Fun and Thrifty Halloween Costumes by Laurie

With Halloween fast approaching, many parents are pressed for cheap and/or homemade costume ideas. In today’s economy, parents are often looking for alternatives that can save on their pocketbooks. If you’re looking for a quick, put-together idea, look around your house, more specifically, in your child’s closet, and you might be surprised.

For several years, we used everyday items that my son already had in his collection of play things. For example, my son owned a pair of overall jeans, a conductor’s hat, and regular, cutesy gloves. He also had an assortment of Thomas the Tank Engine trains in his toy box. I bought a cheap bandanna for under a $1.00 and he was good to go. Your child may choose to be a hobo on Halloween night. What child doesn’t own a pair of jeans that has seen better days? A little smudged blacking on the face (to simulate the scruffy, dirty face of a hobo), a pair of old, tattered gloves with a few fingers cut out, and a bag (think bag lady) for collecting their Halloween candy would be perfect for someone on a tight budget.

Your daughter may be a youth cheerleader for a youth football league. Or your child may play football in that youth league. Check with the league officials to be sure that they are allowed to wear the uniform outside the actual participating activities by asking if your child can wear their uniform for Halloween festivities. Most youth groups are very pleased to have the free advertising that their organization derives from your child wearing the uniform for such activities, but a few do have rules that the uniform is to be utilized exclusively for league activities. Many children already have princess, superhero, or ballet costumes in their drawers or toyboxes - they may love the idea of showing off one of their favorite outfits.

If time is not as much an element, and you have a creative side to you that you want to nurture, you might consider one of many homemade costumes. Want to be Lady Liberty for an evening? Find an old, light teal-colored sheet (think weathered-copper color) and wrap it around your child’s body. You may also choose to dye the sheet, if one is not available in the correct shade. Paint the child’s face and arms with the same color, and make a cardboard torch using an old paper towel tube. Better yet, let your child make their own torch by coloring the tube, then stuffing a yellow bandanna up through the tubing to simulate the fire.

I’ve also seen some wonderful costumes put together simply by using a white sheet and black, permanent markers. Want to be a cow? Color large, black areas onto an old sheet with black, permanent marker. Face paint the child’s face white. If your child would rather be a Dalmatian from the movie 101 Dalmatians, then smaller, circular spots would be appropriate for this type of costume. Do note that if it’s a rainy, stormy night, you may desire to dress your child in an old tee-shirt underneath the colored sheet, to prevent bleed-through from the marker onto clothing that is not ready for the rag bin.

When my son was chosen to be a turtle in his class play one year, I took an old, brown pillow case, cut out a hole for his head. Then I took masking tape to section off the front of the pillow case to represent the underbelly lines of a turtle. I took a piece of green construction paper and cut a huge circle out of it. I taped the circle into a conical hat that was the same color as the pillow case. The teacher was looking for parents to help their child come up with ideas for a no-cost costume, and she was thrilled with the outcome.

Have a rather, large packing box that’s hanging around the house looking for a purpose? Paint the box white, use that black, permanent marker again by coloring circles on each side of the box to represent a die. Cut a large hole in the top, sides and bottom for the child’s head, arms and feet. In fact, if you have two children and two boxes, you can have a set of dice for Halloween. Face paint the child’s face white, and have them wear a white, long-sleeved shirt. Other packing box ideas have been painted wilderness scenes on the boxes, and face paint and a colored shirt to complement the scene on their box. Thomas the Tank engine boxes are also possible. Draw and paint an engine face similar to Thomas’ face on the front of the box, use blue paint to paint the remainder of the box, face paint the child’s face blue, and have them wear a blue, long-sleeved shirt.

Only your own creativity limits what you can do with a packing box for costuming. Of course, face painting is only appropriate for the child that is old enough to keep their hands from dabbling into the paint and spreading it all over themselves and everyone else in the trick or treating party.

These are just a few ideas to help a parent who might be looking for an inexpensive alternative to a store-bought costume for Halloween. Let your creative juices flow to come up with your own wonderful ideas!