Women’s magazines, radio phone-in shows, all over the Web… I’ve been catching a whole lot of variations on the same thrifty theme. And if your family has decided to try to save money on the whole Halloween trip, you may have been noticing this too.

Photo: Mozo Man

We won’t embarrass any major media outlets by naming names, and I haven’t quoted the words exactly, but the substance of these “top 3″ frugal Halloween tips is spooned out by more than one source this season — and I’ve got serious doubts.

Here’s the kind of thing they want you to do:

1. Costume the kids as homeless people — it doesn’t get cheaper than that, when you can send them out around the neighbourhood in last year’s jacket and their oldest patched jeans;
2. Decorate your home and yard with everyday items and almost-trash, like leftover candle stubs and toilet-paper ghosts;
3. Save money on treats to hand out at the door by picking up cheap gum and chips at the dollar store.

Huh! Well, those tips just don’t work for me — and I’ll tell you why:

Poverty ain’t no Halloween costume.

“Costume the kids as homeless people”?

Well, leaving aside the fact that Junior might be scarred for life by wearing his own clothes as a Halloween costume… doesn’t it just seem wrong somehow to dress up as a homeless person in order to get free candy? Anyway, a big part of the whole point of dressing up and going door-to-door for treats is to amuse the neighbours. And they’ve seen your kids in grubbies already: so where’s the old folks’ treat in that?

Do it cheap, sure, but do it right.

One of the best things about Halloween is that it’s a night to let fantasy run free… So instead of money, why not spend a bit of creativity? Sometimes those quick homemade Halloween costumes can be the best costumes, if the ideas are good ones.

If you’re not the sewing-crafter type (or simply don’t have time), make a trip to the local Goodwill or Salvation Army thrift store, or whatever the equivalent is where you live. We’ve got a fabulous chain of super-cheap secondhand shops called Frenchy’s that are always good for a great cheap costume for kids or for adults. Jodi tells me she’s even seen secondhand wedding dresses in there for a ridiculously low price — so there you go, a Bride of Frankenstein costume! Just add a bouquet of dead flowers and the right make-up.

The school that @wadlington‘s kids go to just held a Halloween used-costume sale. “After the sale,” she says, “the leftovers were donated to Goodwill. How great is that? It’s too late now to organize a costume sale for this Halloween, but I’ll bet you’d find a lot of parents keen on the plan for next year, if you brought it up at the next PTA meeting, while the pain and stress of finding (and paying for) Halloween costumes are still fresh in everyone’s minds!

Photo: juhansonin

You can always swap Halloween costumes with friends who have kids the same age, too. This year, your kid goes as an adorable mouse; next year, he moves up to the boy-next-door’s pirate costume?

We used to pass costumes along from older sister to younger, when we were growing up. The trick is to pack them away safely until next year. But you know what? If it’s one of those trendy character costumes straight from the Disney marketing machine, I wouldn’t bother trying to save it for next year — just throw it into the toy box and let the kids wear it to play make-believe to their hearts’ delight, because you might as well put it to use. What are the odds your daughter will have any interest in dressing up as Hannah Montana, by the time next year’s Halloween rolls around? Of course, my parents probably said that exact thing about that Princess Leia costume, way back when… So, who knows? You’ll have to make your own call on that one.

My point is, why dress up your kids as homeless people and make light of something so serious as other people’s misfortune? Especially when there are so many creative ways that you can save money on Halloween costumes.

‘Nuff said.

Now, what about that bad advice on decorating your home for Halloween? We’ll be tackling that tasteful and thrifty issue in the next part of this series, so stay tuned to learn more about toilet-paper ghosts.

What do you think, is it too soon to start planning ahead for Halloween party?

Only, that southern fashionista Amy has me thinking ahead, with her mention of a toga contest over at My Scoop… complete with a photo of beer-drinking women in the most stylish togas you’ve ever seen (ah, inspiration!) and handy instructional diagram:–

Haven’t been to a good toga party in years… it’s almost worth a road trip down to Alabama, no?

So there I was, quietly minding my own business, scoping out the official licensed Disney character Halloween costumes for dogs (don’t ask!)… and what did I stumble upon?

Costumes for cell phones!

Madness…

And I believe this makes it official — the world’s going to hell in a handbasket!

Thanks to Johnny Depp (pant, drool) and Pirates of the Carribean, those bad boys of the open sea have never been so hot. And so, in honor of International Talk Like a Pirate Day — that’s today, my little swashbucklers! — let’s all quaff a tankard and brandish a cutlass!

Okay, now confess — who among us couldn’t be talked into doing the sexy pirate wench thing, given the right inspiration and the right kind of costume…
(Leg Avenue)

One sticker (perfect for the dorm room door?) says it all –
Here be Pirates!

If you’re anything like me, you always find yourself deciding at the last minute to dress up for Halloween and need a quick idea that’s cheap and easy to do.  Here are some more frugal homemade Halloween costumes, for both adults and kids. These are fairly simple but creative costumes that can be made at home from stuff you’re likely to have around the house or that you can pick up inexpensively at a discount store or thrift shop.

