Beautifully Unique Designs by Nyki

I love the holidays! I enjoy gift giving and it is such an amazing feeling when the recipient loves the gift. What makes it even better is when you put thought and sincerity into your gift. The best is when you make gifts, then its almost like they are excited about you, because a piece of you went into making that gift.

This was more something we did as children, crafting cute things in school to give our parents because we didn’t have money to buy them anything. It is a sad thought to realize that most adults tend to become numb to this innocence and naivety. I see more joy and excitement come from kids in general about gifting during the holidays and it saddens me that adults sometimes see it as a painful time because they don’t have money to buy gifts. What’s worse is when expectations are higher because kids want more, are exposed to more, and are not taught to be grateful or appreciative of what they have. That’s a topic, or rant, for another day though. Right now I’m focussed on the spirit of gifting that encompasses the joy of creating and the satisfaction of accomplishment. I won’t give that up; the sincerity of personalizing a gift, the sense of accomplishment when you create something completely original with a specific person in mind, the way they light up about a piece of you!

I made some wonderful gifts this year, and I was focussed on the children. Because my gifts were for children, I will say that I had more fun giving them than making them, but that’s the whole point – seeing their face light up when they get that something you made personally for them. I don’t often work in miniature sizes, but I took something I know well (knit hats) and tried new things to expand my expertise. I am one who learns better by doing than reading or being told so I did have some hiccups, but in the end, I was very proud and happy with what I made. I actually used less materials working in smaller sizes so I have more leftovers than I anticipated, but I’m sure I will find use for them eventually!

I made 3 newborn knit hats for the soon-to-be-born bald younger that was due very soon. Those were the easier ones that got me ready to try 2 more toddler/youngster knit hats for a brother and sister. The hats themselves were the easy part, it was the detailing that I didn’t quite have a knack for at first. It was a fun experiment and now I am looking forward to doing some more!

Any requests?!

When I launched as a fashion designer, my first runway shows were my costume-inspired collection.  So you can imagine I am very much into Halloween and get totally psyched when October rolls around!  The beauty of fall, the release from the summer’s heat, and of course the onset of my favorite holiday make October the best month of the year (even topping the month of my birthday!).

I have always worn DIY costumes for Halloween; even before I could walk my mother would sew together my Halloween costumes.  I never pay too much attention to what is trending, to be honest, and I simply wear what makes me happy.  In the last few years, I have gone so far as to making a concerted effort to wear more than one costume every Halloween!

So what made this year different?  Why do I seem to want to share what the trending costumes are this year?  Well, I started to notice that more and more people around me were talking about costumes I was thinking of doing.  That kicked in my competitive drive and I began brainstorming how I could make mine the best!  I researched how others were doing their costumes and how the store-bought costumes looked, hence stumbling upon the top trending costumes for this year.

Now, for those who want to know what others are going to be wearing so you’re part of the popular crowd this Halloween, or the opposite, maybe you want to make sure you stand out from the crowd with something completely different and original, here are the top most popular sought after costumes this Halloween.  This list was compiled from a combination of Pinterest popularity and Halloween Costume company sales.  Meaning this includes the DIY costumes and the store bought costumes as well as men’s costumes along with women’s costumes.  So keep in mind there will be variations of each costume idea walking around this Halloween.