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Last Updated on October 25, 2022 by Diane Hoffmaster
When my children were younger and dressed up for trick or treating, I used to spend a ton of money on Halloween costumes and accessories. For an event that lasted about 2 hours. I know, I was a sucker for cute princess dresses and rakish looking eye patches. Then November 1st came around and had me wondering what to do with Halloween costumes after all the fun and games of trick or treating were over.
It seems silly to spend all that money and only get a few hours enjoyment out of your adorable dress up clothes, right? Well, over the years I came up with several things to do with Halloween costumes that I thought I would share.
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What to Do with Halloween Costumes
I must admit, I wish we had more creative some years and made them into cardboard box robots or something equally inexpensive but since my sewing skills are nonexistent, I went with the store bought Halloween costumes most years. If you do this as well, consider a few of these ideas once November rolls around.
Donate them:
If you are wondering what to do with Halloween costumes that you or your children no longer need, donating them is an easy solution. Most thrift stores will accept old Halloween costumes and many of them (Goodwill, Salvation Army, etc) sell them to raise money for a few good causes.
Check with local preschools or kindergarten classes because those kids really love dress up time at school! You can also check with nearby women's and children's shelters. Many of the families that end up there don't have a lot of spare cash but those kids would still really enjoy going out trick or treating!
Sell them:
There are a number of ways to sell Halloween costumes to try and make back some of the money you spent on them. You can check out online retailers like Ebay or Craigslist. You can also check with local consignment stores to see if they accept costumes as well. If that is far too much work, just put it out at your next garage sale.
Reuse it:
Invest in a large plastic storage bin. Store all of your dress up clothes in it. Place the bucket within easy reach of your kids throughout the year. You will be truly amazed at how often you find a half princess half dragon creature in a cowboy hat prancing around your kitchen. Seriously. The combinations your kids come up with will be hilarious. When next Halloween rolls around, your kids may come up with their own creative costume ideas from the items they find in the dress up bin!
More Halloween Fun
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- Healthy Halloween Dessert: Candy Corn Fruit Parfait
- Make This Pumpkin Spice Playdough Recipe for the Littlest Trick or Treaters!
Have a neighborhood or school wide costume swap:
Encourage your friends, neighbors, or school mates to come together for a costume swap. Have everyone bring their old Halloween costumes and trade for something new that catches their eye. This is a great way to save money on Halloween costumes!
Upcycle it in bits and pieces:
If your sewing skills are more impressive than mine, you can cut, patch and sew bits and pieces of one old costume and turn it into something totally new. That Dracula cape from 2 years ago may become a witch's hat with some glue, string and cardboard. You never know what you can create from old costumes! You can even turn some of those bits and pieces into Halloween decor, crafts, and art projects with the kids.
If you have been wondering what to do with Halloween costumes, I hope these ideas have come in handy.
Have any more Halloween costume upcycling ideas?
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Halloween costume ideas
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Diane is a professional blogger and nationally certified pharmacy technician at Good Pill Pharmacy. She has two college aged kids, one husband and more pets than she will admit to. She earned her BS in Microbiology at the University of New Hampshire but left her career in science to become a stay at home mom. Years of playing with LEGO and coloring with crayons had her craving a more grown up purpose to her life and she began blogging and freelance writing full time. You can learn more about her HERE.
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