Our Frugal Costumes

I mentioned last week that we were going to a Halloween party on Saturday night, but I didn’t know what we were going to do for costumes.  A reader asked what we came up with, so I thought I’d share.  We had two choices for our son, both hand-me-downs.  The first option was an adorable sheep costume made by my SIL for our niece several years ago.  But it was a bit too hot and stuffy for our little guy’s tastes, and he started to protest before we were even out the door.  So we switched to option number two, which was a pumpkin costume that he found to be much more comfortable.

As far as myself and my husband, neither of us had dressed up for Halloween since Clinton was president, and we were a bit stumped.  My husband decided to put together a costume from stuff he had already.  He wore a Rasta hat that we got in Jamaica several years ago (the crocheted variety, with yarn dreads hanging down the back), and a tie dyed t-shirt that he’s had since before I met him.  He wore black corduroy shorts, and fashioned a very realistic-looking joint out of a piece of paper, which he stuck behind his ear.  We had already planned to bring some beer to the party, so we got Red Stripe, and he walked around all night carrying one of the bottles (people loved that his beer was part of his costume).  So his costume was free, since we’d have bought the beer anyway.

I ended up going as a flower child.  We went to the thrift store, and for $11, I got a really pretty hippie skirt and a flowered 70s shirt.  I braided a little section of my hair, and dug around in my scrapbook supplies until I found a multi-dimensional daisy that I stuck to a bobby pin and put at the top of the braid.  Once I added a pair of leather sandals that I already had, I looked like a very peaced-out 70s girl.  And it worked very well with my husband’s Rasta getup.  The best part is that I love the skirt and shirt I bought.  Together they look a bit too much like a Halloween costume, but the skirt would work perfectly with a plain white tank top, and the shirt will be great with a pair of dark jeans.  So now they’re just part of my wardrobe.

That’s the story on our costumes.  Nothing elaborate, nothing expensive, but we thought they turned out great.  Especially since we started figuring them out about three hours before the party.  And really, when you have a six month old baby dressed as a pumpkin in your arms, you could pretty much be wearing a feed sack and nobody would notice.