Did you just look at the calendar and have a minor meltdown because Halloween is a week away? Parents of toddlers are busy, and sometimes things like buying or making Halloween costumes fall by the wayside as we try to take care of the necessities each day before we run out of time and energy. Fortunately, there are a few quick and inexpensive costumes that you can whip up in no time so that your little monsters won’t miss any Halloween fun.
If your child has a rain coat and rain boots, you are on your way to making a costume called “it’s raining cats and dogs”. Find an old umbrella, some black poster board, and blue string or yarn. Cut out cat and dog shapes from the poster board and use the blue string (the rain) to tie them to the rim of the umbrella. If you can find plain red pants, a red sweatshirt, and a red hat then all you need is some green felt to make leaves and a stem for the top of the hat and you have a quick and easy little tomato costume. Black cats are also an easy go – to costume. Dress your toddler in black, and use eyeliner to make a little black nose and some whiskers. Add felt ears to a black hat, and a black felt tail and you are ready to go. Of course, make sure that you take along a flashlight and place reflective stickers or tape on your toddler’s costume to ensure that they are visible to any cars that are driving by where you are walking.
Of course, as I write this, there is a tropical storm developing that has my Facebook news feed buzzing with stories about how Halloween may have to be cancelled because of the weather. Since I have not been getting Dylan too excited about Halloween, we should be okay if it is. Fortunately, his fireman costume is something that he can play with any time so it was not a wasted expense in the event that the festivities are cancelled.
Photo by bandini on morguefile.com.