Readers’ Costume and Pumpkin Patch Ideas
Your costume ideas in the newsletter reminded me of something. Last year while walking the aisles in Target looking at the reduced Thanksgiving offerings (this was on Black Friday), my husband saw some leftover Halloween costumes for less than $2.00 each… I have grandsons who live with me who LOVE anything BATMAN, SPIDER MAN, SUPERMAN, you get the idea… We went ahead and got a costume for each of the boys only, instead of saving it for next Halloween, it was part of their Christmas. They love to dress up. It was a perfect gift for them and one they still play with, all for less than $5.00 for the two of them, so think of Halloween costumes as possible gifts for birthdays, Christmas, etc.
Roxie
Hi, Tawra,
I wanted to share how I made my son a Captain Jack Sparrow Costume this year for less than $2. As you probably know, this a popular costume this year and to buy the pre-made costume can be pricey.
I took an old brown suit of my husband’s and cut the pants to fit my son, leaving the ends ragged. An old black t-shirt with the sleeves cut out and cut all the way down the front became a vest. Under the vest, he wore a white dress shirt of mine with the sleeves rolled up.
For the Captain Jack wig, I sewed yarn (previously purchased for another project) to a stretchy headband I had in my makeup drawer, and added beads from a broken necklace. His beard and moustache will be made with eyeliner. To cover the raw ends of the yarn, we will use an old red bandanna.
Finally, we purchased a pirate hat and eye patch at the Dollar Tree. If I had not been inspired by your website, I would have probably gone out and bought another overpriced costume to be worn once.
Just as a basis of comparison, last year I spent over $30 on a Thomas the Tank engine costume that was worn twice. This year, I saved more than $28, and he loves playing in his costume already.
Thanks!
Amanda
Last year my teenage daughter and six of her friends decided to go as crayons. They got cheap plastic tablecloths at Dollar Tree in different colors, and made their costumes out of them. They used part of the tablecloth to make a point on top of their heads. I lost all my pictures on my computer or I’d send you one. It was so cute, very creative, and super cheap.
Tracy
Hello again Tawra,
Open to a tip of sorts from a reader? The best way to buy a pumpkin (lol). We went with a homeschool group to a very nice pumpkin patch so of course we got a special rate (lol). For $5 per person we got all the time we wanted to play in the corn pit and the corn maze- also, as long as we wanted, a very nice hay ride and pick your own pumpkin from the patch. Since pumpkins are $4-$8 at the store, I think this was a really good deal. Of course, you can’t put dollar value on the time we spent just enjoying each others’ company.
Thanks,
Rebecca
Thanks guys for sharing these! These are great! Tawra
dress a child or adult in dark clothes. t shirt and track pants would be good for the cold.
take safety pins and start pinning small socks old drier sheets and and other small clothing items to the dark clothes.
take mouse for hair and make it very spikey.
and call them Mr or Miss static cling.
saw that in a magazine for a costume and the picture was so cute I thought it was a great idea at no cost what so ever.
mouse is definetly not the way to spell it but you get the idea anything that will make hair stand on end.
When my oldest son was 5 I made him a taxi costume for $3. I took a rectangle box and cut a 3-sided square hole in the middle of the bottom. I pushed up the flap and cut a square out of that to make the “windshield”. I bought a pint of yellow paint and painted the whole thing yellow. Then I took black electrical tape and taped small squares around the sides in 2 rows for a checkered look, as well as make the “doors” and the word “TAXI” on both sides. Then I cut out a front hood and bent a wire coat hanger into a U shape and taped it to the inside. I looped the handles of a plastic grocery bag over the ends of the hanger for his treat bag. Next I punched a small hole in the hood, attached yarn to the hood and ran it through the “windshield.” When asking for treats, my son just pulled on the yarn, the hood popped open and there was his treat bag. The taxi was held on using a pair of suspenders. I used a toy construction hat my son had, cut out the word “TAXI” from a box of animal crackers, taped it to the top of the hat and stuck in a glow stick. :) He LOVED it, and all it cost was the yellow paint and glow stick, as I had everything else at the house already.
When my second son was 5 he wanted something different, so I made him an airplane using the same construction method, just cutting out the back square and taping the ends together to form the tail of the plane, and using different paint and adding cardboard propellers.
