Thursday, August 26, 2010

Halloween Costumes for less

So Halloween is approaching and if you are anything like me you have already started thinking about costume ideas for your kids {please tell me I am not the only one who has this on their mind in August :)}. I have to admit that I think Halloween is a lot of fun and I love getting my kids all dressed up, but the truth of the matter is that it can be hard for us to justify spending a lot of money on a costume that each of our kids will likely not get too much use out of.

That got me thinking of ways to spend less on Halloween costumes.

One idea that I like is to organize a costume swap. My sister-in-law did this in her neighborhood and said it turned out great. Every one who had a costume they were willing to share brought it to her house on a specific date, those who wanted to borrow "checked it out" by signing their name on a piece of paper attached to a clipboard and left with a smile on their face :)

I have also heard that garage sales or second hand stores like Kid to Kid or Deseret Industries can have some good finds.

And I have even seen friends and family members make some of their own costumes. Oh, how I wish I could sew :)

Now, let's hear from you!!
Have you ever tried any of the ideas above to save money on Halloween costumes?

If so, let us know how it went!

You could even send us pictures or tutorials of any costumes you have made or fun, inexpensive ideas you have seen and we can share them in a future post.

What other money-saving tips can you tell us that would help us celebrate Halloween with our kids without breaking the bank?

Please share your creative thoughts!


1 comment:

Delia said...

My youngest is going as a Bumble Bee this year...unless he protests which I don't think he will. It is actually the same costume his older brother wore at a similar age and that at least two other cousins that I can remember wore at a similar age. It is sentimental and fun to have a costume make the rounds in a family. So that is an option.

Check out Family Fun magazine and their website. They have a lot of costumes you can make from stuff you have. My oldest wants to go as as Lego robot...don't ask. We are going to use some ideas I have found from their books/magazines I found at the local library using plastic cups and recycled boxes...well that is the plan. You know how capricious 5 year olds can be. We could be on a totally different costume by next week. I hope not though.

For girls a tutu is so so cheap and easy. Get a band of elastic that fits around their waist. Then get tulle from the fabric store or from Walmart...they have the cheapest stuff. I think if you buy 2 yards of tulle and a package of elastic ($1) you can complete the project with about $3. You need about 1 yard for a full tutu and maybe 1 1/2-2 yards for a really bouncy tutu. You can also play with the length. Cut into strips and luggage tag tie them all around the elastic. That is it. Think of those rag cloth scrunchies you may have made at girls camp in middle school. It is really similar to that. You can build many kinds of fairies, ballerinas, princesses {make tulle strips really long}, etc. around a tutu. You can also put warm tights underneath or pants for cold trick or treating nights.I seriously wish I had a girl partly for this reason...to make her a tutu. :)

I hope that was helpful and not just been there done that. :)