this is fucking awesome
If you are of modest income, as I am, I’m sure you have noticed that brand new Halloween costumes for kids are absolutely unaffordable. And if you can afford them, but you think it is insane to spend $35 for a costume your kid will wear for one day and grow out of before it’s seasonally appropriate again, then you can be in this boat too. Come on, let’s go. To the thrift store. (That’s why the title, y’know? Macklemore, thrift shop. OK)
The key is getting there early in the month. The week before Halloween is too late, all the good stuff is gone by then. Consider yourself warned. We went today.
This photo is fucking terrible, my apologies. If you look closely, you can see my neighbors huge blow up pumpkin/ghost lawn decoration across the street.
We scored: a black and red ninja costume in good condition which fits my younger son perfectly, $7. A black hooded cloak for my older son, $4. A disco ball light wand, which sometimes goes off by itself(maybe it’s haunted?), but will go back on if you shake it, $2 (would have been worth the sticker price if it worked right, but I’m not mad, the thrift store is a charitable organization after all, this one benefits the American Cancer Society). A foam skull which my older son wants hanging around his neck, $1. And a jack-o-lantern beenie baby for me, $2. Total = $16 plus tax.
My favorite part of all is that my kids are thrilled with these new-to-them items. And I love it when my sweet boys are happy. They deserve it.
Do you already have Halloween costume plans in the works? Or are you more of a day-of costume creator if you get dressed up at all? Do your kids love Halloween the way mine do?
40 comments on “this is fucking awesome”
Honk at me:
Blog posts and images by The Honking Goose are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at https://thehonkinggoose.wordpress.com/.
The Honking Goose 
well I usually bought costumes off season – just for fun – and to have in skit box – so that helped when October rolled around. anyhow, wanted to share that my favorite costume for one of my kids was a homemade one I made (might be the only homemade one I ever made too) but it was March and we had just moved – and he begged for a “link” costume – you know – form Zelda – and it came out “okay” (not bad) and he loved it – and we still have the hat (simple green fleet…)
LikeLike
Oh my kids (and my husband as a matter of fact) love the Legend of Zelda games. It took me a long time before I realized the main character was Link, not Zelda. That’s a good costume idea. 😀
LikeLike
When my children were young they loved Halloween, but we never bought costumes, we couldn’t afford them plus the children never liked the store bought ones. Thankfully hubby is creative and I can sew, so all their costumes were made. Once the kids were old enough, they would help, then make their own.
LikeLike
I bet the costumes we create ourselves are more memorable, too. 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ll wear your Halloween clothes, I look incredible….
LikeLike
😀
LikeLike
We found some sort of melting-skeketon face mask with a hooded burlap-looking shirt and jagged pants costume for my youngest for $10 at a thrift store. It appears to come with a sound box. I think maybe there is supposed to be a wire to a button he could press to make ghoulish noises. With an electrical engineering degree, I’d like to think I could fix the sound box… assuming I find the time.
Speaking of time, I always made my costumes growing up. Or my mom did when I was really young. That was even cheaper than thrift store finds, more creative, more impressive… but who’s got time for that?!
Still on the prowl for my fifth grader and the eighth grader is on her own. My biggest problem is that all 3 of them have birthdays next week so Halloween almost always sneaks up on me before I’m ready. We accidentally ended up in the thrift store where we acquired the above-mentioned costume.
LikeLike
My mom sewed some really elaborate costumes for my sister and I when we were little. I have no clue where she found the time. My boys both have birthdays in the next week, too! A couple of times we’ve done a joint birthday party with a Halloween theme, which was fun. This year we’re skipping the parties and celebrating with family.
LikeLike
We used to do joint parties when there were just two of them and they were young. A couple of years ago, we tried to essentially run 3 simultaneous parties for ages 12, 9, and 4. It was exhausting! So no more group parties. Plus, a 14 year old girl doesn’t want to share a party with a 6 year old boy anyway. This year, the girl is taking some friends to a museum and out to eat tomorrow. The middle child is having a slumber party next Friday, and the youngest will have a bounce house at a park next Sat afternoon. And then the family who are coming next weekend, we’ll have a meal together Sat evening. I’m gradually learning how to make it easier on us. 🙂
It’s cool that your kids have birthdays next week too! My boys actually share a birthday and their sister’s is two days later. They have a cousin with a birthday exactly a week later. 4 of my mom’s 5 grandkids have birthdays in the same week!
LikeLike
Sounds like you have a whole lot going on, birthday wise. Taking a friend or two for a special day is always a good alternative to a party, we’ve done that, too. Where we used to live there was a pumpkin patch with bounce houses and we would do that at the end of the day and let the kids pick our a pumpkin to take home.
