THE BEASTIE LAB

Every year there is a canine costume party called "Dog-O-Ween" near our home in Venice Beach (I suspect it's partly why my son wanted a dog so badly.). So, of course, our new dog , Pickles, will be in costume celebrating it this year. We contemplated a namesake giant pickle costume, but in the end, we thought about what he would want to be if he were choosing and since his biggest obsession is birds -more specifically, chasing them- and living near the beach that means seag

A while back, a neighbor who had seen the beautifully beastly costumes I had made for my son, asked me to make one for hers. He was obsessed with turkey vultures, God love him, and I guess they aren't popular kids costumes because she couldn't find one to buy him. Imagine that! Knowing something about kids and their sometimes obscure passions, I was happy to help. A few trips to the fabric and feather store later.... #turkeyvultures #costumes #beasts #halloween #halloweencost

The kid & I have always had a fascination with tentacled creatures, octopus, squid, cuttlefish and the like, but for a period of about 6 months when he was 5, he became obsessed with the chambered nautilus. I mean totally OBSESSED. It was pretty much all he wanted to talk about. We spent hours poring over books, searching the internet and making repeated visits to aquariums. We visited the nautilus tank in the Berlin Aquarium 5 times in 2 weeks. And I will admit, it is a fas