Tricked or Treated?

Even a plain Jane can be known to splurge on occasion... a birthday gift for Tiny & the Tot, the cookie aisle at Walmart, a rare dinner with the daddyman, or a mani/pedi to celebrate the start of flip flop season... but one thing I refuse to spend too much money on is halloween, and more specifically, Halloween costumes.  For me, it's the thrill of the hunt, and the satisfaction of expressing creativity on next-to-nothing.  I mean, really.. anybody can purchase a costume in a bag, but it takes sheer genius to come up with something out of next-to-nothing!  
We are hosting a Game at the annual Grace Point Church "Trunk or Treat" event, so by Sunday, I have to figure out a queen costume... three days, any kind of queen; the pressure is on!  Let's see, there's:

• a beauty queen - umm.. no.  I don't have the legs.  Plus, I can't walk in heels.
• the Queen of England - ummm... nope, I can't pull off the hats or the accent, 
• a Homecoming Queen - uh uh... too many wrinkles and gray hairs, 
• Queen (For my audience that lives under a rock, Queen is a band) - it would be sinful for me to show up at an event for children wearing spandex
• Queen of Hearts - interesting, but would require too much facepaint
• Queen Esther - pretty predictable, but .. I think it's the one. 

Now, to find a robe, a headpiece of some sort and some accessories.  The catch:  I'm determined not to spend more than $10 total on the parts of the costume that can't be (or won't be) used again in everyday life.  Here's what I have put together:

• Blue Short haired velour robe: Scored this little gem at the Thrift store in the old part of Rogers today for a buck.  Unless I plan to save it for the nursing home, this won't be used again, so that counts toward my $10 budget.   
• Headband: a big spend at $5.  Potential for the Tot to wear it sometime, but not likely.
• Regal Purple Velvet Beaded wine bottle bag (to be turned into a purse because I can't be without pockets): 50 cents.  I love the Thrift store.
• Shoes: $0 I'm just using my old sandals
• Leggings: This was a big chunk of my budget at $4.50, but it is functional.  I hesitated on this particular purchase since it adds nothing to the overall effect, but it's hard to put a price on warmth, so I went for it.  They are just plain black, so I might wear them again with a skirt and some boots if I decide to get fancy one day.  
• Sash and/or belt: $0 I haven't figured this out yet, but I'm thinking some old fabric; I have some lavender microsuede that might work.
• Jewelry: I could have spent about $20 on some cool costume jewelry, but instead, I'm going on a scavenger hunt through some of the old beaded stuff I was saving for the Tot.  

Overall, I'm at $11.  Not bad even though it's technically 10% over budget. I guess I should just let it be.  


I struggle to see Halloween, even Halloween "alternatives" as anything more than marketing ploys by the industry ~ especially the Pumpkin Growers of American; the makers of Aqua Net, cheap tulle, and fake blood; and the good folks in Hershey, Pennsylvania (and Hackettstown, NJ).  I probably shouldn't bring that last one up since technically, candy is our bread and butter, but it's true.  

Alas, I've been suckered and we spent some cash on Snickers and M&Ms (of course).  And... I bought pumpkins for Tiny & the Tot along with some "ballet slipper" pink spray paint so they could double as Tiny's birthday decorations.  


Maybe I was tricked into "celebrating" Halloween.  It's okay though.  Afterall it's for the kiddos, and they are in for a real treat.  Plain & Simple as That.