This year we are doing Halloween a little different. By different I mean….cheap. Saving money and using what we have. The other day I was looking through the kids dress up box and they have enough costumes/dress-up clothes for 10 kids to wear something. So, I told them this year we will not be buying any costumes.
How tempting is it to give into their wishes and get them the costume they want? Super tempting!
We want them to be happy. Unfortunately,buying a new costume is not teaching them happiness. That is teaching them to go get more and spend money. I am very guilty of this and now due to overconsumption of a dress up box where the lid barely closes (using it as an example). Forces me to face the reality that I have caved and now I need to teach a lesson.
Lessons usually come from mistakes. But sometimes I think we need to have reality checks of a full dress up box because it keeps us within the fence of contentment.
How I Plan For A Halloween Costume:
I grab ideas from the kids of what they want to be and write it down. After writing it down then I will search through the dress up box, the actual halloween costumes, and then our own item. That helps me to put together the outfit they want without purchasing anything. Yet.
I may have to purchase some Rit to dye pants, or paint for a face, but those are small items to me. If overall I can make the costume they want with used stuff that we have then it is a win-win situation.
If we do not have an idea of what costume we want to dress up in, then I will look for a specific item in the box, like a hat. Then start throwing out ideas until one sticks with someone, or help it stick (smile).
Idea’s For Costumes’:
- Baseball hat- baseball star or construction worker
- Superhero cape- any one of the Avengers that they want to be I will just put the mask with the cape (yes, I know that not all of the superhero’s have capes. I have two sons 3 years apart. It stops bickering if they both have a cape.)
- Home Depot worker- We did a few projects for kids at Home Depot and I saved the Apron’s. I would just grab some of their toy tools to complete the outfit.
- Raccoon hat- Davy Crockett (It is a joke at our house). But really, add a vest and play gun to make the outfit complete.
- Hulk hands-Paint them green from the top up, spray some green paint in their hair and rip a pair of jeans. Add the Hulk hands and it should be complete.
- Ghost- Grab a white sheet and cut out eyeholes. Then use scissors to make the arms and legs look a little ragged.
- Vampire- Get some plastic vampire teeth, black clothes and white paint for the face.
- Pirate- Get a handkerchief from the store, make a sword with aluminum foil and cardboard, put the outfit together with and eyepatch and raggedy clothes. Use summer clothes or goodwill clothes that do not need to be worn again.
- Clown- face paint, wig of any color or length, and pajamas with house shoes. Maybe for extra fun have a few balloons or a bucket of confetti to throw around.
- Soldier- camo pants and shirt from the goodwill, black face paint, and a hat from the dollar store. This outfit should not cost more than $5.00 total.
Halloween doesn’t have to be expensive, but it does have to be fun for the kids! Follow me on Facebook for more tips on saving time, saving money, and saving your sanity!
Cheers,
Michelle
Leave a Reply