Tag Archive for costumes

13 Ways to Have a Frugal Canadian Halloweeen

October 24, 2012 / Common Cents Mom / One comment

favoritehalloween 13 Ways to Have a Frugal Canadian HalloweeenThere are gremlins that come each and every holiday, that are seeking out the dollars that are in our wallets! So how do we keep those money gremlins at bay at Halloween. How do we have a frugal Canadian Halloween?

I have 13 ways you can keep those gremlins at bay:

1. Plan your spending like your would any other expense. Have you budgeted for Halloween?

2. For costumes check for freebies: take advantage of sites like Freecycle, Craigslist, and Kijiji. Start looking at these sites in November for next Halloween. Keep your eyes open for freebies.

3. Shop your closet! When I was young we always made our costumes from things that existed at home. Some of my best memories are in those costumes.

4. Thrift It: Value Village, Salvation Army, or your local thrift store are great places to concoct great costumes.

5. Decor wise: reuse, recycle, thrift or dollar store it. We reuse our past supplies, and grab the few new musts (cobwebs is a new buy every year as are candles both for us) come from a local dollar store. Gravestones were made from cardboard, and past decorations are used.

6. With a little bit of time you can plan a costume swap in your neighborhood. Each year your child our grows their costume so why not set up and neighbourhood exchange and your kids can get something that fits them?

7. Talking of costumes what is the cheapest one I can think of? After seeing so many Zombies walk by me downtown this weekend I was quickly reminded how quick and easy it is to assemble one. Got something old in your closet, something that is ready for the donation pile, tear it up a little and there you got your zombie.

8. Are you a crafter? Check for coupons for your favorite craft store. I know Michaels had a 40% off coupon on one item this week. Definitely would help if you are the creative sort.

9. Dig the deal sites? I have even notices some of them have had Halloween deals. I love sites like that aggregate the deal sites. Deliver the Deals is just one site that does this.

10. Like to have a Halloween menu ..check out some of these creepy items your can find on Pinterest.

11. Check for coupons and sales when it comes to candy. I love sites like Grocery Alerts where I often check for coupons and sales here.

12. Make pumpkin carving an event. Some of my best memories are of carving together.This is an old fashioned staple that every family loves.

13. Shop the after sale. Don’t forget after Halloween you can get some of the best deals for next Halloween.

 

Category: Frugal Tips / Tags: , , , ,

Frugal Halloween Costume Ideas

October 11, 2012 / Common Cents Mom / One comment
6296636071 22f5d2092e Frugal Halloween Costume Ideas

The Evolution of My Halloween Costume © by Stacie Stacie Stacie

 

With both the SheConnected Conference and Blissdom Canada around the corner many a woman are searching for the perfect costume.

Last year I wrote this post about frugal costumes.

First with there being an 80′s themed party Friday Night, how to make the perfect outfit?

Think neon, think leg warmers, think oversized sweatshirt ( which you can get cheap at Value Village-then cut), think badly permed hair, lots of curls, and don’t forget the leggings. Right now much of what you might want to use can be found at the dollar store or local thrift store. Ardene’s is also a great source with a great supply of everything neon.

Now what about the costumes and Karaoke at Blissdom Canada? Having been the past 2 years, people are very creative but there are many ways you can do this frugally.

I posted a number of frugal ideas before, check those out, and adding to those 10 here are a few more.

I love the bandit pictured above, think simple and easy to dance in!Black pants, turtleneck, black stocking cap and a black bag..pretty easy right

How about as a spa girl? Ideas for this one: green face paint to stimulate a mask, robe, slippers, pjs and sleep mask.

There is also the classic nerd: a must for this one is the old glasses with reinforced tape, too small pants, shirt with pocket and lots of pens.

A hunter is a good one for the guys in the crowd. Think camouflage clothing, face paint, and an old army belt and a canteen.

A bag of jellybeans is my new favorite, clear large bag, and some colored balloons and there you are a bag of jelly beans.

What are some of your frugal ideas? If you are attending either, care to share your costume?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Category: Frugal Tips / Tags: , , ,

Creating the Perfect Costume

October 10, 2011 / Common Cents Mom / One comment

All last week I promised my 13-year-old daughter I would take her shopping, costume shopping that is. usually we have created her costumes over the years from stuff at home. Frugal, smart, maybe, cheap yes! But this year she considers it her real last year to go trick or treating so she wanted and wants the perfect costume. She saved and budgeted for it. She dreamed it, and then when her school decided that it would be turning the school into a haunted doll house for Halloween she knew she just had to be a bat queen.She says she can hang out near the roof.

I think her desire to be a bat might come from being born in Carlsbad, New Mexico where thousands of bats make a nightly flight.

So bat queen shopping we went. First store we hit market themselves as the largest costume store in Canada..as we hunted for perfection my dear daughter started to get angry with what she saw. As she tried on costume after costume, the more frustrated she got.

051 224x300 Creating the Perfect Costume
Can you see the issues she might be having? Everything was too short. Too sexy. My dear daughter said and I quote” Everything makes me look like a Halloween Hooker”

Since when do we even have to sexualized costumes for tweens? and I even saw some for younger kids as well? Do you, do I really need to send my daughter out the door looking like a tramp?

My dear daughter and I left store A and went to store B which was a brand new Halloween store that opened right near my daughter’s school. Again there were the Halloween hooker outfits as Rachel called them. At this store Rachel looked over to the boys costumes and said “Mom why is it that boys get decent costumes that can cover a body while us girls get garbage?”

We went on to store C a major retail chain store that is both American and Canadian and again it was more of the same.

My tween came home without a costume, and frustrated because she had this vision.

So after our morning in High Park yesterday, we headed to Value Village on the suggestion of one of my twitter friends..Again we saw the Halloween Hooker outfits but we found other options as well especially in the used area. Finally she found her perfect black dress..she then found bat wings. She now has purple and black tights, a black dress, wings, a purple necklace and a crown..so finally after much searching we were able to make her costume dream a reality.

But what is with the sexualization of our kids costumes? What do you think when you take your teen, tween or teen to get a costume these days, especially if you have a daughter. How are you able to get your daughter a costume that is decent? What have you had to do?

If young teens are noticing the sexualization of the costumes shouldn’t we as parents be saying a bit more?

 

 

Category: Opinion / Tags: , , , ,
 
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