Halloween Costumes: DIY VS Buy

Despite the fact that little signs of fall are popping up everywhere, and we are fully aware that Halloween is just around the corner, we will likely be scrambling to pull together last minute bits and pieces at 3:45 pm Oct 31. We do it every year.

It’s mostly my fault.

The biggest issue is my own personal conviction that buying a Halloween costume is LAME. I mean, anyone can Prime up a picture perfect Medieval Princess, or Luke Skywalker.

Boring.

Let me see you craft and cobble that light saber from cardboard and papier maché.

I’m also super frugal, so even if the perfect costume is only $20 I still get drawn into the idea that I can do it cheaper with a quick run to the craft store.

Friends, let me save you the trouble.

The inexpensive and Pinterest Perfect DIY is largely a myth.

Unless you already have an extremely well stocked craft supply room, or an old outfit that provides the bones and body of the costume you’re probably better off dropping the twenty. You’ll probably save yourself at least the equivalent to what you’d spend in time, frustration, gas and glitter.

But there are times when DIY does make more sense:

• The costume you’re looking for isn’t something you can find online or in stores.  I’m thinking about the year my daughter wanted to be a juice box.  In that case we had to DIY.  Luckily my kid wasn’t too hard to impress in those days, because she ended up wearing a cardboard box we draped in a green plastic table cloth.  Zero points for accurate portrayal, One Zillion points for not buying a blue snowflake gown like all the other eight year-old girls did that year.
• You already own the major foundation pieces or materials.   If you’re thinking of being a cheerleader and you already have a pleated skirt and sweater, you probably don’t need to do much agonizing between buying a whole costume or just getting some pom-poms and tossing your hair up in a ponytail.  Same goes for scarecrow if you already own jeans and a flannel.  And nobody with white sheets should ever buy a ghost costume.  Just don’t.
• You just really enjoy the process, have the time, and aren’t worried about the cost.   Hey, some folks just really love this holiday, and are willing to put in the time effort and money.  That is 100% okay and if that’s you, awesome!  Enjoy your groove!  There are years when this is me, but they are less and less frequent.

Whatever you decide to do remember it’s supposed to be fun!

Don’t spend so much time or money that you have a holiday hangover and don’t want to do it again next year.

My kids are getting to the ages where they have their own money and their own ideas about what makes a cool costume, so I’m letting them them have some creative freedom and trying not to get involved with my crazy DIY gene.  It’s win-win.  They are free from my wacky frugal/creative insanity/genius, and my time is a bit more free to cook up my own fun costume ideas.

That’s right, I still dress up for Halloween.

And I don’t plan to stop.