Meet my Fairy Godmother (and actual mother)!! She is the woman behind my amazing running costumes! She works hours on end, perfecting every detail of my and my sister-in-law's costumes!!
It all started with a mouse....or more accurately, a princess. When I got my first hankering to run a half marathon was when I first discovered the Disney Princess Half Marathon. It was around the time of the 2013 Princess Half, and I knew that would be a race I would love!!! I love Disney, check! I love princesses, check! My name even means princess, double check!
Once my mind was made up, I registered for the 2014 Princess Half, and I knew I had to dress up! I don't know how anyone runs Disney without showing their Disney side... My first princess was Aurora. I found my #teamsparkle Sparkle Athletic girls on Pinterest, ordered my first skirt, and searched for inspiration. That was where I first discovered @according2kelly. If you've not been living under a rock, I'm sure you've seen her awesome costumes on Pinterest! The trick was (and still is) finding just the right colors in athletic wear. Mom created Aurora-like accessory for the top, tacked it on, and I was good to go! Once I sparkled through my first 13.1 magical miles, I was hooked on the running and the sparkle!
Once my mind was made up, I registered for the 2014 Princess Half, and I knew I had to dress up! I don't know how anyone runs Disney without showing their Disney side... My first princess was Aurora. I found my #teamsparkle Sparkle Athletic girls on Pinterest, ordered my first skirt, and searched for inspiration. That was where I first discovered @according2kelly. If you've not been living under a rock, I'm sure you've seen her awesome costumes on Pinterest! The trick was (and still is) finding just the right colors in athletic wear. Mom created Aurora-like accessory for the top, tacked it on, and I was good to go! Once I sparkled through my first 13.1 magical miles, I was hooked on the running and the sparkle!
My next runDisney race was the Tower of Terror 10-miler in 2014 (this was the last ToT run) which happened to be the night of my birthday!!! I convince my sister-in-law, Whitney, and my friend, Aubrey, to run it too. Who doesn't want to runDisney for their birthday party!! The theme was villains, so we strayed from the princess costumes, and my fairy godmother made me a cape and collar for my Maleficent alter ego. I found the crow the night before the race at an Orlando Walmart, and it was too perfect to pass up!
Whitney and Aubrey joined in on the fun dressing as Cruela Devile and the Queen of Hearts! Mom made Whitney a Dalmatian print collar and cape while Aubrey found a Halloween costume to fit the bill! Whitney's grandmother helped her create arm sleeves from cheap opera gloves off of Amazon.
We really enjoyed getting into character. It makes it so much more fun to take on the persona of the character you are dressed up as!
Next up for runDisney, Whitney and I ran the Glass Slipper Challenge! We ran as Minnie Mouse for the 10k....
...and Snow White and Cinderella for the half marathon! This was the beginning of Mom's very detailed work! She made a collar and cape for my Snow White and used satin ribbons and blue silk to make my puffy sleeves. She also figured out (thanks to Pinterest) how to make the sparkle skirts, so she made my yellow and Whitney's blue skirts. She also added the silver ruffle on Cinderella's skirt, the cap sleeves, and the front details on the shirt.
Have I mentioned how talented my Mom is? How about how much I love to runDisney?!
I ran the 2015 Disneyland Half Marathon solo to earn my Coast to Coast medal. It was my turn to take on Cinderella! Finding the right color blue and matching blues was the most challenging part. I'm pleased with how it worked out, and I was excited to see the bib even went with my color scheme without clashing! I ordered a Sparkle Athletic ice blue skirt, and mom added the silver ruffle. She also made the cap sleeves, added the ribbon detail on the front, and turned cheap opera gloves into Cinderella arm sleeves.
I think we got it pretty close! I loved running in this costume, because when I saw my shadow, my skirt looked just like Cinderella's flouncing up and down and I truly felt like a princess!
Our latest runDisney costume endeavor was Anna and Elsa for the 2016 Marathon!
Mom made two skirts for Whitney's Elsa. One was a sparkle silver skirt, and the other was a sheer blue fabric with swirly sparkles. She overlaid the same fabric over the top of Whitney's Elsa top and then hand sewed white snowflakes on the front. She used a similar sheer blue sparkly fabric for the Elsa cape and Whitney tied it to her top with attached ribbons. Whitney hand painted her opera gloves turned arm sleeves.
For my Anna outfit, Mom took a blue skirt she had made for the Peachtree Road Race and attached a sparkly blue fabric underneath. Then she gathered up ruffles of the top blue sparkly skirt to get the scalloped effect. I loved the way it turned out! We had seen many options on Pinterest where people had hand painted these features. I really liked having it truly scallops instead of painted. Mom had also found some green details and pink flowers that worked perfectly. The under layer also gave some princess poof, which I am a fan of! The cape she made out of pink sparkle fabric, black and gold piping, and a black closing mechanism. It was definitely a labor of love. Mom stiched the gold ribbon details to the Anna top, and I painted the detailed using fabric paint on both the top and the calf sleeves/faux boots. I found a pattern on Pinterest and did my best freehand. I had to wear the calf sleeves while I painted them since they are compression and are meant to stretch. It was fun to paint them upside down while wearing them.
These may be my favorite outfits to date. (Cinderella comes close) We wanted something cute and princess-y, but not something that would rub/irritate/be too much for 26.2 miles. NAILED IT!!! We even got a stamp of approval from the REAL Anna and Elsa at the castle! ❄️✨👑❄️
Mom made two skirts for Whitney's Elsa. One was a sparkle silver skirt, and the other was a sheer blue fabric with swirly sparkles. She overlaid the same fabric over the top of Whitney's Elsa top and then hand sewed white snowflakes on the front. She used a similar sheer blue sparkly fabric for the Elsa cape and Whitney tied it to her top with attached ribbons. Whitney hand painted her opera gloves turned arm sleeves.
For my Anna outfit, Mom took a blue skirt she had made for the Peachtree Road Race and attached a sparkly blue fabric underneath. Then she gathered up ruffles of the top blue sparkly skirt to get the scalloped effect. I loved the way it turned out! We had seen many options on Pinterest where people had hand painted these features. I really liked having it truly scallops instead of painted. Mom had also found some green details and pink flowers that worked perfectly. The under layer also gave some princess poof, which I am a fan of! The cape she made out of pink sparkle fabric, black and gold piping, and a black closing mechanism. It was definitely a labor of love. Mom stiched the gold ribbon details to the Anna top, and I painted the detailed using fabric paint on both the top and the calf sleeves/faux boots. I found a pattern on Pinterest and did my best freehand. I had to wear the calf sleeves while I painted them since they are compression and are meant to stretch. It was fun to paint them upside down while wearing them.
These may be my favorite outfits to date. (Cinderella comes close) We wanted something cute and princess-y, but not something that would rub/irritate/be too much for 26.2 miles. NAILED IT!!! We even got a stamp of approval from the REAL Anna and Elsa at the castle! ❄️✨👑❄️