Homemade Halloween Costumes

When my sister and I were little, my mother always made our Halloween costumes.  A bunny, caterpillar, and ladybug to be specific.  I wore them until they no longer fit, at which time they were handed down to my sister.  We loved them– I still remember crawling around on the floor as a bug!  As my mom would say, they wouldn’t have won any awards.  They were crafted from mostly felt.  But the time and love that went into them made them so very special!

I vowed to make my daughter a costume this year, and I failed.  I just ran out of time.  So I pulled a Sandra Lee and went “semi-homemade”.  I think it’s a good compromise, but I could just be trying to make myself feel better.  The bad news is that I chose a “flower fairy” costume, the type I’m sure she’ll be wearing each year for her young life.  I should have chosen a kangaroo, or monkey, or something that I know she’ll refuse in the future.  But it was just so “her”!  The good news is that I did it on a budget, and managed to pull it together with very little effort.

I found this costume at Babies R Us, and it was on sale for $16.  The hat is a little over the top, so I think I’m just going to use a headband I already have for her:

Then I found this treat basket at Old Navy.  It was a bit more than I wanted to spend, but matched SO PERFECTLY.  I can reuse it as a basket in her room after Halloween is over, so it’s worth the $6.50 (note: it’s now on sale online for $3-$5, but this was the last one in the store).

Since it’s chilly up here around Halloween, she’ll need some leg warmers.  I couldn’t find the perfect shade of green, but I did find these from Etsy seller Salts:

If she were a bit taller, these would look cute (from Etsy seller LovelyLittleOnes):

 To finish the look, I have a pair of Robeez that fit the theme:

And it’s not pictured, but I do plan to go to Michaels and find a long stemmed tulip.  I’ll take off the leaves, wrap the stem in green ribbon, and maybe add a few fun ribbons near the top to make a tulip wand.  What do you think?  Here’s the price breakdown:

Fairy costume from Babies R Us: $16
Treat bag from Old Navy: $6.50
Baby Legwarmers (can be used again and again): $8.00
headband: free
Robeez: free
Tulip wand: about $3
TOTAL SPENT: $33.50, BUT $14.50 of that is toward reusable items so really only $19.00!