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| Optimus Prime |
Halloween is less than a week away. Weren’t we sitting by the pool sipping a big ole glass of sweet tea last week??? Where did the time go?
We did something this weekend we haven’t done in years: we bought costumes for both the boys. Shocking for this frugal mamma but with trucker hubby on the road, me back in school…I thought this would be the more prudent approach to this year’s Trick or Treating Marathon Event.
Forty bucks later, I’m reminded why I started making their costumes in the first place. The $20 costume for each kid are not what I would consider high quality and made to last beyond one night’s wear. In fact, both costumes only came with a portion of what was pictured on bag packaging. Who ever heard of Darth Vader NOT having black gloves?
Next year we’re going back to inexpensive home made costumes! Last year's Optimus Prime costume is still in pretty good shape.
Don’t stress over the quickly approaching spookin day. I’ve got a few ideas for fast and cheap Halloween costumes.
Your kiddos will be stylish little ghouls Trick or Treating in these costumes without you breaking out the sewing machine or the checkbook.
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| Warm Sweat suit Kitty |
- FBI Agent, detective, etc. – Dark colored suit, white button down shirt, and a simple non-flashy tie for a boy. Dress a girl in a simple pant suit. For an FBI agent or detective, us the plastic sheriff’s badge, hand cuffs, toy pistol and holster from junior’s toy collection.
- Warm Kitty - Grey sweat suit, pink wash cloth (or other remnant fabric), gray fabric from older sweatshirt or towel plus some plastic shopping bags, hot glue and safety pins. Cut a long rectangular piece of gray fabric, glue the edges together on one short side and the long side leaving a short side open. Stuff the plastic baggies in it and pin to the bottom "seat" area to make the tail. Cut triangles for the ears and a slightly smaller triangles of the pink fabric for inside the ears and glue on top of the gray ears. Pin the ears to a gray fabric headband and paint your kiddo's face with a brown nose and whiskers.
- Politician or lawyer – Basic Sunday dress suit with a button down shirt, and a patriotic tie for boys or a nice conservative style dress for a girl. Slick a boys hair back or put a girls hair in a nice bun or French twist. Use some free software like Picnik, to put “Vote for me” text over of digital photo of you little one. Print, cut into a small circle and safety pin to his/her lapel. Alternatively, have them carry a small flag but say something fun like “A vote for me is a vote for candy” instead of the standard “trick or treat”.
- Army/Military soldier – Camouflage hat, shirt and pants. Most boys have this in their closets. Add some dark colored eye makeup to their face to mimic dirt and your done. J won 2nd place in a city-wide costume contest with this costume a few years ago.
- Pirate – Rag out some old clothes layering a sleeveless vest style shirt over another shirt, use a tie for a belt, and use a bandana, oversized hankie or linen napkin and wrap on their head like a do-rag style. Use an eye liner pencil to draw on a mustache and go-tee. Rub on some “dirt” smudges from an eye make up kit and add a foam or cardboard sword to complete the look.
- Cowboy – Button down shirt, tight fittin jeans and cowboy hat and some western boots are all you need to ‘round up some candy this Saturday.
- Skateboarder – Have you kid dress in casual clothes and carry their skateboard with them.
- Food Network or Celebrity Chef – Dress in slacks or a dress casual type outfit with a white apron and have you little one carry a mixing bowl with a wooden spoon.
- Talk show host – Dress in a suit and tie or Sunday dress and carry a microphone. Make the microphone with a toilet paper tube with black paper taped around it and a Styrofoam ball or a wad of newspaper wrapped in black paper or fabric secured with hot glue or tape.
- 80’s Rock Star – Tease up that hair or paint it a bright electric blue or pink. Add some shoulder pads under some wild colored 80’s style clothing and carry a toy guitar like Paper Jamz
or one cut from cardboard.
- Farmer – Overalls, work boots, and a plaid shirt make this an easy costume.
This Soldier's ready TO GO! - Princess – Frilly Sunday dress or flower girl dress with some pretty shoes and sparkly hair spray or gem-like hair barrettes. If you don’t have a toy (or real) tiara, make one with a cardboard or paper cutout wrapped in Aluminum foil or ribbon and bedazzled with with glitter and sequin accents. Use aluminum foil to add some shiny and sparkle to it. Trisha has a great Tulle Wand Tute over at MomDot to complete your princess look.
- Zombie – Strip out an old white sheet and wrap it around you kid making sure to leave the face either open with some greyish make up over it or wrap the face but leave the eyes nose and mouth open for safety reasons.
- Give an UNdead look to any costume (UNdead Princess or Politician?) by adding some red fake blood, grey and purplish areas to the exposed skin. Make sure to add some “dirt” to areas of the clothing and have the edges ripped or tattered to look like they just rose from the grave.
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| Luke or Anakin Skywalker |
These are what I like to call, ensemble costumes.
Very little needs to be done with the Halloween costume since it’s more about adding the right pieces and accessories to accomplish the specific look. These costumes are cost effective since not much, if any out of pocket expenses are incurred. Even if I need to buy something to complete a Halloween costume, it’s usually one item. Any clothing I don’t have, I can either get them from a thrift store (if I don’t think it’ll be used after Halloween) or buy I can buy it new (only if it’s something the kids will wear beyond the holiday). Usually if I have to purchase anything, it’s one or two toy accessories which I don’t mind since the kids will play with them long after Halloween has passed.
I can just imagine what other kinds of Halloween things I could have bought with $40!
So, what are your last minute Halloween costume ideas for this year?
