Have Some Thrifty Fun At A Frugal Halloween
Planning a frugal Halloween this year? The rising popularity of Halloween has placed another pressure on the old purse strings, especially as you don't want to disappoint the kids.
It used to be easy to ignore the holiday but now every shopping mall screams Halloween at you (see what I did there?), and that means the children are now demanding to be a part of it.
Never fear (I'm getting good at this), a frugal Halloween can be just as scary and fun for everyone, all it takes is some forward planning and a cunning use of imagination.
Plan ahead
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picture by Peasap |
The day after Halloween is the day to start shopping for all your scary items. Face Masks, costumes, and grisly sweets will all be at a much reduced price.
All of which can be stored away until next year, even sweets can be frozen to keep their freshness. I was told that chocolate tastes even better after being frozen, as it changes its chemical composition or something. All I know is that it is a great way to store up on discounted chocolate treats.
Costumes
The alternative to buying an expensive costume, which probably will only ever get used once, is to make one your self. Try these solutions:
Face Paint
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Mummy Costume
Tear up an old white sheet into strips and wind round arms and legs.
Attach strips of the sheet to an old white tee shirt for the body and
wrap the head in the cloth and paint the face with grey face paint.
Punk Costume
Tear holes in old tee shirts and jeans or tights. Spike the hair up
using lots of gel or hairspray. Use the face paint mixture to add some
colour to the hair. Use lots of black and bright red makeup or face
paint for the zombie punk look. I used to attach lots of paperclips
together into a chain and attach them to the tee shirts.
Octopus
Dye an old sheet green or paint it with kid's water paints. Cut a hole
in it for the head to go through. Attach the inside of toilets rolls
or similar together to make long tube like tentacles and paint them
green with black spots and fix them to the sheet. Paint the face green
with black circles around the eyes.
Tramp
Dress the kids up in old torn clothes that are too big for them. Paint
stubble onto their chins with either face paint or an eyeliner. Mess
their hair up.
Pirate
Make an eye patch using card and some elastic. A knife can be made from
cutting a cardboard box up and painting it to look like a knife.
Black trousers and a white tee shirt painted with red stripes. An old thick belt can be used or tie a scarf around the middle. Use face paints for moustaches or beards.
Three minute Video Halloween Costumes Under $10
Frugal Halloween decorations
It just wouldn't be Halloween with out decorating the front door to scare the trick or treaters who come a visiting. they are essential for frugal fun at halloween.
Spiders web
Buy a cheap roll of cotton wool and take chunks of it and stretch out
the fibres to make a spider's web and attach to the corners of the door
and windows.
Jack o lanterns
Paint a black outline of a pumpkin face onto an old jam jar or similar
glass container. Then paint the rest of the jar orange. Place candles
in side and either leave them around your door or on window ledges.
Ghost
Hang old white sheets with faces painted on them around your door, so
that they sway in the breeze.
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picture by Cyclone Bill |
Old Man in chair
Make a scarecrow by stuffing old clothes with newspaper. Attach a balloon
with a face painted onto it and place an old hat on top. Then place
the old man on a chair near the front door.
Use little white Christmas lights to highlight your creations.
Trick or treat
Instead of letting kids pick handfuls of candy from a bowl themselves, save on the candy bill with these frugal Halloween tips:
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Buy cheap bags of small sweets and make up a small package of sweets for each caller by wrapping them in green painted squares of paper scrunched up at the top and tied with string.
- Make chocolate rice krispie cakes and make them into little balls and offer those instead of sweets.
- Make a big bowl of popcorn and pour over with melted butter coloured with red food colouring to make a real bloody candy option.
Happy Frugal Halloween and have lots of frugal fun.
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