Happy Halloween (and more thrifted, use-what-you-have costumes!)

We finished up the kids' costumes last night, and it was Dance Party USA in our house. We're all pretty happy with costumes this year, and the only new thing we had to buy was a pair of brown kneesocks (which will get lots of wear after the fact). This spider came together easily:

A thrifted sweatshirt, and I made the spider legs by cutting apart some black leggings, stitching them into tubes stuffed with pillow stuffing. They are stitched to the sides of the sweatshirt, and I used black ribbon to attach them to one another. His mask is made from some, ahem, breast pads that came from a swim suit (but don't tell him that). I held onto to them for so long thinking certainly I could use them one day. This was my mom's idea! We had the hat, and the antennas are just craft foam stitched on. The web is butcher string!

Then there's madam Luke Skywalker:

She has assumed the jedi attitude. A thrifted kid's karate shirt, and a belt resized for a slim waist. The rest is just khaki pants rolled to the knee, with brown kneesocks and mary janes to give the illusion of boots. The jedi robe was made from a thrifted velvet curtain panel, and I followed these awesome, simple instructions. The piece de resistance is the light saber, made from a flashlight, a clear plastic tube, some green tissue paper rolled along the inside, and strapping tape holding it together. Conceived of and created in three minutes! We don't need no stinkin' store-bought light saber!

Here are a few other crafty ideas:

This robot was made by a preschooler and his mama, and I love it!

Yes, those are tofu containers and bottlecaps glued on and spray painted over. I witnessed this one in person, and it was genius! As was this one:

A shoebox guitar, painted up rock-n-roll style and festooned with random hardware. He had his hair spikey, temporary tattoos on his arms, sunglasses, and that's all you need for a rock star!

Finally, Jill sent us this cute photo of her little Minnie Mouse:

That's a Minnie Mouse hat she's holding, a gift from her auntie, and amazingly her mom found this almost perfectly matching dress at a thrift store, along with the leggings and mary janes. Too cute.

I love this thrifty DIY spirit that so many people have embraced for Halloween. Yeah, sometimes it takes a little longer to assemble than an off-the-rack costume, but it's a lot of fun and it's just one more little thing we can do.

Have a spooky weekend, y'all!