LikeLike
Halloween is my very favorite holiday! When my daughter was little she was not allowed to be anything but frightful. No princess, no fairy, no pink Power Ranger, none of it. It was all fright wigs, blood pouring from her mouth, glow in the dark spiders sewn onto her costume, ah yes the good old days. She carries on the idea as a grown woman, no sexy french maid costume for her. Glad your day looks like it will be awesome 😉
LikeLike
Love it! Good for her. 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
When I was young, all those years ago, there wasn’t a costume shop within 75 miles, and the Internet was just a gleam in a Sci-Fi author’s eye, so my mom costumed me. I was usually a cowboy or a homeless man. Back then they were commonly known as bums. (Even reading that, it sounds and feels so politically incorrect.) My always politically incorrect mother once dressed her neighbor boys in white shirts, white slacks and sandals, and sent them out as migrant farm workers (Mexicans to her).
LikeLike
I guess that would be pretty horrid to do these days, but retrospectively it almost seems quaint and endearing in how naive it is. One day if ghosts and zombies achieve equal rights will we be appalled that we used to dress our children up as them for holiday?
LikeLike
That is nice to know your children don’t complain that it isn’t ‘new’ most the people I knew in my time would have been little snobs about it.
LikeLike
yes… spare the frugality and spoil the fruit… or something like that… IDK, it’s late….
LikeLike
I’m going to be a zombie & my boyfriend is going to be Rick from The Walking Dead. I don’t have any human children but my cat children will be snuggling with my parents watching television.
LikeLike
Love it! We’re watching season 4 on netflix right now and trying hard to make it last.
LikeLike
My son wants to be wreck it ralph which seems easy enough ovarals shirt plus some hair gel. I think I will go classic pumpkin for my baby girl. I am doing a more complex costume for myself. Provided I can get all the materials. Ace bandages, pads for covering my fake bloody wounds and the ingredients to make fake blood that won’t stain my every day wear. Make it yourself or thrift store that stuff!! 😀
LikeLike
It’s even worse if you want to get a semi-decent complete look as an adult. There’s no way I can drop $100+ for an outfit I can only wear for one night!
LikeLike
I like to put on a fancy dress (already in my closet and rarely worn) and some fake blood (slit across the neck, bloody tears) – cheap as can be – good to go!
LikeLike
That’s pretty much what I did last year. I had a great yard-sale velvet vintage style dress and white ghost makeup. This year I’m rocking my skeleton sweater with some cheap skeleton leggings and a skirt I already have.
LikeLike
🙂
LikeLike
Yep, gave up on the whe store bought costume thing a couple of years ago. Now it’s just a piece here, a piece there.. So much better. I already have all we need for a total cost of about$20 for both kids
LikeLike
It’s just one night, and every kid knows its really all about the candy!
LikeLiked by 1 person
That is awesome! we also use the thrift store a lot, this year our son is going as Captain Jack Sparrow (Pirates of the Caribbean) , we got him his costume at the thrift store then hit the dollar store for his pirate sword 🙂
LikeLike
Hooray! Thrift shop for the win!
LikeLike
Great idea! We get ours from walmart for maybe $20 each. Outrageous IMO. My mom used to make ours. I’ll never know how she did it; a single mom with 3 jobs. I’ll never be that organized lol
LikeLike
My mom sewed some really good costumes for me and my sister a couple of years. One time she took a huge paper lantern and paper-mached it and painted it orange and made my little sister into a pumpkin.
LikeLike
No THAT is cool.
LikeLike
I love your post! As kids we used to always create our costumes – cardboard was a hot commodity. My step daughter gets a generic store bought pixie, fairy, witch, something or other every year…it makes me sad as if nothing is ‘special’ or exciting anymore for kids.
LikeLike
What could be more exciting than dressing weird and getting free candy from strangers? Bring it on…
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s what I always did growing up too. I went as a die (singular dice) once, a tube of toothpaste, a Reader’s Digest. I also feel a little sad as I buy a costume for my kids. Like I’m cheating them out of the opportunity to be creative.
LikeLike
Readers Digest- that’s great! A boy in my neighborhood went as a box of crayola crayons one year – all painted cardboard and totally awesome! If your children are interested in creating a costume – why not help? My SD is not even interested, she is terrified of not “fitting in”. 😦
LikeLike
I think my kids are perhaps in the same boat as your SD. They haven’t expressed any interest. I think I’m going to suggest it to my fifth grader though. They are all in Destination Imagination so making their own costumes ought to be right up their alley!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love that you are able to find the fun stuff at the thrift stores. I love dressing up, but haven’t had time or money to do so in recent years. This year, however, I have the perfect costume. All it’s going to take is about 30 minutes and a can of hair spray. (Shedding long haired cat + brush vigorously + hair spray all over = cat person!) I just hope I don’t shed as bad as the cat does, or I’ll be bald by the end of the day!
LikeLike
For myself, I like to do a fancy dress with some fake blood. Bloody tears are good. Or a bloody slit across the neck. Or both.
LikeLike
::Laughs:: I would go that route, but as I work with patients having health issues (and all of them have pets of one sort or another) I would rather not risk giving them heart attacks. The sasquatch look should get them all laughing to tears. So long as I don’t go bald along the way from their pets trying to “scent” mark me to death!
LikeLike
LOL, laughter is the best medicine, so that sounds like a good idea.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I try. There are times I fail, but I do try.
LikeLike