Mom’s Money

Halloween Costumes Are A Luxury I Simply Cannot Afford On Our Budget

I love Halloween and so do my kids.  What I don’t love is the expensive “designer” costumes that I see in all the stores.  Even the discount stores have racks filled with expensive branded-character costumes that our kids all know and want.  I’m amazed, and appalled, at the prices of these much sought after costumes and can’t bring myself to fork-over my hard earned money to purchase these costumes for my kids.  If I purchase one of these costumes for each child, it means I don’t put gas in my car this week, my middle child won’t be able to go to a birthday party, we eat beans for two weeks, and the dog doesn’t get his vaccinations.  Life will go on without a “designer” costume, but my family has to eat. 

I explained the situation to the kids, and talked about the sacrifices we all make in order to live within the budget we agreed to.  They understood the problem, and we decided  that we could come up with a solution together.  Our solution: Let’s be creative and MAKE our costumes!  So, here they are!

1. Pile of Leaves - Our three year old is adorable as a little pile of Fall leaves.  We took a big, old, dark brown T-Shirt that hung down to her knees, fabric glue, and a sack of Fall color leaves that we bought at a craft store, and just glued the leaves all over the shirt.  Then, we took an old bandanna scarf and glued more leaves all over it and tied it on her head.  She wore a turtleneck shirt and tights and was the cutest little pile of leaves we’ve ever raked!
2. Hello My Name Is - I suspect our seven year old daughter has been hanging around me at too many meet-and-greets, craft shows, and the like, because she got a real kick out of being a name tag.  We took a big rectangular piece of poster board, bought some poster paint, grabbed one of my old “Hello My Name Is” name tags, and proceeded to copy the design onto the poster board. Then she wrote her favorite name on the line (she didn’t use her own, she decided to be a rock star).  Then we punched two holes in the top of the name tag and took big safety pins and pinned the tag up near her shoulders.  She dressed underneath in a black turtleneck and black pants and the look was complete. The name tag is certainly an icon that’s recognizable, and humorous.
3. Climbing Rose Trellis - When looking around the house and garden, I discovered that we have a lot of stuff piling up just waiting to be used for costumes.  My twelve year old son, who demonstrates a strange sense of humor here, found a  wooden rose trellis that wasn’t being used, cleaned it up a bit, and went to work.  I gave him my bins of miscellaneous silk flowers left over from crafts.  He took wire, strung bunches of flowers together and attached them to the trellis as if they were climbing.  Then he took a paper bag, cut it in the shape of a clay pot, and stapled it to the bottom of the trellis.  To attach it to his body, he took a couple lengths of big elastic which I also had left over from some sewing project, and tied each length over the top of the trellis, making a loop to slip his arms through.  To complete the look, my brave son pinned some of the flowers on the top of a baseball cap and stuck it on his head.  Funny!   

Telling my children “No” wasn’t easy.  I want them to have everything their little hearts desire.  That’s what Mom’s do.  I’m very proud of my family for understanding the problem, and coming up with a solution.  I’m also very pleased with their creativity and their willingness to help create these economical and fun costumes.  I can’t wait to see the reaction our kids get when they go Trick-or-Treating through the neighborhood.  We’re already talking about what we’ll design for next Halloween!