Around this time of year, moms are talking about costumes and how to find what you’re looking for and still save money.
During my first three years as a mom, I have taken a different route every year as far as finding costumes, but I try to strike the balance of finding costumes I really like–while not spending a ton of money. Here are a few options I have tried:
Make your own! The first year Mara was only ten months old. I really wanted her to have a soft, baby-girl costume–I didn’t really want her to be a funky animal or some sort of hotdog with mustard, you know? And the pumpkin idea is cute, but since she had no hair, we were constantly answering the “he?-or-a-she?” question about our baby girl, and I didn’t want to look back at pumpkin baby pictures some 20 years later and say ‘was this our son or our daughter?’
I found the perfect costume in Pottery Barn Kids magazine (I included the PBK picture here)! Naturally it was $59 before tax and shipping & handling. (How is it that I have such impeccable yet unaffordable taste?!) I’m sure some people pay that much for a Halloween costume, but for us it was not an option. I don’t pay that much for my own clothes, let alone a costume a kid is going to wear once or twice!
Still I loved that costume so much that, after seeing it, no other costume seemed to even compare. Friends would find me “flower” costumes other places. None of them were quite right. So I decided to make it myself.
In the end, I spent more than I’d hoped (probably close to $20) because I had to buy several kinds of fabrics (3 kinds of fleece and lining fabric for the hood), a zipper, velcro, elastic, gingham trim, thread, and embroidery floss for the flower designs on the sleeves and the bottom of the costume. If sewing were a more regular activity in my life, I’m sure I would have had most of the supplies (other than fabric) on hand. But I was very happy with the end result.
It wasn’t the Pottery Barn costume, but I felt my daughter was beautiful in the flower I had created.
Buy on Clearance after Halloween for Next Halloween! The second year I actually found the costumes on clearance in February. They were skunk costumes–of all things–but they were 99 cents each, at The Children’s Place. I was pregnant at the time, and didn’t know yet if Micah would be a girl or a boy, but I figured it would work either way. The kids could be the “Lil’ Stinkers.”After all, the experience of having two kids 17 months apart is better reflected in the ‘lil stinkers’ idea than a beautiful flower in a garden!
My husband was mortified that I would do this to our children (I said they were still young enough that it was cute!), but it was with great reluctance that he joined the Lil’ Stinkers and me for Boo at the Zoo. (And, no, my daughter isn’t running from the camera–she’s chasing geese at the zoo–and I’m showing off the back of the 99-cent costume!)
I figured it showed that we didn’t take ourselves too seriously. I mean, come on! Is there any costume that is really “classy”? Is it classy to be a monkey? or a pirate? or a skeleton? or a witch? These are costumes!
With moving twice, being on bedrest, and having a preemie in the NICU, there was no time for sewing costumes of my choice that year. I would make the same decision again in a heartbeat. Plus their costumes cost $1.98 total! You could hardly even make something at home that inexpensively–or find it at a thrift store or a consignment sale. I’m going to try to consign them next year for a dollar or maybe two and make my money back. Then I will feel fully vindicated on the whole skunk costume issue.
Buy Costumes on eBay a Month Ahead of Time. This year, my third year, I couldn’t decide for the longest time. I wanted my husband to be happy, so I decided to get the kids something a little nicer (which is not saying much since I spent only $1.98 the year before!). That’s another story, because when I told him, he said he thought all costumes were kind of tacky and pointless . . . which was my whole point last year . . . but . . . as I was saying . . .
I checked eBay for Old Navy costumes and found Mara the kitty costume (new with tags) for $3.50 + shipping. For Micah the lion costume (excellent used condition) for $5.99 + shipping. Total I spent less than $20. Each costume individually costs more than $20 if you buy them directly from Old Navy or Old Navy.com this year. (These costume pictures are just the pictures from eBay. Hopefully after this weekend, I will have some pictures of my kids in these costumes!)
The trick with buying costumes on eBay is to start bidding in mid- to late-September or very very early October. There is usually a decent selection at that point, and if you’re willing to bid on several auctions (and lose), you will probably be able to find what you’re looking for at a reasonable price. (Those Pottery Barn costumes are always expensive though. I’ve seen sold-out PBK costumes go for $150+ on eBay during the middle of October, so if you know what you’re doing, there is probably some money to be made there!)
Now that we know our next baby is a girl, I already found her costume for next Halloween at The Children’s Place on clearance. It was $3.99 (not quite 99 cents).
It’s not a skunk.
But she will be so stinkin’ cute!!!
And Daddy will love it. 
That’s all I’m saying about it now. (I have to save a little surprise for next year!)
Well, several options Work for Me as far as finding Halloween costumes and saving money . . . Find more Frugal Tips at Life as Mom.
When Micah was first born, I got him a blue Carter onesie that says, “The Cutest.” Actually, I got two: one in newborn size, the other in 12 months. When he was born premature at 32 weeks, it seemed incredibly encouraging to think past the baby stage and to imagine him as a one-year-old little boy. I think buying a 12-month set of onesies gave me a sense of hope and confidence that there really was an end to all the preemie craziness
