Hallowe'en & Cheap Costume Contest

So, how was your Hallow's Eve?  Ours was Good Times, considering the boys were recovering from strep throat.  And that Dawk Vader wiped out face first in his helmet right out of the gate in broad daylight.  He spent most of our trick-or-treating time in his stroller, helmet-free.  Cody from StarWarsCloneWars brought home a heavy bag of loot.  And Daddy and I went as lazy pirates.  Camille's girl was a wizard!  Don't call her a witch or a fairy, she hates that!

that is not me in a thong

THANK YOU for your pics for the Cheapest Costume Contest!  Here are a few entries!  TWO DAYS LEFT to win our secret prize, so if you're reading this, use the email button in the sidebar or just email me directly from your address book and attach your pics and prices!  Contest ends Friday November 5th!
From Grace, we have:

The witch was 7.00, hat and dress from the thrift shop. Indiana Jones was: Total $11 , $2 hat at Thrift shop, mint condition GAP boys cowhide jacket Value Village $9 (will be used as a jacket for some years as it’s big! LOL) whip was from Santa last year rest was regular clothes and some brown makeup for 5 o’clock shadow

 Adding to show you my ghost and vampire from about 4 years ago, shredded sheet, cheesecloth, and makeup, regular clothes and $2 thrift shop vest + generic cape from VV did the trick!! Those were my cheapest yet.  And the scariest actually, kids at preschool found them a bit too scary....Grace(yes, Grace, they scare the crap out of me, too!)

From Rachael:
                                             

Ha! Well written, that made me laugh both in rememberance of my own Halloween years and also for the irony of your post and how closely it resembles my own sentiments  about our excessive consumption as a population in general. I'm frugal like you, for the most part. Costumes for my kids usually come from Value Village.This kittie costume from a couple years ago cost $4.99, all second hand.  

The picture of the kids wearing shopping bags are not Halloween costumes but they were costumes the kids made for fun, which I realize may me look like I am too cheap to buy toys but the truth is they did this themselves. I do feel that  kids have more fun creating imaginary play than they do playing with painted plastic, that's why they play

 with the box at Christmas time....Rachael

and From Lurene:

Rock Star.  $7 total.  Wig $7 (USA yeeeeeeeeears ago....) / vest $0 (mine, from my closet yeeeeeeeeeears ago..) / pleather pants? $0 (MINE ...from yeeeeeeeeears ago....) / electric guitar? $0.  His Dad’s (from 1983) 

Snake Charmer / Aladdin.  $3 total.  Vest $0 (again,...mine...) / pants $0 my sister Shannon actually WORE these in the 80’s  - God love my Mother “the Hoarder”!  Shoes. $0 They were a gift from James on a recent trip to India.  Turbin. $0 it’s my favorite scarf.  Sword. $3 Value Village (yeeeeeeeeeeears ago).....Lurene

And we've got a surprise posting from our own mama!  I am busted for not remembering my costume correctly--here is the real deal and some perspective from when we did it Old School:

Here’s an archival photo of the blogging sisters (Saf & Camille) dressed up for Hallowe’en the old fashioned way.  Not a sheet but a really nice (but old and stained) tablecloth sacrificed for the occasion and the Christmas tinsel on the end of a chopstick was not to be sneezed at either...  Cost: $0, result: a fairy or an angel?  A bit of makeup to paint a big smile onto our clown, a minor investment for a red bowler hat, a borrowed tie and the cost probably came to $2 on that costume.  Every Hallowe’en there was a scramble to cobble together something.  Imagination was a key ingredient.  It was fun! Mama