Archive for October, 2009
How To Make Your Own Halloween Decorations for Your House Halloween Outfits :-)
There are probably many homes on your block that have some great Halloween decorations that they put up each year. If you want to get in on this, you may find that the price tag to get what you want all at once is a bit high. You do not have to spend a fortune on everything if you have a little money to spend and then some time to work on how to make your own Halloween decorations. This is something that you can do on your own, or this can be a fun activity for your children to help you out with as Halloween approaches.
There are some items that you are going to want to get no matter what type of Halloween decorations you want to make. These are basics when you make your own Halloween decorations or any other type of craft for that matter. You want to get construction paper, glue and/or glue sticks, tape, markers, crayons, pencils, stickers of all types, scissors, paints, and lettering materials whether they be stencils, stickers, or plastic. You can add anything else you think you may want to this list or you can see what your children come up with when they look at what is available.
If you want something a bit more adult when you want to make your own Halloween decorations, you can go for things like wood and glass, and the paints you would need to cover them. At times, some paints can come off of glass or wood when exposed to the weather or when they are handled too much. You can also get some type of top coat that you can use to keep your items looking nice. You may also want to get waterproofing if you know something is going to be used outside and will have to endure weather like rain, snow, and wind.
In order to make your own Halloween decorations for inside the house, you have to think about what Halloween means to you. One of the best types of decorations are the ones that seem spooky but may not outright freak someone out. You can get all types of spider webs very cheaply but they will look great. You can put this wherever you want in your home and then make or buy spiders to add to the webs of your choice. Today, you can also find web that works outside and is resistant to all kinds of weather.
If you have trouble coming up with ideas to make your own Halloween decorations, you can always go out and buy what you need. Look online for great ideas, values, and fast shipping times. Things like orange outdoor lights are great, and you can get purple as well. You may find many things more cheaply if you buy more than one, so buy something in groups if you can use all of the items they offer. You can also find some great ideas for when you want to buy or make your own Halloween decorations by visiting you local craft store a month or so before the holiday.
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Homemade Halloween Costumes
My favorite holiday is coming up again and maybe it is your favorite holiday as well. Halloween is the ultimate holiday in my book; the combination of treats, spookiness, fun, costumes, and games make it a great time for everyone. But a great time for everyone can sometimes (and often does) cost a lot of money. If you can make your own Halloween costume, you can save a bundle. But many people don’t want to or are not able to make their own Halloween costume. That makes sense; it’s a lot of work and takes certain abilities that you might not have. Except, it’s never been easier to make your own Halloween costume. Here are some tips and tricks.
The easiest way to make your own Halloween costume is to consider what you have. That means rummaging deep into your old closet, preferably into stuff in storage. You do not really want to manipulate your everyday clothes. We are talking about shirts and dresses that are one day away from donating to Salvation Army. What sort of inspirations can you draw? Do you have a blazer or jacket that was awfully close to reminding people of a bellhop or cruise ship captain? A couple of embellishments, and you can make your own Halloween costume!
Ok, maybe you do not have rooms and rooms of old clothing; you keep things, use them, and then donate them. Ok. Where do you donate these items to? Secondhand stores and organizations like Salvation Army! All of sudden, you have entire stores where spending $7 might mean your entire Halloween costume. Sure, this isn’t how to “make your own” Halloween costume, per se. But this is another way to think outside the box and save some cash.
Finally, for the really creative, you can make your own Halloween costume with a simple addition or prop. A case in point: my friend made a costume a few years ago when she went as sushi. She wore a white sweatsuit with a pink t-shirt and a green backpack. She carried with her two two-by-fours. As she stood there, she looked… strange. But when she curled up into a ball on the floor and held those two-by-fours out into the air… she WAS sushi. How can you add a simple prop or create a pose that creates an entirely different look?
If you want to make your own Halloween costume, but you can’t sew, you will have to sacrifice convenience and easy solutions. Making your own costume isn’t impossible, but you can save some money and have a truly unique Halloween costume this year.
