Don't forget the decorations! Treat them like your Christmas decorations, cherish and recycle the old and selectively replace or purchase new. Consider natural decorations - pumpkins, gourds, shrunken heads from apples like this one from "theapplecarver"...the list goes on.Not creative you say? Organize a costume swap. Like a clothing swap, you and your friends or your kids can pile organize a costume trade, or better yet, throw all the costumes and accessories into a big pile and put together new costumes from them. Suddenly you are a zombie pirate or a vampire nurse.
Don't forget the make up. Most women will have a dark eyeliner and mascara in their arsenal. Use foundation or moisturizer as a base for baby powder to whiten your face. Fake blood is a breeze with food coloring and corn syrup.
No need to add to the landfill to get your inner-freak on. You've got it all happening at home;) Have a spooky, safe, fun and GREEN Halloween.
--till next week Restore, Recycle, Refresh & Renew
10 comments:
Using recycled clothing is a good way to put together your halloween costume. It is not only green, but it is also a money saver during the recession. Making your own costume is a great way to remain different as oppose to the cookie cutter outfits that you can purchase. There are tons of youtube videos on how to create different face masks with makeup instead of buying a mask that you will never wear again.
Last year, I bought a costume at Buffalo Exchange. Every other year, I would go out and buy a new costume. However, I would have friends without costumes, so they would borrow my old ones. As it is, I still have all of my old costumes and I offer them to friends each year. This year, I'm using clothes I already have to make my own Batman-girl costume and it'll be fantastic.
Decorations are one of my favourite parts of Halloween. I won't be decorating this year-not enough time or money. However, at home, I know my house will be decorated with all the decorations we save from each year. Minus the pumpkins since they rot.
Your section about using what we already have to create a costume is right on. This is what my family has done for the last few years. We'll mix and match old costumes as well as current out-there accessories and items from around the house. We get to be creative and create a costume for next to nothing. I've always found that my costumes become more interesting when I'm forced to use what I have rather than buy each piece. I think the re-use of items is particularly popular on college campuses as well, where nearly every student works hard to throw something together from what they already have lying around.
Holidays can be wasteful times. They only happen once a year but people still want to celebrate with decorations and any other way to get in the spirit. These decorations and other ways of celebration are often forgotten and tossed to the curb at the end of the holiday. I like any ideas to reuse and keep holidays green!
It really isn't hard to be green during the Halloween season. Decorations are pretty simple to do, just use pumpkins. And c'mon, who doesn't love carving pumpkins! Or use old sheets and shape them into ghoulish beings with light fixtures underneath them. Also the fake spider web you used last year is just as good to use this year. The whole idea of them only being a one time use is very wrong. PS. those shrunken heads carved from apples are a fun idea, must do that next year. As for costumes, I agree with everyone else that has posted. You can just use what's in your closet or make it yourself. Or if you're in the mood for something completely different, Buffalo Exchange accepts your old Halloween costumes and they stock up pretty fast, just go in have a gander for some neat finds.
I feel like using old clothes that are in storage or in my closet is the only way I know how to make costumes. For the past few years all of my costumes have been made from recycled clothing or whatever I have in my closet. It is also a good way to be original. When you buy costumes there are always a million other girls wearing the same thing. When I make my own costume, it is my own creation. Even though someone else may have the same concept, the items I used are my own creation and my own idea.
I cannot remember the last time I bought an assembled costume from a Halloween store. For at least the past 4 or 5 years, I have either shopped in my closet for things to put together to create a costume, or I buy items of clothing that can be worn again after Halloween is over. Not only is this a green practice, but also a money saver. Those cheaply made Halloween costumes can get expensive!
My junior year of high school I spent a ridiculous amount of money on a realistic Wonder Woman costume. Such a waste since I have since loaned it to a friend of a friend and will never see it again. Then came freshman year and Halloween became a multi-night event, and therefore required multiple costumes. My friends and I usually each come up with one costume, and then rotate them. So if I was a cowboy, and my room mate was an indian on the first night - we'd swap on the second night.
I have a good friend who makes incredible animal costumes using little more than face paint and felt. She gets most of her ideas from the internet. All you have to do it look a little!
I love to get my costume for Halloween from the vintage stores in my area. This year I dressed as Michael Jackson, for under $15. I bought a $7 black fully sequined blazer and $3 black hat from the thrift store, with $5 leggings, white socks and some black shoes I already had. It worked out just as well as those plastic, expensive costumes sold at the Halloween stores.
I actually had the opportunity to do this the past two halloweens. I know not many people are dancers and have an extensive dance costume collection that ranges from 1994, but I happen to do so. And as long as I can fit in them, I never have to purchase another one again. Even if I outgrow the actual costumes, I've still been able to use some of the accessories that have come with it, such as gloves, wings, headbands, etc. So I have not paid for a costume in years.
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