We love halloween.  My son has been asking most every day – “Is it halloween yet?”   The one problem with Halloween, as we see it, is that it can get expensive.  If you haven’t been lucky enough to 1) score a cheap costume that your kid will wear at a thrift store, or 2) have a kid who will wear whatever you score, then you are probably, about now, thinking “I have to spend HOW MUCH on a $#%& costume?” (insert costume idea of your kid’s choice).

We ran across this posting on some good cheap (or possibly even free) costume ideas.    I personally LOVE the jellyfish costume and plan to use this for myself sometime in the next few years when I no longer have to hold a baby.     The oldie-but-goodie Highway idea would be easy enough for a kid of any age (black pants, black shirt, yellow electrical tape).   We’ve had fun in years past with one of dad’s white shirts (for a lab coat), a pair of old lens-less glasses, and some gel in the hair for a mad-scientist.

And a green halloween?  We thought these tidbits were interesting:

• Conventional pumpkins are a highly “treated” crop.  Consider buying from a local farm instead of the grocery store (unless you know they are organic).  And make sure you compost it when Halloween is over instead of putting it in a landfill.  We usually just put ours in the garden and top it with leaves and by spring it’s nearly vanished.
• Use a recycled costume (ie  items from your or your friend’s closet or dress-up box, thrift stores)
• Use recycled cans to make lanterns for your home (think hammer and nail, patterns, candles)
• Use a solar powered flash light when out and about, or sew reflective tape to the costume

And finally, here is a good link for a FAKE BLOOD RECIPE (fabulous) and other home-made face paints!

-Ellen