Costumes

Halloween is coming up just around the corner.  While, Halloween isn't really a holiday that we particularly celebrate, my husband and I do participate with our friends in a costume party.   Costumes can bust your budget for the month of October, especially as your family grows and those costumes only last a year.  Maybe you can get them to last through a few kids, but not always.

A friend told me of an idea that she had about a costume swap.  She does something different, but thought that maybe doing a costume swap would work as well too.  I have a great group of friends that we try to do things like this with.  Not, only costumes, but baby clothes in general, maternity clothes and so forth.

Get all your costumes that your kiddos have out grown together, have a little gathering with your friends and do a costume swap.  You can even make it a fun little party if you want, I mean what a great excuse to get together with your friends!

Another idea for cheaper costumes, make your own.  Get creative!  Here are some ideas that we've done in the past as a couple and haven't had to buy anything:

1. Mr. & Mrs. Smith: I don't have a photo for this, but we just dressed up a little, black dress pants and a buttoned down white shirt.  Then we took our pellet guns and eye cover and called it good.

2. Switched roles (My husband is a library director and at the time I taught art). These are clothes that we had in our closet, plus I borrowed one of the paint smocks from the school to have him wear, other than that we had the books, paint, and paintbrushes available to us. Nothing to buy!

Bear with the photos, I was a newbie :)

3. Star Wars (pictured at the top) The only thing we ended up buying for this, was my husband's shoes.  Other than that the clothes were items we had in our closet, a sheet for his cloak and we already had all of the light savers even the little one.

4. Color family (This one has been on my list for awhile, but we haven't been able to participate the last couple of years).  My husband would wear all blue, I would wear all red and our girls would wear all purple.  These colors worked for us, it's what we had.  you could easily change the color combo to match colors you already have and that make each other. (yellow + blue = green, red+ yellow = orange) 

Last year the girls wore clothes from their closets as well.  We ended up doing two different events, so they had a couple different costumes, but really we paid nothing extra for them, they were what we had.

     Miss cheerleader & Little Pop-Star                                             Little Dutch girl & Princess Sophia 

  (she even had a toy guitar at one point)                                     (who picked out her costume herself)   

           

So, find some friends and have a fun costume swap, or raid that closet and get creative with what you have, really it comes down to being creative!  

Any other ways you save at Halloween?  Or any other costume ideas?  We've expanded the family so are always looking for more ideas!

Toilet paper roll art

There are so many fun things you can make with toilet paper rolls. And the best part they're free, I mean you already buy the toilet paper, so the roll is just an added bonus of something to use for something fun!

Supplies: 

toilet paper rolls, yarn, string or ribbon, scissors, stapler & hole punch. 

Here are some ways I've seen and tried and love:

1. Princess or Prince crowns:

Here are a few sites on how to's

Moon Frye
This one adds glitter, which is totally optional, but if you're making it for a party or something that would be fun.  I didn't try to add glitter, but it doesn't seem like it'd be much extra work.

Alina blog
This one uses washi tape to decorate with.

You can also go basic and just cut the crown shape and only add a ribbon or string.  The basic brown can be interesting too. 

2. Binoculars: 

One day my daughter wanted binoculars and so while I was cleaning the bathroom I thought I could use toilet paper rolls!

First: Staple the toilet paper rolls together. 

Second: Hole punch the sides and add your ribbon, yarn or string. 

3. Goggles: 

After we made binoculars, then the ball just started rolling, she wanted goggles and I thought I'm sure if I just make them smaller they could work, right?

First: Flatten the toilet paper roll tube. 

Second: Cut a small strip off.  You will need 2 total, so cut a second one as well. 

Third: Staple the two pieces together. 

Fourth: Hole punch the sides and add ribbon, yarn or string. 

4. Telescope:  

What's binoculars and goggles without a telescope.  I mean if you're a pirate, you have to have a telescope as well right?

First: Hole punch both sides of toilet paper roll. 

Second: Add ribbon, yarn or string.  You could also use a paper towel roll for this to make a longer telescope.  You also don't have to add string, my daughter just wanted string on the telescope like all the others. 

5. Toilet Paper Art: 

Finally, check out this craft we did at our family Christmas Creations: Toilet paper Art



Hope you enjoyed the different ways we make believe with toilet paper rolls!  What are some crafts you make, I'd love to hear. 

This post includes affiliate links, which means if you click on the link I get a portion of any sales at NO COST to you.  See my disclosure page for more details.