Halloween Costumes: Homemade or Store bought?

While chatting with one of my b/f/f's the other day she reminded me how she used to scrounge together what she could around the house to make a costume every year. I cracked up when I remembered her hobo/clown/punk rocker/Dolly Parton costumes. Back then the only costumes for sale were the plastic outfits that tied in the back with the cheesy masks. We would have killed to get our hands on them. Thankfully my mother wouldn't give in and buy me one and dressed me in a skirt made of tulle, a turtleneck, and handed me a wand made of aluminum foil. I looked adorable. One year she made ears out of cardboard and my cousin and I went as Mickey and Minnie Mouse (I was Minnie, of course. There was NO way I was dressing like a boy!). The only time I remember actually buying a costume was in college when I dressed up like a rabbit with my roommate and someone tried to set my fur on fire at the bar we were partying at (I vaguely remember smacking the guy and telling him my costume was a rental. Ah, good times!).

When my little guys came along I instantly started buying them adorable outfits off the Net. So far we have done Elmo, a Dalmatian, a chili pepper, Frankenstein, monkeys, and cowboys (I bought these authentic cowboy outfits in Dallas at RWA. I'm sure Tera remembers how I lost my tiny Dooney and Bourke wristlet in a store absolutely filled with crap and nearly had a panic attack!) Every year our town has a Halloween parade and then everyone goes to the firehouse for donuts and chocolate milk. They have a costume contest and I've, I mean, the boys have won several years in a row,except for last year, when everybody and their dog had to dress their kid as a cowboy. I'm getting kind of psycho about it. My husband loves to remind me that I usually spend AT LEAST a hundred dollars to win THREE! I remind him that it is the prestige, not the cash.

But this year we are on a serious budget. No Pottery Barn kids costumes here. I knew that I was going to have to think of something spectacular. I tried to think of something really great that NO ONE else would think of. Most of the year my thoughts have been with my little brother. He is a Navy diver and has been on an aircraft carrier in the middle of nowhere most of the year. So, as a tribute to my little brother, the boys are dressing up as scuba divers! Brilliant, right? We are going to wipe the firehouse floor with all those Batmans and Indiana Jones. Since we are in IL, and you never know if it is going to be twenty degrees or ninety degrees, I started out with a pair of blue long johns. I topped that with a surfer shirt, swim trunks, those weird looking water shoes, fins made out of cardboard to go over the shoes, two-liter bottles sprayed painted silver for tanks. We ran plastic tubing out of the tanks and attached them to those things football players wear in their mouths, and got them some awesome goggles with sharks on them. They look awesome and it didn't even cost very much! This isn't the best picture (something is wrong with my camera and I can't find my stupid manual)because you can't see half of their costume but you get the idea. Aren't they cute dressed as Scuba Shane's?

So tonight is the big night. Wish us luck! What was your favorite costume??

Still reading Killer Cruise...it's been a crazy week!

xo,

Stephanie

http://www.stephaniehale.com/