Throwback Halloween Costumes

To kids – next to Christmas morning – Halloween has got to be the most awesome holiday. What’s not to love – they get to dress up in costumes and beg for free candy around their neighborhood. My kids are no exception. In fact, the girls dressed up and trick-or-treated all the way to their senior year in high school. Good for them.

Counting the massive amounts of candy afterwards (and eating it) is a dream come true for every child … but maybe not so much for the parents who have to deal with the sugar-induced coma that follows this holiday.

Since Halloween is tomorrow, I thought it would be fun to take a stroll down memory lane and show you some of my kids’ costumes from years past. Here are some of their Halloween highlights…My son has been a Harry Potter fan since Kindergarten. I found this costume at a thrift store for just $4. The tie was from the Dollar Store and the wand was handmade.The prisoner costume was bought at a thrift store for $6. The grape costume was homemade.Here we had a Present costume, Peter Pan, and the Prisoner. My daughter wrapped up a cardboard box and added ribbons to her hair. Peter Pan was homemade. Just a green shirt with a belt and a little felt hat with feather. Prisoner costume was recycled from previous year.
This was the first year I bought a brand new costume. My oldest daughter was a freshman and really wanted to dress up as a cute bee. A friend of mine borrowed this costume a few years later. Nothing gets wasted at our house. Notice the Prisoner costume? Yep, it’s the same one both my daughters wore in the past. I just made everything shorter for the little guy. My younger daughter and two of her friends dressed up as Three Blind Mice. We bought the sun glasses, ears, and cane at Dollar Store. The rest she already had in her closet.That year was a mix of homemade, store-bought, and whatever we already had. I made the Cindy Lou Who costume. Felt, leftover fabric and a hula hoop were needed. For the cute Cat in the Hat costume we just bought the hat, bow, and gloves.

I used one of my old dresses and a thrift store shirt for this Pippi Longstocking costume. I added a few colorful patches and buttons to the dress.This was an ‘easy’ Halloween. I made the devil cape using a table cloth I bought at a thrift store. The fork and the horns we already had from previous costumes. For her Waldo costume, my daughter painted red stripes on  a white shirt. The Hippie Girl dyed a t-shirt and the piece necklaces came from the Dollar Store.

How cute is Dorothy? I found this costume at a thrift store for her older sister two years earlier. The Kitty Cat just needed ears, tail, and a bow.

My children always loved their Halloween costumes and nothing could ever ruin Halloween for them. This year, my girls will spend Halloween at a concert in Chicago. But my middle schooler and I will be hitting the streets in our neighborhood. Let’s hope for some good weather. Last Halloween, Nashville had a tornado warning and we were advised to stay inside. Trick-or-Treating went down November 1. How weird is that?

But as I said, nothing ruins my children’s Halloween!

For last minute costume ideas, here is a tutorial for a Hamburger costume I made for my son last year and a DIY BEWARE sign from scrap wood.