I can't help it

There must be a way to post a photo of a costume you've made without bragging. There must be a way to tell the story without any pat on the ol' back. The end of the story is, I am so thrilled with how my squid costume for August turned out. The middle of the story is that I spent two nights pretty sure I wasn't going to be able to make anything out of my pile of blue fleece and felt squares. And the beginning of the story is that a month ago a friend of mine with a four-month-old declared "You don't know what costume you'll get for August??"

Why a squid? No clue.

Here's a reason why I'm particularly proud of this squid costume: I panic in big stores. Since this was a homemade costume I obviously didn't go into a party store of any sort, but when looking for fabric and felt I ended up wandering in A.C. Moore, Michael's Craft Store, and JoAnn's fabric store. I was hyperventilating by the end. I've never been sure why big stores essentially set off a minor anxiety attack. My hands start jittering, I get confused, and eventually I bolt. I can make it sound funny. But it's kinda not. Especially when you really really want to get supplies for making a costume for your baby's first ever halloween. This time I pushed myself and managed to get stuff that I thought could end up as something cool (blue fleece! sky? ocean? monster? the world's your costume).