Halloween > DecorationsOctober 23, 2003

Freaky Frugal Halloween

By Rachel Webb
Freaky Frugal Halloween Retailers love Halloween. Kids love Halloween, but what about parents? With early preparation and frugal shopping, Halloween can be a relaxing holiday and a wonderful opportunity for families to spend quality time together. An online poll at Halloween Magazine shows that Moms are spending anywhere from $50 - $250 yearly buying costumes and decorating the house. How can you enjoy a freaky Halloween and still be frugal?

COSTUMES

Be creative and involve the whole family. Start by looking at your resources and work with what you have. Jan in Mapleton, Utah used her resources by dressing her children in her husband's UPS uniforms from work. The parents were the packages wearing big boxes with "handle with care" and "fragile" stickers. They were the hit of the neighborhood!

Since I have small children I try to purchase or make costumes that can be used for other purposes like Princess themed birthday parties or use storybook characters for school dress-up days, etc.

Remember to check out online auctions and goodwill stores for costume ideas. Clearance Sales are my favorite. http://www.Partysupermarket.com is an online store that gathers clearance items from several stores around the country and sells online for $4.99!

FRUGAL DECORATIONS

Carve an Amazing "Graveside Manner" Pumpkin jack-o-lantern using the FREE pattern found at: http://www.pumpkinmasters.com/freepattern.html

Try dressing up a scarecrow and have it up a few days prior to Halloween so the whole neighborhood gets used to seeing him as a fixtureÂ.then substitute a real person dressed as a scarecrow Halloween night!

Another cheap trick - Dig up small shovels of grass, then remove and saves a little of the dirt throughout the yard. Next fill the empty holes with grocery bags and puts the sod back on top. When Trick or Treater's walk on it they feel like the ground is moving!

TRICK-OR-TREAT BUCKET

Save your 1-Gallon plastic ice-cream buckets, let the kids decorate them with markers or with adult help paint on eyes with glow in the dark paint!

About The Author: The best way to enjoy a frugal and freaky holiday is to Plan Ahead, be Creative and look for unusual resources as an alternative to spending money! ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rachel Webb is a SAHM of 4 and designs decorative large Magnetic Fridge Calendars. Her calendars are made entirely out of heavy duty magnet, guaranteed not to slide off when the kids slam the fridge door! PERFECT Christmas Gift Idea! Visit her site: http://www.Note-Ables.com or e-mail: Rachel@Note-Ables.com

Feedback

Read feedback for this post below.

By Casey (Guest Post) 10/31/2008

I found some incredibly easy and fun ideas on this website: costumeideazone.com; go to the "fun and simple" link!

By Britt Y (Guest Post) 10/21/2008

I just made a wizard costume for my son for under $3. I dug out an old, black graduation gown, shortened it in half by tucking it under and safety pinning it, and decorated with shiny silver moons and stars out of sticky-back paper I already had. The gown is tied at the waist with a rope that we already had. I converted an old witch's hat into a wizard hat by adding the same kinds of stars and moons. I'll make a wand with materials we already have, too. The expense was in the faux white fur I found for half-price and some elastic to make a beard. He'll wear a black turtleneck, black jeans, and black shoes under the gown. No sewing, super fast, and at a great price.

By
09/27/2008

Our daughters witch costume still fits from last yr. So I bought some feather boa and some rind stone spiders from Michaels to jazz it up.Of course everything purchased with coupon! Now shes a glamorous witch

It has cost me less than $6 to make it look brand new. My other daughter is going to be a ghost and I'm going to do the same jazzing up on her costume.

I figure for two kids I will be spending less than $15 for costumes.

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