As I mentioned, it’s that time of the year……

Halloween!

We love it around here, and can get pretty damn creative when the ideas of costumes come up. I have to go shopping for them this Friday, since we were invited to the special Olympics Halloween dinner and dance.

Now to my follow readers, I shall give you my take on how to make the holiday the best one yet.

Think outside the box. You may want to do kid friendly. That works, but make it so different, people ask you for tips!

Do not, and I repeat, do not break bank to decorate or get costumes. We start at the thrift stores, and sewing our own and move up. Remember, these kids and decorations are being used maybe two weeks if your eager. Why spend tons of money to use briefly?

Example, My teen son is a die-hard WWE fan. He decided to go as John Cena for Halloween. He had one of his many shirts he produced, and all I did was get the sweat bands, and hat. He has shorts and tennis shoes. Boom, Done. Awesome thing about it is, even after the holiday is done, he can still wear the stuff to school. 30.00 spent, and probably last another year or two.

Shop around, and ask around. Last year, my daughter went as a witch. The costume was given to her because her friend had a spare costume her mom was trying to get rid of. No shame is asking right. Even better, instead or throwing a costume away that gets too small, clean it up, and ask around if someone needs one. You never know who needs it, hard times out here. Do a good deed and pass it along.

Now, your probably wondering about decor right. It depends on your level of scary and what space you have.

About ten years ago, when I was still married, we lived in a ranch house in Las Vegas. We decided with the space we had, we could pull off an awesome decor outside. We came up with this idea of staging a ‘accident in the driveway’.

I took some old clothes of my ex’s, stuffed them with pillows, placed the ‘body’ at the end of the car, right behind the back wheel. I bought stove top stuffing, made it according to the box, and added red food coloring to it. Mixed it up and put it where the head would have been. My ex then used ketchup on his clothes, and waited by the side French doors we had, near the car.

Everytime trick or treaters (that were older) came by, I answered the door with my fake tears(true thespians can turn them on, like me), shaking, and he came out screaming “I thought the car was in park! I didn’t know!”

LMAO! Classic response, and the parents thought it was hilarious. Cost: 5.00 total.

Again, it depends on what you want to do, clean up, and the neighborhood you live in. It can be tricky, but if done right, can be fun.

This year, I’m toning it down, since I don’t have much space, but will think of something awesome and cheap. Also something I can reuse. Keyword: reuse. These stores make a killing on costumes and decor. Just like Christmas decor, I have the same philosophy. It needs to be reused for at least three years to be worth it. I also decided to take a new role a friend shared with me. It’s called the teal pumpkin movement. it’s new to me, but love the concept. It lets people know, I have different treats for kids who maybe allergic to common things, like nuts. Definitely lets everyone be included in the fun.

Take my tips and run with it. Post pics here or in the Facebook page. We all want to see the fun!

~CSM~