So, I don’t know about your house, but here we do Halloween to the hilt. It’s about the only fun, low-pressure holiday out there. Nobody gets bent out of shape if we bend tradition, there’s no sentimental historic memories to go with it, just pure fun and sugar rush.

In the past I haven’t home-made kids costumes, but I haven’t really had time either. This year, I decided to be thrifty. (Surprised?)

I traded the kids’ too-small costumes from last year for a pair of winter shoes for our little one from a local consignment store. Today I busted into the “Halloween bin” from the garage to take inventory. I found a big black feather boa leftover from a prior year’s decorations or costumes and combined it with a black T-shirt, some elastic (salvaged from a torn fitted bed sheet), and a manila envelope, as well as a mardi gras mask from a costumed charity auction from a few years back.

It took about 20 minutes to make this cute crow-costume for our four-year old.

Halloween 2008--A Crow!

Here’s how I did it:
1. Find a T-shirt (fitted women’s worked four our daughter–the length was perfect for a dress–but a hooded sweatshirt would also be great). Tack a length of the feather boa at the top of the shoulders and make an elastic loop to fasten at the wrist (this creates “wings”). Repeat on the opposite side.

2. Sew all but four inches of the remaining boa around the bottom hem of the T-shirt.

3. Sew the remaining boa around a piece of elastic to make a headband.

4. (Optional) Run a length of elastic through the bottom hem of the T-shirt, and pull it tight and tie it together to create a gathered look at the bottom.

5. (Optional) Tack loose feathers (there will be bunches) to the front of the T-shirt to make “belly feathers” for the little bird.

Mask instructions

For the mask, use a mardi gras mask with a triangle beak, or a headband with a beak. Alternately, you could add a beak to a hooded sweatshirt from felt. A mask could also be made from a painted paper plate.

If you have frugal costume ideas and would like to showcase them here, please email them to me at jessc098@gmail.com, and I will post them as well as a link back to your blog with instructions.