halloween on a budget

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About a month ago, I posted about how I was going to attempt to make my kids awesome costumes for a total of $40 or less. Did I do it? Absolutely! I couldn't come back here saying I had failed, right?

 In my previous post, I had no clue what Alex had wanted to dress up as, but I had determined that Katie would be Little Red Riding Hood.  Well, obviously that didn't work out so well!  My sweet little two year old has a mind of her own and absolutely insisted on being a monkey.  

 Here she is, at our MOMS Club Halloween party.  This is the only time she wore the ears at all.  For this costume, I made a leotard-type shirt out of brown furry fabric, adding a little cream tummy.  The top was baggy enough to give her some more body, so she didn't resemble a skinny monkey, and had a long stuffed tail attached.  The tail was so long it dragged the ground and, if I had it to do over again, I would shorten it just a little because it seemed to bother her a bit.  To make the ears, I wrapped an old headband in matching fabric, sewed and stuffed two semi-circles, and hot-glued it all together.  She wore the get-up with a pair of leggings and a shirt that she already had.  Here's how it breaks down:

Fabric: $10 for a total of 1/2 yard.

Snaps: $2

Total: $12

I had the stuffing, thread, headband, glue, leggings, and shirt on hand.

Alex decided he wanted to be a ghostbuster.  Pretty simple, right?  Well, I had to search all over for a khaki shirt because I waited until the last minute and thought that it would be easy to purchase.  I should have ordered online weeks prior because I went to many stores and a men's size small was the best I could come up with.  That's okay, my little munchkin liked it anyway.  I painted the ghostbuster logo on one sleeve and his name on the left chest pocket.  We paired the shirt with a pair of khaki pants and his belt.  Then, I had to make the proton pack.  I happened to have an old vacuum extension, so that worked out nicely.  I hot-glued that to a piece of foam board, added some faux-tupperware containers, and spray painted the whole thing black.  Then, I dissected a backpack that we never used and stapled the straps to the board.  Grandma completed the outfit by purchasing those goggles at the Spirit of Halloween store.  He loved it!  And, he got more compliments than I even could have imagined for such a homemade costume.

Shirt: $7

Red and white paint: $6

Black spray paint: $1

Tupperware containers: $2

Foam board: $4

Pipe cleaners: $1

Goggles: gift

Total: $21

Total for two costumes: $33.  I even had enough left over to buy that fun Halloween shirt for $5.  Score!

**Photos courtesy of Amy Stamp.