Frightfully Frugal Costume Ideas

One year, my youngest daughter wore her old bathrobe, pajamas, slippers, ratted her hair, applied dark circles under her eyes, carried an empty coffee mug, and wore a sign around her neck which read, “I’m not a morning person.” It was the hit of the party that year!  And best of all, didn’t cost a dime. 

Soldier or Hunter:  Camouflage clothing, green and brown face paint splashed on randomly, a canteen, backpack, compass, or whatever you have around that can complete the look.

Ladybug:  Dress your child in a pair of black leggings or tights and a plain long sleeved black shirt.  Remove the arms from a large red sweatshirt (bought at a thrift store or garage sale or found in the attic), and pin, glue or draw large black dots all over with a stripe down the middle of the sweatshirt.  You can also fashion antennae with black pipe cleaners.

Dalmation:  Begin with a white sweat suit, then pin on black spots made from either felt or construction paper.  Make black floppy ears from construction paper or black felt and attach to a headband or a white baseball cap.

Rock Star:  Throw on anything glittery or wild; things don’t have to match.  Spike or over-tease their hair, maybe spray on a little temporary hair paint, add some over-sized jewelry, a pair of dark glasses, and you’re all set!

Ghost:  This is an old standby, but still a hit with the younger set. Use a permanent marker to draw some details on a sheet, like spider webs or fake blood stains. For a costume with a literary twist, add an old chain or two to drag on the ground and tie a large white handkerchief around the top of the child’s head and under his jaw, and suddenly you’ve created Jacob Marley from Dickens’ classic book, A Christmas Carol.
 
 
Birthday Gift:  Take an old box big enough for your child  to “wear” and cut a hole in the top of the box for her head and two holes in each side for her arms. Wrap the box with gift wrap, attach a ribbon, and tie curled ribbon or a big bow in her hair.  Cute, simple, and very cheap!

Tooth Fairy:  If your child has an old pair of fairy or angel wings from a previous costume or Christmas pageant, add a fluffy cute skirt and blouse, and then tie old toothbrushes all over her clothes with dental floss.  You don’t have to use real toothbrushes, though. To save money, cut toothbrush and large tooth shapes out of paper and decorate with markers.  You can also make the fairy wings out of aluminum foil; fashioned over wire coat hangers that you’ve shaped into wings.

Professional “Whatever”:  If you or someone you know wears a uniform at work, let your child dress up as that person (maybe even borrow their work “uniform” for the day).  Possible ideas include a doctor, a nurse, a baker, a cook, a waitress, a lumberjack, an athlete, or a junior executive.

Scarecrow:  Use an old flannel shirt with holes in it, old ragged jeans, and a straw hat, and then tie or stitch a bit of decorative straw-colored raffia to the shirt and pants openings.

Mummy:  Attach ragged strips of cloth ripped from an old white sheet to a white T-shirt and pants.  Or wrap the child lightly in surgical gauze if you find some on sale or at the dollar store.

Animals:  You can adapt different colored sweat suits to become almost any type of animal you can imagine:  A pig, cow, unicorn, or kitten.  Just attach any extra finishing pieces, spots, stripes, arms, tails) to the sweat suit, add any required head gear (horns, antennae), and your little goblin’s good to go!

If you’re due to buy your child new pajamas, purchase ones that double as costumes like super heroes, animals, race car drivers, cartoon characters, or princesses.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Deborah Taylor-Hough is the mother of three grown and nearly grown kids still at home, a full-time college student, a displaced homemaker trying to make ends meet on a limited budget, and the author of several older (but still in print) books including the popular Frozen Assets cookbook series. You can visit Debi online at: http://www.SimpleMom.com