In Praise of Homemade (and Cheap) Halloween Costumes
One of my favorite memories of Halloween as I was growing up was the fun of brainstorming the perfect costume with my friends and siblings. It was less a discussion of "What will I be?" and more about "What's laying around the house that I can use?" In my household, there were no prefab costumes. You either had to be crafty or creative with your materials. I remember cobbling together a gypsy costume from my mom's scarves, jewelry and makeup. Another year I was a football player, thanks to my brother's uniform. (This was before Title IX, so I didn't have my own.) Another favorite was my Mary Poppins outfit, which only needed a suitcase, an umbrella and raincoat, and apple-red cheeks to pull off. No money was available for fancy trick-or-treat bags, either, so there was always a last minute grab for pillowcases. It was all simpler back then.
When I had my own children, I made an initial effort to uphold the do-it-yourself tradition. It was hard to resist the cute costumes at the party store, but when I saw the prices, I had sticker shock. Especially since I was buying for two kids at a time and the quality of the costumes seemed really shoddy, I would tend to go shopping for ideas, and then I'd create my own variation. So, one year the boys were construction workers and doctors and all I had to do was dig into the 'dress up' corner of the playroom and add a few touches, like nails and bandages. Another year the kids were superheroes, which involved adding a piece of felt to their superhero pajamas and, voila, a cape was born! I'll never forget watching my son fixing his Vaseline-moussed Superman curl over his forehead about a thousand times that day. (Come to think about it, this may have been the beginning of his obsession with his hair!)
At about age 5, my boys started to push against the DIY trend. They wanted the same outfits as their friends or else costumes recreating licensed characters like Pokemon that were impossible to recreate at home. So, I followed their lead, albeit a bit sadly, and I did the standard store-bought costume for a while. Then, for his 12 th Halloween, my son came home all excited about his costume idea. At that age, of course, they are starting to want to be individuals, so he wanted to do his own thing and not tell me about it. "Do you have a sheet, Mom?" he asked. That wasn't so surprising. "Do we have any lettuce, Mom?" That one threw me for a loop. I kept supplying him with household basics and wondered what he was up to. Finally, he came up from the basement with a crown from Burger King. His outfit was complete. He was a Caesar's Salad! And Halloween became fun once again!
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Boston Irish is actually Maureen O'Brien, a Shine Parenting Guru, mom of twins, and the founder of www.destinationparenting.com. Her musings can also be found on Galtime.com. She is passionate about all things parenting.