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Tags: bellhop or cruise, friend made a costume, holiday is coming, tips and tricks | 
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Discovering Last Minute Costume Ideas for Halloween Outfits.
It’s October 31st and this year, you are sitting out Halloween. No costumes, no parties, no candies, sitting at home and watching scary movies is your idea of a good time. But then, out of nowhere, your best friend calls. All of sudden, you have to go with him or her to a costume party. What do you do? Finding last minute halloween outfits is a skill that’s really no different than finding a regular last minute outfit. It requires some creativity and some resourcefulness. If you don’t have those two things, here are some good last minute costume ideas.
First of all, forget the costume shop. There might not be anything more miserable than going to a Halloween costume shop on the day of Halloween. It is crowded (I’ve seen shops that have lines out the door for fire safety reasons), and even if there are any costumes left, they are all in the marginal sizes (nothing between small or double-extra large), or so picked over and for good reason: it’s a bad costume.
So as far as last minute Halloween outfits go, avoid the costume shops. Instead, take inventory on what is at the back of your closet. You would be surprised at how out of date some of the stuff back there is. You never wear it any more, so maybe with a slight alteration, you can create a costume look. And it does not necessarily have to be clothes.
I think the best of the last minute Halloween outfits incorporates house-hold items in clever and unusual ways. The classic re-imagining of non-clothing into costumes is a white sheet to create a ghost costume. Frankly, I think that this cliche is due for a comeback; you would certainly get some looks for that one. There are other ways you can turn non-clothing items with some glue or some embellishments of some alterations into a surprisingly good or fun Halloween costume.
If you think outside of the box, you would be surprised at the number of good last minute costume ideas you can find, simply by looking around your house. Of course, the best of all of the last minute Halloween outfits is to be prepared and have an actual Halloween costume on hand “just in case”. Either way, if that best friend ever does call with a last minute invitation, you can be ready with some good last minute costume ideas.
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Halloween costume shop
Halloween costume shops have sprung up like weeds in local malls and outlets over the past twenty years as the holiday itself has become more and more popular amonst people of all ages. Back when I was a kid I had to go to Toys R Us or some other lame toy store to get an even lamer pre-fab costume from a toy company, or come up with something totally from scratch that would invariably suck. Now you can waltz into just about any mall in the country and have two or three Halloween costume shops that live for the holiday and can provide you not only with ideas, but customer service designed specifically to help you maximize your costume potential.
Or you could go online, where there are literally thousands of websites that double as Halloween costume shops around the globe. Even something as simple as an Ebay or Amazon search can help you come up with a list of potential costumes. It’s excruciatingly simple to do this.
If you do want to visit one of the specialty Halloween costume shops online, I recommend starting with HalloweenExpress.com or the like. These will give you an idea of what costumes are in for this particular year, as well as providing you a baseline for what you should expect to spend on your outfit. Obviously the closer you get to Halloween the more the prices will rise, so if you can come up with an idea you like early, it’s best to jump on it if you see it (or the materials to construct it) online.
Of course Halloween costume shops don’t exactly have the market cornered on great outfits. A good idea if you want to be original is to browse through some online art galleries, theatre troupe websites and the like. These can get your creative juices flowing and maybe make it possible for you to come up with a Halloween costume of your own that’s influenced by the masterworks of some of the great artists of the past, or perhaps by the top costume designers of today.
Another good place to look is Yelp! or the like. These will post user reviews of various Halloween costume shops in your area, as well as providing chat rooms and message boards to discuss potential costumes and give you an idea of where you should concentrate your energy as well as which avenues will be more likely to bear fruit for you. Should you take this tack, you could even post your own ideas to these sites. Who knows, maybe it’ll be your own halloween costume ideas that start a trend this year. You could be the next Tim Burton or Elvira if you play your cards right.
