Halloween on a "Boo"-dget

Reused firefighter costume + cardboard box = super cute!

Even though it is last minute, it isn't too late to avoid spending a frighteningly lot of money and do Halloween on a "boo"-dget. 

Search your house for parts of costumes. For children, a well stocked dress-up box may be a treasure trove of parts of costumes.  There might even be costumes from previous years that could be reused by a different sibling or adapted for use again.  Even without a dress-up box, other articles of clothing you already have laying around may give you some opportunities for great costumes without spending a lot, or maybe even any, money.  Dance leotards and skirts may be the beginning of a fairy costume, fancy dresses from special occasions may be perfect for a princess or angel.  Jeans and flannel shirts could be for a cowboy or miner.  Sheets can become togas or ghosts.  I saw a news clip about "Occupy Wall Street" being a "hot" costume this year, so you may find some inspiration there, possibly with a 99%-er sign covering most of you, or as one of the corporate "bad guys" in a suit.  Old clothes you may have been meaning to get rid of could be easily turned into a zombie costume as well.

A princess, wearing a dress from her dress-up (originally made by Renaissance Costumes and More by Lady Elizabeth, a friend of mine) and a cowboy, wearing clothes he had, a bandana from the dress-up box, and a foam cowboy hat from a dollar store)

If you don't have anything at home, check with friends.  Maybe their kids or themselves have something that could be transformed into a great costume or they might even have complete costumes from previous years that you could get for free, cheap, or trade.

The next place you'll want to try is second-hand stores.  Here you're looking for the same sorts of treasures, but with more opportunity for greater variety.  Of course this may be pretty picked over so late in the game, but more stuff may be brought in every day, so there still is a chance.  Same thing with Freecycle or Craigslist--you might find treasures, but it is awfully late in the game for finding something fantastic without a fair amount of luck.

Dollar or discount stores may present opportunities to find the crucial missing pieces to make your costume perfect for very little funds.  You can probably find makeup, vampire teeth, foam accessories like swords or cowboy hats, fairy wings, and many other finishing touches that make it look like you put a lot more money and/or effort into your costume than you really did.

An oak tree (felt applied to regular clothes), a Tootsie Roll (fabric, foam, and ribbon glued together), and Tinkerbell (dress up box treasure + discount store accessories)

As a last resort, you could actually put a lot of time and effort into a costume.  Cardboard boxes and a little paint or aluminum foil offer many opportunities, from robots, to spacemen, to fire trucks, to pizza.  Felt is another possible treasure trove; last year I turned one of my sons into a Tootsie Roll and another into an oak tree with a lot of brown felt, a little green felt, and a little foam, ribbon, and glue.  If you are good at sewing, you might be able to find a quick pattern that could be turned into a last minute costume idea as well, but that is probably your most expensive and most stressful option, so that idea might be better saved for another year, when you have more time.

Easy Caramel Apples + Cararmel Dipping Sauce

When I see what some people charge for caramel apples, my thought, just like chocolate covered frozen bananas, is you want how much for that?  It isn't like they are hard to make.  Sometimes you can even get caramels free (not to mention apples can sometimes be found free in someone's yard or along side the road) if you save enough from parades or something.  I used reusable popsicle sticks to eliminate the cost and waste of disposable wooden sticks. 

Caramel Apples

approximately 50 caramel cubes
2 tbsp water
4-6 apples, depending on size

Remove wrappers from candies and place in a small saucepan with the water.  Heat gently, stirring constantly, until the caramel is melted and smooth.  Cover a plate with wax paper; heavily butter the waxed paper and set aside.  Skewer apples on popsicle sticks.  Dip apples into melted caramel, spooning over the apple to coat as needed.  Let excess caramel drip off back into the pan.  Place apples on prepared plate.  Refrigerate for at least an hour.  Remove from refrigerator 15 minutes before serving.

 I always end up not having enough caramel, because I try to do too many apples, or too much caramel, because I decide to play it safe and not do too many apples!  I figured out a way to use up the extra caramel though:  caramel dip!  I actually prefer dipping apple slices into caramel dip anyway, so I can leave the caramel apples for the kids.

Caramel Dip

1 part caramel
1 part milk

Melt caramel in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly.  Stir in an equal amount of milk and keep stirring until smooth and creamy.  Can be served warm or cold.  Refrigerate any unused portions.

Family Values--out and about on the cheap

My kids were walking all over me on the invisible walkway in I5's new First Impressions Room

"Wings From Down Under" at the Potter Park Zoo

When we go into Lansing, about a half hour's drive away, for some decent shopping, I try to make the most of it, between combining errands, buying what we need, and having some family fun.  Last week, on such a trip, we picked up some compost from a friend's (and loyal reader's) house, went to Impression 5 Science Center, and did a little shopping at Lansing City Market.  This week, we went to the Market, the zoo, and did our grocery shopping for the week (well, some of the stuff was for beyond the week, since it was time to buy more cheese).  I feel that it is worth it to combine purposes of the trips like this since A) it saves gas since we don't have to make multiple trips to town to do the different things and B) it eliminates some of the drudgery of the more mundane activities since there is some family fun thrown in there.

I'm thinking that I'll probably try to keep up this pattern of fun and suckish (as my kids say) activities on the same trip, possibly every week as the summer goes on.  We don't take family vacations really, since my husband can't really get the time off work and I can't really afford to leave the garden that long, so these days also serve as mini-staycations.

Part of what makes these trips so doable is that we have memberships to the zoo and museum.  The best part:  I didn't even pay for the memberships!  Every year, rather than a bunch of material crap that I don't really need (or even want!) cluttering up the house and my life, I put together a wish list of things I could actually use for holidays and birthdays, and on that list I always include memberships to these places so we don't have to shell out money every time we'd like to do something together as a family.  Some people may think that's tacky, but personally, I think it is tackier to have to pretend you like something that someone gave you while you are already plotting on how to get it out of your house without them hearing about it!  Besides, I don't force the list down anyone's throat.  It is available upon request and is produced when someone asks "So what do you want for <insert occasion here>?"  The past few years, my parent have been wonderful enough to give our family both the zoo and museum memberships, so we are free to go whenever we like, and as homeschoolers, that's quite a lot year round!