable up close smelling the flower made me mist up. It's just that beautiful. My 3 1/2 yr old would be in heaven with a costume like that.
And as a kid, I could always be found with a pen or marker or crayon in my hand. I was always doodling or coloring or drawing.

Melanie | 4:24 PM

I would live in our big maple tree all summer long. It was magic. My niece would love one of these. Miller.Melanie5@gmail.com

Cara Bearden | 5:12 PM

My little girl would die for one of those beautiful costumes. She loves being a fancy fairy ballerina princess. When I was a little girl I refused to believe I was a girl and refused to wear shirts since boys didn't, insisted on peeing standing on the toilet, and played kick the can all night long with the boys. The feeling of being freshly bathed and allowed to run outside with the boys with no shirt (please note I was only about 5) is my fondest childhood memory.

HarperBklyn | 5:55 PM

I lived on a horse farm (my parents were caretakers). So my favorite past time was brushing, patting, singing to horses. It's funny because we were so poor, but I had no idea. And all my friends were jealous.

Tracey R | 6:12 PM

Omg, my niece would die for this!!

I used to love dress up and bike riding. Best of both worlds. :-)

Traceyrtch

Alexa | 7:21 PM

It's such a blessing having a little girl and reflecting on your own hold good while watching them live theirs. I loved playing house with my dolls and I adored anything disney, but especially Alice in wonderland. I didn't take that dress of for years it seemed! Such beautiful dresses and te wings are amazing!

KmSMama | 8:41 PM

I loved to play mommy to my many "daughters". I really love that I now have 2 daughters that play make believe all day long

Sarah | 8:58 PM

We had the coolest kitchen set when I was a kid, all kinds of food pieces.

I recently found similar food on eBay labeled "vintage" and realized I am OLD!

colleen | 9:23 PM

I played with My Little Ponies. I even created a My Little Pony Land in the forested area at the end of our block.

Taryn | 9:41 PM

I used to make up stories about my My Little Ponies and record them on a little cassette player. I remember playing back the stories at bedtime. It's wild watching my 3 and a half year old play with the same ponies I used to and hear her own stories.

Niki U. | 11:34 PM

I loved playing "spies" in my neighborhood with friends, acting like an undercover agent :)
My 5 yr old daughter loves to dress as a princess and would be overjoyed at a get up like this!

Anyavieve | 4:15 AM

Playing with my four sisters. We would bike around and pretend play ice cream cart with the three wheeler bike we had. Or looking for worms to save from the concrete after a rain. We also kept ducks which was super fun.

Anyavieve at yahoo dot com

Jess | 5:23 AM

I used to make my two brothers play school daily. Not sure they thought it was as much fun as I did, but they suffered through it so I would play cars with them later:).

Meagan | 5:39 AM

I lived for playing hide and seek. I could stay in one spot for hours.

VlogMom | 10:09 AM

I liked riding my bike out into the country from my small town. Thanks ggc! nichole.hinton (at) gmail (dot) com

Julie | 10:39 AM

Those costumes are absolutely amazing!!! What fun! My favorite childhood memory was my brother and I attempting to swing dance to an old Buddy Holly record on my Fischer Price record player. He would die if he knew I told anyone that!

The woman behind the desk... | 11:36 AM

My goddaughter would lose her little mind over one of the costumes. Gah!

Many hours of my childhood were spent with Shrinky-Dinks. Coloring them in was fun, but watching them 'cook'? Pure magic.

Teresa | 12:08 PM

My favorite childhood pastime was baby dolls. I was momma to many baby dolls! Good practice I guess as I have many "babies" in real life now!

Margie S. | 3:11 PM

Oh for heaven's sake these are unbelievable and exactly up my daughter's alley, she who also is a kitten or aprincess almost always. Thank you so much for telling us about them and for the amazing giveaway and discount code. One of my favorite childhood pastimes? Playing The Monkees with my neighbors. I always wanted to be Davy. We had so much fun!

Persia's Mom | 8:01 AM

These are so lovely and magical. My three year would just flip if she saw these. (And her dollar store wings would suddenly be rendered useless. Haha).
My childhood dream was to be a hobo. And yes, I would say hobo. I would fill a bandana with my supplies, tie it to a stick and tell my Mom that I was going on an adventure. I'd meet my hobo friends in the woods behind our house where we'd share our snacks under the canopy of the pine trees, run through the horse paths in the neighbors farm, and of course be home at 5:00 for dinner.

LauraRiggs | 1:09 PM

My favorite past time as a kid was playing with my little sister and making up plays or dance routines! We always had fun together

Noelle's Mommy | 7:21 AM

Those costumes are AMAZING! My 3 1\2 year old would love one! I loved playing in the creek beside our house!

Petite Planet | 8:21 PM

These gorgeous ensembles would be a dream come true for my 5 year-old daughter, who is always dressed up in a costume of her own accord by 7am every day, with several wardrobe and accessory changes to follow. When I was her age, my favorite pastime was racing my remote control cars through the Arizona desert. You can imagine how funny/ironic my family thinks it is that I, the quintessential tomboy was graced with such a divine girly girl for a daughter. I adore your blog by the way. Reading about your family is an absolute delight. Thanks for the opportunity.

Bridgitt | 12:46 AM

When I was a kid I loved playing house and camping. My neighbors and bro and sis and I would set up little villages of "tents" using anything our parents would let us!

RSilvies | 4:46 PM

I loved catching tadpoles in the steam on my way home from school. I raised them into frogs and released them into our garden where they lived happily. I always collected plants and animals:)

Cindy | 7:43 PM

On windy days, my best friend and I would hike up a tall hill by her house and play "fly away squirrel." We we outstretch our arms as wide as they would go and pretend the wind was carrying us away. We'd twirl our way down the hill and then walk back up and do it all over again. :)

Heather | 5:24 PM

Amazing!! So pretty. I have two girls (4 and 6) who would love to have one!! Thank you for the opportunity :) My favorite childhood pastime was bike riding! Used to be really good at riding "no handed", not so much anymore!

stacey | 8:00 PM

Amazing pieces! My fav childhood fun was anytime we could force sleepovers with my cousins. We were all close in age and loved being together. We actually locked ourselves in a room and refused to come out unless the cousins got to spend the night. We were terrors!

Wendy | 8:14 PM

As a child, I was always found with my nose in a book. Or playing with Breyer Horses.

My daughter would love one of those costumes!