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A Halloween Costume Shop Has it All Now
Halloween is just around the corner, which means it’s time to start thinking about this year’s costume. Actually this is a pretty big deal, considering you only get to dress up as anyone you want and venture out into public once each year. Whether it be a vampire, werewolf, witch, super hero, or goblin, the choice is all yours. If you’re one of those individuals that overlooks the wonders of Halloween, you should really give this celebration time a shot. It doesn’t matter if you’re heading out to a Halloween party alone, passing out candy to trick-or-treaters, or walking through the neighborhood with your little ones. Dressing up in the right costume can make all the difference. Now all you have to do is find the right Halloween costume shop that offer the unique spooky, sultry or heroic getup you need for All Hallows Eve.
Shopping for a costume is not like it was in the past when options were minimal. Children and adults alike had to rely so much upon their immediate area and the few local retail businesses that provided Halloween or costume party attire during this time of year. In this day and age you will encounter plenty of Halloween costume stores online. This means literally thousands of cool costumes to choose from. Not that the local Halloween costume shop lacks what you may need. It’s generally a good idea to check out both if you have the option and time for it. This way you can get a good idea of what new costumes are out and how much they sell for in a local Halloween costume shop, as opposed to online via web shops.
The only issue some consumers may have with an online Halloween costume shop is that you don’t get to try the ghost, ancient Spartan, grim reaper or ghoul outfit on. Whereas in local Halloween stores you can try on all the costumes you please. Now, you should never forget about cost though! As you may already be aware, some online Halloween costume shops will sell the same fairy, princess, or warlock costume at a lower price than a local retail store. Therefore it always makes sense to do some serious investigating before you actually purchase.
Ideally browsing in both Halloween costume shops online as well as in your town or city can be the best of both worlds. This way if you find the perfect movie theme costume or Greek goddess getup in a local Halloween costume shop, you can then search for it online to see if the price is good. If the cost is much cheaper on the web, then you can simply remember your size and order it online to save a little cash. You can have your children do the same thing.
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How to Find Halloween Costume Sales
When looking for a costume for this upcoming Halloween, it can be overwhelming and time-consuming. After all, all the effort for an outfit that you will wear for a couple of hours at a dark Halloween party seems a little too crazy to some. However, there are ways no to find Halloween costume sales that take little time and maybe just a little imagination.
First of all, it is easier now more than ever to get a really great Halloween costume – and to get it for cheap. There are Halloween costume sales all over, if you only know where to look. Here then, are some tips and advice to finding really great Halloween costume sales and getting you the costume you really want this Halloween for cheap.
The best way to approach Halloween costume sales, and really, any sales at all, is to have a wide approach. This means checking a variety of sources. Just going to one store may yield a deal, but not like checking five stores, and a couple of web sites. Shopping around is a time-honored and successful strategy for finding the lowest price possible, and when dealing with Halloween costume sales, it is good to remember that even something as time-sensitive as a costume is no exception. Checking a variety of web sites takes up little to no time at all; and while driving from shop to shop can eat up time, the savings may very well be worth it.
The other way to approach Halloween costume sales takes a little bit of planning, but might have dramatic results. Most people don’t realize that Halloween costumes are so expensive because people wait until the last minute. However, you can beat this system and find some really great Halloween costume sales by shopping for your Halloween costume in November… for next year’s Halloween. More and more, Halloween superstores look to shed some inventory following the big holiday to make sure that storage space isn’t overwhelmed (as it can be expensive). So having some forward thinking and doing your Halloween costume shopping in the off-peak seasons, well in advance of October will mean that you find the very best Halloween costume sales.
Finding great Halloween costume sales only takes a little bit more time and some effort. Shopping around different web sites for the costume you are looking for not only ensures that you get the best price available, but also that you get the costume that you really want.
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Halloween costume accessories for halloween outfits.
So you’ve done it. You’ve come up with the perfect halloween costume. You did all the sewing and the hemming, the coloring and the staining and the dying. Hell, you’ve even storyboarded it, sketched it and priced it out on three different websites.
But you’re not done.
