Old Halloween costumes shouldn’t have to gather dust in the attic when there are so many great ways to reuse and repurpose them. Here are just some of those ways.
UpCycle
Instead of recycling, “upcycle.” In other words, if your little one went one year as a witch or a pirate, maybe you can reuse that for a school play or something. They could also wear it to a costume-theme party or for some other creative use.
Swap Costumes
You can also swap costumes. This doesn’t always work, but it can. If your children (or you) are the same size as a friend, ask to switch costumes. Most kids don’t like going as the same thing every year. They like variety, so this is a cheap and effective way to spice things up without spending more money.
Turn Them Into Decor
If there’s no real use for a costume as a costume, it might be valuable as something else. Halloween costumes often have glamour built right into them – sequins, fancy buttons, brightly-colored cloth. These are things you can extract from the costume and use as decoration for something else.
For example, you could decorate picture frames, pot holders (or make potholders out of old costumes), make collages, or decoupage projects.
Make It Into A Legit Dress
Sometimes, a cute black Halloween number can be made into a legit piece of clothing. Let’s say you were a sexy witch last year. What can you do to turn that costume into a pretty dress that’s fit for a night out on the town?
Spirit halloween, by the way, has a lot of these kinds of dresses. A Which costume could become a nice gown or even a skirt, if you’re willing to do a little sewing. A country-girl outfit could be paired with a cashmere sweater.
A French maid’s costume could become a long, flowing dress. Even a sexy bunny costume could be transformed into a fashionable top – just ditch the fuzzy fail and bunny ears and put a shirt and pants on underneath the skimpy outfit.
There are so many ways to dress up old costumes, it’s mind-boggling. Women have it especially good because most of their costumes can be torn down and re-sewn.
They already sort of look like something else anyway.
Donate That Old Costume
If you just can’t find anything to do with that old costume, there is one idea that never goes out of style: give it away. Seriously. A Goodwill or thrift store is always in need of clothing. And, while they may not exactly relish the idea of having a Halloween costume, you could repurpose it like making it into a legit dress (or some other piece of clothing) and then giving it to them.
Or, if you’re close enough to Halloween, ask them if they would accept it so that someone less fortunate may have a wonderful time trick-or-treating. Most places won’t say “no” to your kind heart.
Keith O. Lockwood is a father of two kids he hopes to make eco aware. He enjoys sharing his experiences and insights on the internet. His posts can be found on many family and lifestyle websites.