Quick Home-made Halloween Costumes

Kite Caught in a Tree – This is my all-time favourite Halloween costume, and so quick and easy to do! Wear brown pants and a green shirt. Get a cheap colourful kite at a discount store, and fasten it to a headband or elastic so you can wear it on the back of your head, with the tail hanging down your back. Tie a piece of white cord (or yarn, ribbon, whatever you have) to the kite and wind the rest of the cord ddown around you, sewing or pinning it in a couple of places. Fasten some artificial leaves to the costume around your shoulders and arms, too, if you want.

Household Appliance – Cut a head hole in the top of a very large cardboard box, open up the bottom end, and cut arm holes in the sides. Wear the box so it rests on your shoulders. Paint the box white or cover it in white paper, and add a few decorative details. For a refrigerator costume, for example, just add a shopping list and a couple of fridge magnets.

Traditional Robot – Use a large cardboard box for the body, as with the Household Appliance Costume, but cover it with tinfoil and draw on a lot of dials and control knobs with a permanent marker. Use a smaller foil-covered box for a hat or cut a big square hole (for your face) in one side of a slightly larger box that will come down over your head. Get creative with black  and silver Halloween makeup on your face, to finish off the costume.

Golf Green – Cut a cardboard box to wear around your waist, covered with an old green sheet or tablecloth (check the thrift stores!) and glue on a golf ball, a ping-pong ball, or even just a white pompom. Stick a piece of dowel or stiff wire into it with a flag on top, or wear a flag in your hair. Carry a golf club, if you have one, to make the costume complete.

Picnic Table – Wear a checkered tablecloth around your waist or neck, using cardboard to make the “table” so it’ll stand out flat if you prefer. Glue on a couple of paper plates, maybe a plastic fork or two, and a napkin. What about a plastic bug? Or cheap plastic fruit from the dollar store?  Option: save and clean out a KFC chicken bucket to wear on your head!

Crayon Kid – A quick and easy Halloween costume for a child is to dress him head-to-toe in his favourite bright colour, and cut Crayola-type label markings out of black felt or paper to decorate the shirt. Make a pointy cardboard hat in the same colour.

Bathing Beauty – Dress all in pink or white, and fasten pink or clear balloons all over your clothing. Wear a shower cap and glue a rubber ducky on your shoulder! A popular variation on the Bathing Beauty is the Bunch of Grapes costume, made the same way but using all green or all purple balloons, with a bunch of fake grape-leaves as a head piece.

Bag of Jelly Beans – More fun with ballooms! A very popular Halloween costume is the Bag of jelly beans (or other candy), which uses a very large clear plastic bag stuffed with a lot of inflated balloons.  This works well with one of those lightweight bags you get from the dry cleaners, and looks best if you use a whole lot of different colours of balloons.

Trailer Trash – Cut arm holes and leg holes in an extra-large black plastic bag (similar to the Bag of Jelly Beans costume, but you can just use an extra-large garbage bag for this one). Step into it and poke your arms out, then stuff the bag with crumpled newspapers. Tie the open end loosely at the neck, so bits of a particularly trashy tabloid newpaper can show at the opening! It’s fun to come up with ideas for accessories. Women can do fluffy bedroom slippers — marabou heels would be a hoot! — with hair in curlers and lots of blue eyeshadow; an old flannel shirt, TV guide, ball cap and beer for the men!

Dirty Laundry – Here’s a clever costume that works for trick-or-treat, but maybe not for those Halloween parties where you might want to sit down! Cut a hole in the bottom of an old laundry basket and wear it wround your waist, held up with suspenders. Fill it with some light-weight material like fibre-fill, quilt batting, or crumpled newspapers, then cover that with an old sheet. Pin a few odd bits of clothing on top of the sheet, and add an empty laundry detergent container.

Hershey’s Kiss – This is inspired by a really darling Hershey’s Kiss costume for a baby, but basically you’re making yourself into a giant chocolate candy with this idea. All you need to dress up as a great big Kiss is a roll of aluminum foil, some padding around the hips, a wide ribbon to come out the top, and a helper to give a hand in putting your costume together! Carry a bag of Hershey’s Kisses, and put on some bright red lipstick — yummy!

Christmas Tree – I saw a cute little girl wearing this costume last year, but it would work fine for an adult costume too. Just dress in green and drape yourself with tinsel. To make unbreakable ornaments, save the foil tops from single-serve yogurt or pudding and glue two together with the shiny sides out, then sew them to your costume. Stick a yellow or glittery star onto a green cap, and there you are!

Look around the house and exercise your imagination — what can you pull out of the recycling box or the spare bedroom closet, to make a costume they’ll be talking about in years to come?

A clever costume idea will beat big spending, every time!

