Halloweening

Sunshine, Thunderstorm, Winterstorm, Tornado, and a Rainbow.  

Not pictured: The weatherman who was still at work during the picture-taking part of the evening and two teenager wanderers, who are too cool to dress up with us anyway.

SUNSHINE!

Upcycled from Judah's Sandman costume and an old gypsy belt, Adele's costume was a breeze.  Just a sheet of glitter foam, a bit of gold netting and some gemstone stickers from the dollar store were all that were required.  We even made super long and dangly earrings from the foam- which you sadly can't see here.  We had leftover gold glitter face makeup that she used too.

Though the lighting is terrible and hides this fact... she REALLY shined!

Total cost: about $3.00

A Tornado:

A very fitting costume for this boy!  Though if you asked Moses, he would say that he was a "tomato".  By far, his favorite part of the costume was the hair gel.  It was the first thing he told everyone he saw. 

I used a metal hoop someone had given me previously, a 'snow' blanket from the craft store, some batting to create shape and a bunch of little toys hotglued on.  

Total cost around: $2.00

A RAINBOW:

The plan was always to make her this dress.  In fact, that dress was the inspiration for the entire theme this year.

And then, the day before Halloween, reality set in.  That's a whole lot of GATHERS.  That is a whole lot of piecing.  

Thankfully, I came to my senses and opted for an easier option.  I am relieved even now.  I was much less stressed.

Ineke made the glitter barrette herself.  We made a pot of gold from gold buttons we already had on hand.  She used a wig from the costume bin.  (After Halloween, I try and make a trek out to see if any wigs are 75% off.  This was one of those clearance wigs.)

The wig was her favorite part... I bet you can tell from the pictures.  ;)

Her costume was totally free- though I will say I regret using cotton balls for the trim instead of buying pompoms.  They were falling apart before we even left the house.

THUNDERSTORM:

Judah's costume was fabulous.  The flashing twinkle lights in the cloud were really awesome!  They were his (and everybody's!) favorite part.

A whole lot of cardboard, a whole lot of batting and a strand of twinkle lights that I already have. (I wove them in the batting in a way that they could be taken out again after Halloween.)

(I keep twinkle lights on hand for when the electricity goes out.  You should too!  They are handy things for stairways and bathrooms...trust me.)

Let this be a lesson to you:  When a neighbor calls and asks if you want a 3 foot box of batting- even if you have no room and have no projects in mind... always, ALWAYS say yes. 

Total cost: FREE!

WINTERSTORM:

A package of dollar store icicles and silver branches.  Some gemstones from Adele's gemstone sticker sheet.  Cotton balls and some stash odds and ends.  Earrings that were a gift years ago but matched perfectly.  

The whole shebang would have been a whopping two dollars except I saw this wig at Walmart and just HAD to have it.  My hair has been falling out so much this past year- there is very little that can be done with it at this point so I caved. 

 (I kinda wanna wear silver/pink/blue hair all the time now.)

The full-price wig made mine the most expensive costume this year with the total cost being:  $14.00

I know it is probably really boring to hear how much these costumes cost and what I used for supplies, but one of my favorite parts of costuming is how it can be done so cheaply.  You do not need to spend $20 (or more) per costume to look great.  

Frankly, it helps me justify the stash of craft/sewing supplies I keep all year long "just in case" I might need them.  ;-)

Speaking of neighbors giving us things, a neighbor said we could each taken a pumpkin from their patch to carve since our pumpkin patch grew not a single pumpkin this year.

(We have wonderful neighbors.)

We advocate for healthy eating...

"Children!  It is very important to eat your vegetables!  Here, have seconds!"