Hope this has sparked some ideas for you!
just had an idea that I don’t know if it is original or not but here it is for a halloween party.
have older kids (young enough to want halloween but too old to go out door to door) come to the house in costumes. Have each person as they get there pull a number from a hat and when everyone is there find the other number.
Most people have video cameras make a movie of each couple.
werewolf attacking little bo peep.
hobo wooing the fairy princess.
then put them all together and watch the movie.
have spooky treats and lots of fun even if you don’t have the camera. Kids love to act up so put it to good fun.
We did similar to this when I was young and I still remember those nights more than the ones that were more common.
Our daughter always had a homemade costume. The stores one’s are cheap and fall apart and costly….She went one year as a Lego (square cube box with 4 margarine tubs hot glued to resemble a lego-spray painted that red. Made a matching hat with 1 margarine tub. She carried her lego bucket for candy)…Another year she went as a hippie (pink sweat suit…sewed cylinders of wild fabric from elbows to hands and knees to ankles, added an elastic casing to each and viola! bellbottoms!!We added a poncho I had crocheted for her back a bit, a headband, a long hot pink wig) I always started with a sweatsuit (which could be worn throughout the win.ter) and make your costume around that. Brown pantyhose legs stuffed and twisted, make a great pretzel (use packing peanuts for ‘salt’…She was Picasso in training. She wore a smock top with a homemade felt beret (use a dinner plate for 2 circles,use dessert plate to cut hole in one circle.Stitch the two circles together,run a casing of elastic inside the hole and turn right side out) I scrubbed an old latex paint can and lined with foil, dribbling craft paint down the sides (as her candy bucket). I gave her a paint brush and cardboard palette, and put streaks of ‘paint’ on her face with eyeshadow. One year growing up, my mother made me a TV out of a box, some old TV knobs a cut wire hanger (for rabbit ear antennaes-OUCH it was pushed through the box and into my head). She made up my face…My brother got his thrills punching the top of the TV because the ‘channel’ wouldn’t change (don’t you love baby brothers!!!) I thought by the end of the day, I would need stitches from a puncture wound, but everyone LOVED that costume. We has store bought costumes growing up, which had sweaty plastic masks, but the ones I remember most were the homemade ones…Have a SAFE HARVEST!!!
This reminded me of the year my mom sent me as a Jack in the Box. She painted my face like a clown, decorated a large box and cut out the top and bottom, slipped it over my head, using 2 straps to hold it on my shoulders.
I’m not sure why she made me like that instead of my brother because his name was Jack. That would have been a real Jack in the box. : )
One year, my son wanted to be either a “robot” or a “tin man”. So, we made him sort of both! I bought an automotive sized funnel and spray-painted it grey, drilled holes in it and tied grey ribbon onto it to keep it on his head. He wore a plain grey sweat shirt and sweat pants. I spray painted an older pair of gym shoes, which he kept on wearing to school (much to my horror!) And for the “body”, I took a box that was large enough to fit over him, cut out a hole big enough for his arms and head. I spray painted this grey, too. I bought a battery operated set of red-blinking Christmas lights, and cut 25 slits into the front of the box and threaded the lights into the holes. He wore the battery pack in a fanny pack. My total cost was about $6-8. We both had fun! It was really cute, and he got a LOT of comments.
I am working on making an World war 1 or barnstormer costume for my husband, I found a bomber style jacket at the Goodwill, and used an long white skarf, he provided the kacki (sp?) shirt and slacks.
LOL once its compleated, I hope to poste a photo!
not a suggestion just what my 3 year old grandson told me on the phone yesterday.
What do you want to be on Halloween.
I want to be a sketon.
a what?
a sketon you know all bones and scary.
Oh a skeleton. but they are so skinny.
yes I want to be a skinny sketon.
I love talking to children and when you finally figure out what they are saying it is just fun.
They do say the funniest things sometimes and crack me up. I had a friend who told me to keep a notebook for each one of my grandkids and when they say something funny to write it down. I didn’t do it and am sick now that I didn’t.
Grandma, my 3 yr. old grandson told his mom he wanted to be either a butterfly or tinkerbell! He really is all boy though. Tomorrow we are going to a tractor pull for the first time. He has been to one monster truck show and loved that. His one yr. old sister has already gotten her costue. She will be Cinderella. I also made most of my kids costumes. It’s more fun that way. Not to mention frugal!