The perfect halloween costume isn’t perfect, and the complete halloween costume isn’t complete, without the perfect halloween costume accessories. It’s like serving a drink without a garnish – it’s not the perfect drink if it doesn’t have that cherry or lemon slice. You need to find the right halloween costume accessories to complete your look.
Thankfully the internet has thousands upon thousands of stores, large and small, dedicated to helping you on your quest. Whether you want to go to a halloween specialty store like HalloweenStreet.com or a generic costume shop like PartyCity, or to your local store in the mall or even to a theater-specific costume shop, you have options a-plenty both in terms of walk-in stores or online shopping.
A good idea when looking for the perfect halloween costume accessories is to go online and learn a bit both about your costume and the holiday itself. Let’s say, for example, that you’ve decided to be a traditionalist and go as a “witch,” or even “sexy witch.” Of course you’re going to have your broomstick and pointy hat. But you’ll also want to have a wand, and maybe a cauldron or a black cat (live cat optional of course). But dig a little deeper and you’ll see that Halloween’s name comes from the term All Hallows� Eve, as it comes before All Hallows’ Day. A little more research and you’ll find that the orignal celebrants used to carve skeletons – to represent the dear departed – out of turnips and rutabaga as a means of showing their appreciation.
So if you want to take it to that level, you can go turnip shopping as a means of completeing your halloween costume. Sure, you might get some strange looks, but you’ll have a costume and, just as important, the type of halloween costume accessories, that capture the spirit of the holiday in the first place.
Of course it’s worth remembering the season as well. Here in America, symbols of autumn are particularly prevalent, with straw dollies, corn husks and pumpkins playing a large role in the celebrations. Other cultures have their own specific halloween costume accessories to offer as well, so it’s worth looking abroad for ideas to complete your costume.
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Posted in Costumes, Halloween Costumes |
Tags: accessories for halloween, costume accessories, costume accessories for halloween, costume accessories to complete, halloween costume accessories, perfect halloween costume, skeletons - to represent, the perfect halloween, thousands of stores, you've decided to be a traditionalist |
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Group Costumes for Halloween
What could be more fun than dressing up in a group Halloween costumes with all your friends? Naturally the best way to show off a group Halloween costume would be at a parade or Halloween festival. But even making the rounds of a couple of parties in group Halloween costumes can be a great way to spend the holiday.
The first thing to think of for any type of group Halloween costumes would be your theme. What does your group of friends all have assessable to wear? If you all work in a hospital, wearing scrubs would be an easy idea. Splash them with some red food coloring and tell everyone that you all just got off work. That�s sure to raise a few eyebrows! You could also simply dress everyone in Hawaiian shirts and go as �Jimmy Buffet Parrot Heads.� Or maybe have everyone wearing tie-dyed shirts and going as �Grateful Dead Dead Heads.� Depending on how many people are in your group you could all wear puffy shirts and matching polyester pants and go as the �Partridge Family.� Those are just a few possible musical theme group Halloween costume ideas.
Other group Halloween costumes are wearing reflective work crew vests and have everyone carry around a trash bag and go as �community service road crew.� If you really want a challenge you can all wear prison jumpsuits, chain your ankles together and go as a �chain gain.� Or wear the same prisoner garb without the chains but splash some mud on and go as �escaped prison gang.� Keeping up the corrections theme, you could have a couple of your group dressed as prison guards to complete the effect.
Another group Halloween costume would be to adapt what would be considered a traditional group for your friends. For instance you can all dress up in the same tight fitting pink ballerina outfits and go as the �Chorus of Swan Lake.� This could be especially fun for the male members of your troop! You can go retro by dressing up as �The Village People.� It would be easy to do a new version of the Mickey Mouse Club. You just need to have everyone get a pair of Mouse Ears and sweatshirt with their names printed across. These can be your real nicknames or you can get very creative.
The thing to keep in mind with group Halloween costumes is to have fun. This is usually a two part party: the first part is planning the group costume and the second is in the execution. Just be sure to take plenty of pictures!
