Saturday, October 9, 2010

How to Pick a Great and Frugal Halloween Costume for a Baby or Toddler!

Halloween is almost here and panic sets in when you think of picking the perfect costume. You know that your child will be too young to remember yet it is still important to you. Price also comes into play.. do you want to spend an enormous amount of cash on something that will be used once? Well stop panicking and read on to learn about  some great options you have this year to save you money and keep that cutie of yours comfortable and warm! I will share with you some options that I have come across in my search.

Double Duty
Many popular brands of clothing are creating pajamas that double as costumes. Giving you the most for your money and ensuring that your child is extremely comfortable. A comfortable child means that they might actually keep the costume on!
Here are some options like this I have found:

The "Glow in the Dark Skeleton" 
You can buy this in either the traditional black with white bones or you have the choice of pink for a girl! finish the look with some face paint.


The "Race Car Driver"
Your little guy (or gal!) will be ready to go! Finish the look with a ball cap.

The "Little Dancer"
For the sweetest little girl. Complete with a tiny tutu!
A great finishing touch would be some ballet flats and pinning up a bun in any hair she has!
(more like this can be found on Carters.com)

Sweat Suit Costume
Another money saving option is to use a plain colored sweat suit as your base and add on various things to create a custom costume. Then once the events are over, you can simply remove what you added and your child can wear the sweats all winter long!


You can add create animals easily by adding a oval to the tummy, ears to the hood or spots all over! Safety pin a tale on that you make from a stuffed pantyhose. Pipe Cleaners make great antennae and you can attach these to a hood or a headband. You can then paint the childs face or add whiskers with your eyeliner! To make "Veggie" suits, be creative...for example for a Carrot put the child in a orange sweat suit and a orange beanie cap and poke green pipe cleaners through the top of the beanie sticking straight up.

Here are some adorable examples of Sweat Suit Costumes:

A "Red Hot Chili Pepper" is easy, all you need is a red sweat suit a dark green hat and take a piece of green felt and cut a circle in the center and leaves on the edges and just like that you are done. What a cutie!


A Crayola Crayon is fairly easy. You can use solid colored pajamas or sweat suit. This one is definitely one of my favorites! And versatile because you can use any color! How great would it be to get your child's friends in on it and each a different color?

Another of my absolute favorites this year is this Octopus idea! Which is good for really young babies that aren't mobile or older children. Because the hanging parts might trip a wobbly toddler and confuse a crawler. You can make the face simply with adhesive backed felt or you can sew it on and your child can wear it all winter with the cute face left on.




Here are some additional links to DIY costume ideas!

Kaboose: Homemade Halloween costumes
Parents Connect: Extensive list of costume ideas
Rookie Mom: Amazing resource for Costume ideas and inspiration


So you could go out and spend $20, $30 maybe even $50 on a costume for your child this year, but why would you?  There are many frugal options that make more sense. Options that are homemade with love and options that a reusable.  If you insist on a store bought costume, why not host a "Costume Swap" with all your local mom friends to switch costumes that you have from previous years withe each other. Then switch back after the festivities. If all else fails save some money by shopping at a local consignment shop or Craigslist. There is bound to be tons of costumes is near perfect condition. This has inspired me to make my sons costume every year and I hope I inspired you as well. I hope you all have a safe and fun Halloween. Happy Tricks and Treats! ;)

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