What is the most frugal way to get your child a Halloween costume?
When I was a child, we were all about homemade costumes. And by homemade, I mean use-whatever-you-find-around-the-house-a-few-hours-before-going-trick-or-treating! Did you know that a pillowcase makes a great tunic for a small child?
My siblings and I had very few store bought costumes - so much so that I can distinctly remember all the ones we did have. At some point, my mom picked up two green Peter Pan/Robin Hood costumes on a bargain, and at least one of my brothers was one of those characters every year until they were long outgrown!
However, now I live in an area with so many great resources for used children's items, that it has been simple for me to buy premade costumes for the girls the past few years at a fraction of their original cost. My favorite, by far, is this adorable flower costume that I bought for GiGi's first Halloween, when she was just two months old. I think I paid about $3 for it, and now both my girls and my friend's little girl have worn it. And I will never get rid of this costume - I'm expecting my grandchildren to wear it!
However, this year, GiGi is finally old enough to choose her own costume. She has been perusing all the catalogues and magazines we've received in the mail, and what struck her fancy . . . is a homemade tomato costume from All You magazine!!! Not a princess, not a butterfly or animal . . . a tomato! She doesn't even eat tomatoes!
Since she's been pretty consistent in this desire for a few weeks, I guess I'm going for it. It's not a complicated costume, but it does require a trip or two to the craft store. It will be an interesting experiment to see if I can make a costume for as little as I can buy a used one.
In any case, it should be a creative project and a lot of fun!
How do you get frugal Halloween costumes for your kids?
The flower costume is very cute!
ReplyDeleteI hope you'll post a picture of the tomato costume you make for this year. I'm heavily leaning towards my 3-year old son's costume being a frugally assembled "Handy Manny", "Bob the Builder" or perhaps just plain old "construction worker". He already has a kid-sized tool belt with lots of toy tools (garage sale finds by my parents), and I picked up a free yellow plastic hard hat at a recent Home Show at the Dulles Expo Center. I have the main part of the ensemble in place, now just need to figure out some of the final touches!