Patricia Jensen knows a thing or two about throwing together a quick costume for chidlren, whether it’s for a costume party or for Halloween trick-or-treat outings. Here are a few of her smart cute ideas for quick costumes:

30 Quick and Easy Kids Costumes

What happened to the ‘good ol’ days’ when a Halloween costume was your Dad’s old shirt and cap, and a burnt cork beard? Kids costumes don’t have to complicated to be cute!

Each of these quick and easy costumes starts with a few simple materials like hooded sweatshirts, sweat pants, posterboard, craft foam, felt, face paint, and a little imagination.

Pirate - Black sweats, white shirt, red sash and bandanna, cardboard sword covered in foil, parrot beanie baby, stubbly face made with burnt cork or tobacco sprinkled on vaseline covered cheeks

Kid Hit by Lightning – Gray sweats with large yellow felt zigzag pinned to the back, blackened zigzag tears in here and there on suit, hair gelled to stand straight up, burns on cheeks

Wrapped Present – Cover a large box with colorful wrapping paper. Make a hole in the bottom and invert over child’s head. Add lots of matching ribbons in child’s hair.

Pair of Dice – Paint two large boxes white and add black dots on each side to represent a pair of dice. Cut hole in bottom and invert over children’s heads. You need a friend for this one!

Box of Popcorn – Cover a large box with white butcher paper. Add wide red stripes with markers or colored paper. Make a hole for child’s head. Hot glue some popcorn to the top of the box. Wear red or white tights or sweat pants.

Placard Costumes – Another quick and easy idea for kid costumes is a “placard costume” in which the child wears a hooded sweatshirt and pulls front and back cardboard panels (the placard) on over it. Shape the placard (poster board works fine) as needed for the costume desired, and design it with markers or felt pieces. This type of costume can be adapted to many different themes, such as:

• Ladybug
• M & M (two kids of different heights can be “plain” and “peanut”!)
• Soccerball, Basketball, or Baseball
• Apple or Pumpkin
• Deck of Cards
• Favorite Book

Sunflower - Yellow sweat suit. Staple craft foam flower petals end to end onto a wide ribbon and tie around child’s face to make the flower. Paint the face reddish brown with black spots. Make a couple of bright green leaves from craft foam and pin side by side onto front of sweat suit.

Bunch of Grapes – Start with a purple sweat suit. Blow up several purple balloons to the same size and attach to the sweat suit with small safety pins. Complete the look with a green knit cap with a couple of large green felt leaves attached.

Bag of Trash – Make two leg holes is a large sized trash bag. Have child step into the bag, then add balls of crumpled newspaper to hold a round shape. Make two armholes in each side and secure around the neck .

Little Old Lady – An old house dress with torn stockings and slippers. Curlers in the hair or white wig. Glasses, blacked out tooth, old fashioned pocketbook.

Tourist - Hawaiian shirt or other loud clothes, camera, hat with pins all over it, maps sticking out of pockets, sunglasses.

Crayon - Sweat suit in the chosen color of your crayon. Design the crayon wrapper from poster board, felt pieces or craft foam and baste or pin onto the sweat suit. Add a like-colored plant pot for a hat, or use a large round of poster board, cut from edge to center and make into a pointy hat.
Secure under child’s chin with a wide strip of elastic stapled to the hat.

Static Cling – Start with sweat suit of your choice, pin on small clothing items such as socks, hats, mittens, and underwear along with a few dryer sheets.

Cow, Pig, Kitty, Doggy - Hooded sweat suit in the appropriate color (white cow, pink pig, brown dog). Embellish with felt scraps to make spots, ears, tail, etc.

Backwards Costume – Put clothes and hat on backwards, sunglasses on back of head, say “Treat or Trick!”

Mummy - Tear a white sheet into strips. Paint face white and spray hair with white paint. Smear black under the eyes. Wrap child dressed in white long underwear with sheet strips, securing with clear medical tape, leaving eyes and mouth open.

Angel - White sweat suit with wings of tulle stretched over shaped coat hangers. Glittery headband made from wire circle covered with foil and colorful curling ribbon. Wand made from thin dowel with cardboard star attached to one end, painted silver or gold with glitter and curling ribbon added.

Clown - Sweat suit with colorful felt or fabric paint polka dots.. Clown collar made from felt triangles attached together in a circle to go around child’s neck. Colorful clown wig, nose, and oversized glasses. Facepaint simple blue crosses over eyes, red cheeks, and large red mouth.

Cook - White sweat suit, chef’s hat, large wooden spoon, cookbook under the arm, curly mustache drawn in face paint.

Nerd - Too small pants, shirt buttoned up wrong, pocket protector, hair slicked back, old pair of glasses with tape, white socks, large textbook to carry under the arm.

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Patricia B. Jensen is a mother of three and kids party enthusiast. She is the webmaster and owner of Kids-Party-Paradise.com – a complete resource for kids party ideas including invitations, cakes, decorations, games, costumes, favors, and food.
For all the latest party news, read her Kids Party Blog. [Article source]