Hey Mom - How About Making the Halloween Costumes This Year? - A Guest Post By Lynn Banis

Are you looking to save some money this Halloween? Halloween costumes are expensive and usually cheaply made. Many Mom's think they are a waste of money but are afraid to make them because they don't really know how to sew. No Problem! There are lots of costumes you and your kids can make with stuff you already have at home. Creating your own is a big money saver and kids can join you in making them. I will give you a few ideas to get you started and I bet once you get going you will think of a lot more you could do on your own.

Let's start with plain colored footed pajamas. With pink you can make a pig or a bunny. With yellow you could make a duckling.You get the idea. Just cut ears out of construction paper. Create a tail with pipestem cleaners and some cotton or feathers. You could but a pig or bunny nose. A beak could be made from a cardboard cone. Once you have all of these supplies together begin drawing, cutting, coloring and assembling. You will have a pig, bunny and/or duckling in no time!

How about raincoats and boots? Yellow ones are great starters for fireman costumes or they could be paired with yellow boots and an umbrella decorated with stuffed dogs and cats (it's raining cats and dogs) or flowers (spring showers bring May flowers). What else can you think to do with an umbrella? How about Mary Poppins?

Next we could consider cargo pants or shorts. How about a tourist, someone on safari or a hiker? The tourist might need a bright shirt, sunglasses, sandals and a camera. The hiker and safari costume could use a multi-pocket vest, hiking boots, sunglasses, a hat, binoculars and anything else you can think of to round out the costume.

I saw a kid last year dressed up like a scuba diver. His mom made the scuba tanks out of water bottles with straps to hang them on his back. She put him in his bathing suit and a tee shirt and topped the outfit off with a mask, snorkel and underwater camera. He was adorable!

Then there are a few with simple sewing that are cute. You can make an apple or strawberry (Strawberry Shortcake is big now) out of two pieces of red cloth cut in a circle big enough to go from your child's shoulders to her knees. Sew the two pieces of cloth together leaving holes for head, arms and legs. When your child is in the costume fill it with crumpled up paper to give it a round shape. All you have to do is create or buy a little hat that looks like the apple or strawberry stem.

So there you go - lots of costumes for very little money. Create your own or do one of the ideas here and have fun making them with your kids.

Lynn Banis PhD, MCC is known as America's High Performance Coach. Lynn specializes in helping women in leadership positions or wanting to be in leadership positions make the most of their opportunities and potential. She enjoys helping executives and entrepreneurs create their ultimate impact. Her years of working with small and large businesses has given her a depth of knowledge that is invaluable to her clients both as a business and a life coach.

Lynn is the autor of two books "The Discovery Journal" and "Discovery Points: A Coaching Guide to Getting Unstuck." Both can be obtained under Lynn's name at http://www.lulu.com. You can reach her at http://www.discoverypointcoaching.com. Also check out Lynn's other businesses: Coach Academy Texas, a cutting edge coach training company; and Turnkey Coaching Solutions, a coaching program management and contract coach staffing company.



Read more posts from the Hey Mom Series here, here and here, or click on the "Parenting" tab under Labels in my side bar. Moms work hard and deserve encouragement! Please share this post with other Moms you know.