Madeline, a Court Jester, and Tigger.
Madeline
For this costume I took a straw hat that I already had and painted it yellow. I just took some acrylic paint, mixed it with water and applied with a sponge brush. I put some thick black ribbon around it with a bow in the back.
I found a very nice coat for 50% off at Burlington Coat Factory and paid $24 for it. It is a really nice Rothschild dress coat that my daughter will wear all year long to church. I hate buying cheap costumes that only get worn once. I would rather pay a little more for the real deal and get some use out of it after Halloween. Instead of a red bow like Madeline wears in the books, I decided to make a scarf that my daughter could also use during the year. I paid $1 for 1/4 of a yard of fleece and let my daughter make the scarf by cutting the edges and stretching them (I love costumes that also keep my kids warm).
I even went a step further and bought my daughter this plaid dress from JCPenny. It was 50% off making it $24, and she loves it. Plaid is really in style right now and this dress will get a lot of use for the whole year (It even matches the dress her Madeline doll wears).
Here is the store bought version of the costume that costs $26.99 and does not include the dress. I paid a total of $50 and will get a lot of use out of the coat and dress during the entire year.
If you are not familiar with Madeline, she is a character from a book series by Bemelmans. The Madeline books are one of my favorite children's books in the world. Check out the Madeline site if you want to learn more.
Court Jester
My son learned how to juggle this year and wanted a jester costume. We already had a hat (birthday present along with juggling clubs). I found the jester shirt at the thrift store for $6 and I made the pants and shoe covers. I spent $5 on flannel and made jammie bottoms that my son could use all year long. He loves this idea because Halloween will never really have to end for him this way. He actually insisted on wearing them to bed the night before Halloween and loved that when he woke up, he was already wearing half of his costume.
For the shoe covers I just sewed the curvy shape and stuffed some leftover batting in them and slipped them over his shoes. I added a bell to each shoe and he loved the jingle it made whenever he took a step.
I spent $11 on this costume. I would have spent $25 on this cheap costume that didn't even come with pants.
Tigger
This was the cheapest of all costumes since it has been worn by both of my older children. I don't even remember what I paid for it 10 years ago. It gets worn all year long, even when we go out.
Pumpkins
I always wait until the week of Halloween and get mine for $1 each at Cornbelly's or 9 cents a lb. at the grocery store. We never carve them until the day before Halloween anyway, so that they can stay fresh.
Now for the 6th Penny Pinching Party!
Here are my only rules:
•Add the permalink to the specific blog post, not your general blog address.
•Link back to the party from your post so everyone can join in the fun!
•If you have my Penny Pinching Party button on your blog, I may feature you when I highlight my favorite Penny Pinching ideas next week.
You have until Sunday to get your links up.