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A Guide to Halloween Costumes Girl
The best part of Halloween is probably all of the costumes – in fact, being a male, Halloween is one of the best holidays of the year. Why is that, you might ask? Simply because of the nature of girl Halloween costumes.
Girl Halloween costumes have definitely begun to follow a trend, with no end in sight. This trend is to take any and every possible costume idea for girls and making them “naughty”. Naughty girl Halloween costumes are everywhere, and men everywhere are grateful, right? Well, not exactly. While I must admit that the additional amount of skin showing on October 31st, I have to say that the naughty Halloween costumes have gone a little too far.
Don’t get me wrong – I like seeing the sexy outfits as much as the next guy, but some of these naughty girl Halloween costumes have gotten a little ridiculous. Sure, something like a naughty girl devil makes a certain amount of sense. But some of them have gotten completely ridiculous, like a naughty cat. I am sorry, but there is nothing provocative about a cat, and the idea that a women would dress up as a cat to be seductive is weird.
In fact, all of these naughty girl costumes are starting to blend into one another. Sure, they seem like a good idea at the time, but remember, you are not going to be at your costume by yourself – there are going to be dozens or hundreds, even thousands of other people, and you have no idea what they are going to wear. Although, it is become awfully standard for girls to wear naughty costumes and, naturally, to look like everyone else.
So if you want to stand out this Halloween, avoid the naughty costumes. What sort of girl Halloween costumes might I recommend? I think it is always good for a lady to show that she has a good sense of humor, and there are a lot more funny girl Halloween costumes out there than you might think. You might be the only woman at your party not dressing up naughty, and that will definitely let you stand out; in a good way. Of course, if you are going to go with the naughty costumes, please do not choose something that cannot really be naughty; you will look ridiculous, especially if other ladies dress up as something that’s not naughty – then you don’t even blend in.
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Easy Halloween Costumes
So you�ve gotten an invitation to a Halloween costume party and you�ve got no idea what to dress up as. Welcome to the club. Hundreds of people are faced with this same dilemma every year and still manage to rise to the occasion by creating a truly memorable and easy Halloween costume.
The very definition of an easy Halloween costume is one that isn�t going to cost a lot of money or cause a lot of stress. This could be a simple as going as yourself by wearing what you would wear on a typical night at home. �Who are you supposed to be?� you�ll be asked to which you can reply, �I�m me.� If you�re the type of guy who never dresses up then dusting off your suit and wearing that would be a great surprise. Or perhaps you�ve been a bridesmaid and were forced to wear a hideous dress. That would be a laughable and easy Halloween costume provided the bride won�t be at the party!
Among the other easy Halloween costumes is your perennial sheet-over-the-head-ghost. You can opt for the classic white sheet ghost but think outside of the box. A purple sheet could mean you�re Prince�s ghost. A floral printed sheet could mean you�re a flamboyant ghost. You can be an eco-friendly ghost with a green sheet or ghost of your childhood past with a superhero printed sheet. Of course you can use that same sheet theme and with a little readjustment use it as a toga. Anybody remember toga parties? How many sheets were ruined for those?!
Another easy Halloween costume idea is to raid the closet of your spouse. Finding whatever bizarre, odd looking or just plain silly shirt or dress they have tucked away can be just the ticket for creating your own easy Halloween costume.
You can also use a black t-shirt as a blank canvas to create an easy Halloween costume. Try hot gluing empty plastic bottles to the shirt and go as your recycle bin. Or duct tape your newspapers for the same affect. You could put an empty moving box over your head and go as an empty moving box. Are you sensing the pattern here?
One of the most successful and easy Halloween costume ideas could be literally waiting until the very last minute then grabbing whatever you can slap on and go as �last minute slap on costume.� Sure the folks with the expensive rentals might win the big costume contest but who is going to have more fun? The person who has to pay big bucks for a costume and return it the next day or the person who just has to toss their easy Halloween costume into the garbage?
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