How to Make Halloween Costumes

I have a month to finish making costumes for my kids. I'm not really into Halloween but my kids do love to play dress up, so it will be fun to have some new costumes. Store bought costumes seem to run around $20 or more. I like the challenge though of making costumes, using a lot of materials that we already have around the house.

Here are some ideas for costumes or for the accessories to go with the costumes.

1. At a recent birthday party, the kids wore headbands that had craft foam for the horns or ears glued to them to look like different animals (giraffes, frogs, zebras, dogs). Then the kids had their faces painted. It was simple, yet the kids looked adorable and they loved it.
2. Make a tutu to dress up girls of any ages. I saw some videos on youtube for simple techniques for making a tutu. Tutu How-To and No Sew Tutu
   
3. Turn your son into a superhero. Making a cape is not too difficult. Here are a few videos on how to make a cape. Cape with Hood and No Sew Cape You can also had your own emblishments (a superhero symbol, your child's name, etc).

 

In the past, I made a princess dress for my daughter. I borrowed her friends' princess dress to get an idea of a design and how to make it. Then I used scrap material (blue and white) and some lace. My other daughter dressed as a sheep – white outfit with a black nose. She had a white hat with ears sewn on (that my neighbor had made for her).

This year, I am taking an old red graduation gown and modifying it to fit my three year old. Then I am adding black spots (which I made by tracing circles onto black scraps cut from an old black t-shirt). With a few other embellishments, she will be a ladybug. I'm thinking black tights and a black turtleneck underneath, a headband with antennae, maybe a tutu to match. I'm still working on it.

For my other daughter, she wants to be a superhero, so we will have some sort of cape and mask and probably just wear it with an existing outfit. My baby, I'm thinking a bumblebee, because that will go nicely with her ladybug sister. Yellow and black stripes, and a decorated headband and tutu.

Problem: What to wear for halloween or use as dress up clothes

Traditional solution: Buy costumes

Creative solution: Make your own costumes (with sewing or without), add embellishments to existing outfits.  Making your own dress up clothes not only saves money, but it can be personalized to your child's size and interests.

So, what kind of dress up outfits will you make (or buy) for your kids? Any ideas?

Creative Boxes

Do you know how expensive boxes can be? Just the other day I saw a nice storage box listed for $40! Now, I love cutesy containers, but $40 for one box?! I have found a much cheaper way and have turned collecting, decorating, and using boxes into a hobby.

Many boxes and containers come into my home every week for free. For example, the box that the cereal or crackers come in, coffee and nut tins, diaper boxes and boxes from jugs of water (these are actually the best because of their sturdiness). 

Today, for example, I took two cracker boxes, cut off the top flaps, trimmed them down to be a little shorter, and then glued decorated card stock on all sides. The kids helped me a little with the decorating. We put their names on the side. These boxes are now on the shelf so that each kid has a place to put their current artwork or any paper that is given to them that they want to keep. When the box gets full, we will weed out some things that don't need to be kept and others can be put into a scrapbook or hung up somewhere.

Problem: what to do with all the coloring sheets, drawings, cards, scrap pages that accumulate with children.

Traditional solution: buy office containers or some sort of filing system. Average cost at the container store: $10 each, with some filing systems costing $40.

Creative Solution: take boxes we already had in the house (finding boxes that are the perfect size for where you want them), let the kids help decorate them to make it more personal, begin organizing!

Yes, cracker boxes might be more flimsy than store bought solutions, but they can be easily replaced!