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.
View Comments so far ↓
[...] Jessica at The Pennywise Family went digging into her Halloween bin for ideas and … you’d be amazed at the costume idea she came up with based on stuff she already owned! [...]
This does look like a cool costume! Problem is, I can't sew. I've tried multiple times, and it turns into a pitiful mess.
I believe in being frugal, though, which is why DD wore the same costume two years in a row and DS will be wearing the costume from last year this year, too! (They're little enough that I can get away with that.)
There's like no sewing at all to this–I did it all by hand and it's really just tacking and knotting and since the feathers are so outrageously sloppy, you can't tell if it looks like %)#*#)%*. Alternatively, a hot-glue-gun would do the trick. –Jess
Mmmm, that makes it a possibility then! I can sew on a button and darn a sock, so it sounds like I could do this. Thanks, Jess
[...] Jessica at The Pennywise Family went digging into her Halloween bin for ideas and … you’d be amazed at the costume idea she came up with based on stuff she already owned! [...]
Mmmm, that makes it a possibility then! I can sew on a button and darn a sock, so it sounds like I could do this. Thanks, Jess
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by The Frugal Family. The Frugal Family said: Another tip for a frugal Halloween – RT @jessc098: a frugal halloween costume–salvaged materials and super cute! http://bit.ly/ZkgAL [...]