Botched Halloween Costume Theme

Make everyone come in a home-made costume, not store bought ones, and turn the disastrous results into a theme party. Not everyone can be Martha Stewart when it comes to talent. Make this a family project that will bring your hours of quality family time together.

To start off, make your own invitations. The kids can help you do this. Make the invitations appear not-too-perfect. Don’t try to cover up mistakes or correct goof-ups. That’s the whole idea! This would at least give your guests a clue about the theme of your party. Ask your guests to come in costumes they made themselves. Store bought costumes would be a hug no-no. If they don’t finish it in time, all the better! Let them know you would be giving out prizes for the worst home-made costume, and the best made costume. Either way, they are sure to try their best to win any prize.

Start by having your kids make their own costumes, but perhaps the littlest ones would need your helping hand. Give them no sewing needed projects. Have on hand lots of school glue, water-based markers, cardboard boxes, yards of old blankets and bed sheets and other what-have-yous. Give them permission to use old and outgrown clothes. Most items you already have can be used to make the most imaginative costume. Now is the time to use and recycled household items you’ve been meaning to dispose.

For your own costume, an easy to make idea would be to come as a pile of laundry. Cut out the bottom of that old laundry basket, just wide enough to fit around you. Use suspenders to anchor the basket on your shoulders. Then fill it up with dirty clothes and a few empty boxes of laundry detergent. If you make mistakes along the way, let it be. After all, imperfection is the whole point of your party.

Decorate your house with self-made Halloween decorations. All you need are loads of paper, poster paint or you child’s crayons. For paper, you can reuse old documents with prints on one side. You can even use the backs of those old bills and newsletters. Draw pumpkins, flying bats, and funny looking scarecrows. You can also make your own Halloween banner using lots of orange and black poster paint.

For your table setting, use an old blanket for your tablecloth. Paint Halloween images on the cloth yourself using lots of color and imagination. Create a lopsided Halloween centerpiece as your main attraction. Don’t even bother trying to straighten it up. Just make sure it is sturdily lopsided. You don’t want your centerpiece to topple over on top of all your prepared food.

But make sure that whatever menu you choose to prepare is the best you can do. You still want your guests to partake in some kind of perfection, so make it your food. Their stomachs and their hearts will thank you. It’s not easy sweating over their handmade costumes. Whether or not they win best or worse in costume, you can congratulate them with your warm and hearty meal.