Picking Out Halloween Costumes Together
Dressing up for Halloween gives your family a fun activity you can enjoy together. Whether you recycle costumes from previous years or buy brand new ones, part of the holiday fun is choosing what to wear. Make this year’s celebration more memorable than ever when you choose the theme and assemble your Halloween costumes together as a family.
Choose a theme
Before the holiday, choose a single theme for your entire family. Find great ideas for a unique theme when you browse online costume stores, magazines or television shows. You can also think beyond traditional ideas. Favorite foods, historical places, hobbies or landmarks make great costume ideas.
Give each family member a chance to brainstorm ideas. As you gather suggestions, narrow down the choices that fit your family. For example, full facial makeup might not work for little ones. With your top three theme choices, give each family member a vote. After you decide on a theme, you’re ready to choose characters.
Decide on a character
Each member of your family can choose their character based on the theme. For a salad theme, decide who will dress as lettuce, tomato and cucumber. A soccer theme needs a ball, player and umpire. With a Renaissance theme, your daughters dress as princesses, your sons dress as princes and mom and dad wear a king, queen or horse costume. No matter which characters you choose, it’s important for the entire family to decide together on how to implement the chosen theme.
Go shopping
With your characters chosen, work together on writing a shopping list. List everything you’ll need for your specific character. Remember to include makeup, masks, wigs, props, shoes and other accessories.
During the shopping phase, consider the family budget. Specialty shops sell costumes that include all the accessories, but they can be expensive. Save money by using clothing from your closet and buying only the accessories. You could also find deals by shopping a costume shop’s clearance section, searching for used costumes at secondhand stores or swapping costumes with friends.
Sewing your own costumes is another great way to save money and celebrate the holiday together. Look for material at fabric, thrift and vintage stores. Buy flowers, feathers, ribbon, buttons, patches and any other embellishments you need to assemble your family’s creative costumes.
Put it all together
After you are finished shopping, let your children help glue, paint or otherwise assemble the costumes. As they use their creativity, the process of making the costumes is as much fun as wearing them.
When your costumes and accessories are assembled, try everything on to make sure it fits. With safety in mind, pull on the shoes you plan to wear and make sure they are comfortable. Your costumes shouldn’t drag on the ground or otherwise inhibit walking. Next, apply a strip of reflective tape to the back of your costumes, especially if you’ll be trick-or-treating after dark. Finally, make sure the masks or hats don’t interfere with your vision. You’re now ready to safely celebrate the holiday.
Choosing Halloween costumes is part of the holiday’s fun. This year, give every family member a chance to help choose the theme and characters. As you shop for necessary items and assemble the costumes, your entire family enjoys a memorable and fun holiday celebration.
Cassie is a lover of yoga and the arts. In her free time, she enjoys blogging on behalf of Sears and other great brands she loves.
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