Costume Extravaganza On A Budget! (pic heavy, yo)

[ErikaRobin]

I finished them.  It was a bit of work, but I used my noggin and made costumes for my girls' night of Trick or Treating fun.  Behold my frugal feats of creativity: 

Here we see Miss Madison sporting the Carmen Miranda attire also known as my "Havana Dancer" costume from Guys And Dolls in 1987. I had to take it in and up about eight inches.  Little shrimp wanted to show MORE leg and wear gallons of make-up.  I let her wear only the one gallon.  This one cost $0.00 out of pocket expense.  :)

Next we have Samantha's "backup costume" since she has to be able to sit down at preschool and cannot wear the next creation.  Mommy DIDN'T make anything but the headband and choker on this one.  I found the dress at Goodwill ($2.38) along with a full, long tutu (also in blue and also $2.38) to give the ballgown it's fullness.  Lily wore this a few years back. Total cost of this creation for this year?  $2.99 for the headband.  :) 

This is the one Sam's really excited about wearing.  She's wanted to be Spongebob all year and when I happened to receive a box that was the perfect shape, I said, "Heck, yeah, you can be Spongebob!"   Materials purchased for the man with the rectangular body cost a total of $6.50 for two yards of plain yellow fabric and a quarter yard of brown, plus two sheets of felt at $.25 each for the Krusty Krab work hat.  It's not the greatest angle to show off the hat, but I made it to make her widdle melonhead a part of the ensemble so she wouldn't look like a severed head on top of Spongebob.  All other materials were just things we had around the house.  (His belt and eyelashes are made of strips of electrical tape and the socks were just soccer tube socks colored with Sharpie markers.  Yes, I am a genius.)

Lastly, we have Lily in her Present Costume.  She'll actually be wearing a black turtleneck and black leggings under the costume tomorrow night, but you get the idea.  Thank heavens our microwave 'sploded and we had to buy a new one or we wouldn't have had a box big enough.  The wrap and bow were from my Christmas Wrapping Stash, so nothing was spent on that.  This one cost the most ($99.00) but we did get a microwave out of the deal.  ;) 

This concludes Riki's Costume Fashion Show.  Pray that it doesn't RAIN tomorrow night.  And please, recycle.  Thank you. 

[boogernoodle]

Oct. 29, 2009 at 11:32 AM

Wow!You are amazing woman!!!!Your girls look great

[JessecaLynn]

Oct. 29, 2009 at 11:41 AM

Those are great!

[Krystal.Ingalls]

Oct. 29, 2009 at 11:42 AM

Wow!  These look amazing!  Great job! 

[cleanaturalady]

Oct. 29, 2009 at 11:57 AM

You are very creative.  I love all the costumes.  I hope the girls get lots and lots of candy this weekend.

[parrishsky]

Oct. 29, 2009 at 12:28 PM

I'm impressed, especially with SpongeBob !! Great $aving$ too!!!

[KTMOM]

Oct. 29, 2009 at 12:32 PM

wow!  you rock.  i wish i were that creative.

[Guinhyvar]

Oct. 29, 2009 at 12:40 PM

AMAZING! Good job, Riki :)

[callmeann]

Oct. 29, 2009 at 1:04 PM

Now THIS is what Halloween is all about.  We were very broke when I was growing up and we always had cool costumes that cost no money and were long on creative Mom influence.

Your girls are ultra-cute.

[sapient]

Oct. 29, 2009 at 1:35 PM

Holy crap that's amazing!! And now when people say "so, what do you do all day anyway" you can show them these ;-)

You are so creative. I suck.

[clairandamjones]

Oct. 29, 2009 at 2:26 PM

I'm agape at that SpongeBob face.  I had no idea Riki was so artistic.  To think, her creative brilliance doesn't end with the written word...

Have a fun Halloween with your adorable brood!