Celebrate Halloween With Your Family On a Budget

A Halloween Guide to Encourage You to Get Out There and Enjoy the Celebration

Halloween has lots of interesting ways to enjoy it. With costumes, food, drinks, odd creepy music (that no one will wonder if it is your hidden dark desires), and communities coming together to share tricks and treats.

Halloween has an interesting beginning and evolved history. I have alwas found it to be lots of fun. It was one of only three times out of the whole year that we wee allowed to have candy.

Growing up, the local school had an afterschool program where we got to enjoy fun Halloween events. All the older neighborhood kids from there along with the adults would use cardboard boxes and other things found in our houses and around the neighborhood to create this scary haunted house.

We did some Halloween crafts to help decorate classooms and the afterschool program, it was lots of fun! The best thing for my mother, it was all for free. These days, not a thing is free. But we can still enjoy the festivities without breaking our budget. 

My Halloween budget is usually different from others. This is because I create Halloween goody bags to pass out to the children. I do include this into my overall Halloween budget. 

Playing A Different Character

In ancient times they did dress in costumes to ward off bad spirits especially. 

Traditionally, celts costumes consisted of animal skins and heads as well as they tried to tell one another their fortunes.

 Though we don’t dress in ancient traditional costumes, we now have a wide variety to choose from. 

Every year we will search for the best costume, we use the time to dress up as something we like, idol, enjoy or just want to have fun being a different character other than ourselves.

Dressing up is something we can’t do regularly without being whispered about. If you could wear a different costume every season, what would they be? What drew you to those costumes?

Come on, when can we dress into the character of our choice and not get the side-eyed look? Why can’t we just dress how we want, every day. Ha-ha imagine coming into work as a new character each day?

When it comes to choosing a costume for you and your children, what do you look for and why?

• Costume Type
• Costume Size
• Costume Quality
• Costume Durability

For the children, of course, we have to make sure that the costume is comfortable enough for them to wear for a few hours. They need to be able to walk around in it without too much struggling. Or for some of them, to sleep in depending on their ages.

Next is making sure the costume size is correct, I know for some of our kids, it will be the only time wearing it and for others, they will wear it all year long. Mine use them throughout the year thankfully and my kids don’t grow so quickly either. 

I know some of them are expensive, especially when it comes to costumes that need accessories to complete the look. Costumes I have spent lots of money on lasted through a few kids at least, but they were the pretty hefty kinds. 

One Halloween I bought this nice dinosaur costume, the heavy kind, that zipped up in the back. I grumbled about spending $50.00 on it, it ended up being a hit with three of my children, they would wear it randomly throughout the year and one wore it for three Halloweens lol. It was still in great working condition for other children to do their own dino tasks, so I gave it away.

Just know, it is worth it, the kids will absolutely love it, you are creating lasting memories too. And you can also hand them to someone else or even sell it to another family.

>There are only 18 Halloweens to spend with your child, ok let’s be realistic, maybe 16 years, either way, make each one of those into a special event.

One of the best ways to save money on costumes is buying it on sale. The day after is going to be hectic, but it is a must to begin buying items for next year. When you are in the store shopping for this year’s costumes, accessories, treats & tricks, and party supplies, you want to keep an eye on items for next year as well.

You will hear the kids talking about multiple costumes, maybe during the sale, you can pick up a few for them to use throughout the year. Pretend play is really important to them, so grab some extra costumes and lots of accessories to add to your pretend play bin.

>Of course, there is the DIY type of costumes. These can be cheaper, depending on what the end result is going to be. Creating your own costume allows more flexibility and freedom. And getting the kids involved makes it even more fun. 

Costume making doesn’t have to be expensive or extravagant, but you can be as detailed or as simple as you want or need it to be. With my fourth child who has a sensory processing disorder, he refused any type of costume and he wouldn’t even wear paints until a few years ago. 

My family is loving the Wet & Wild’s newest collections. I began seeing their Halloween collection in 2017 and was excited. The price is great too, ranging from $1.99 – $5.99, so its good makeup, not greasy and is affordable. 

This year they have expanded the collection! You can use it all over the face like the eyes and lips and your body too. What are your favorite pieces from the Fantasy Makers Wet & Wild Collection?

There are crayons, powders, glitter, stencils and more. I feel like I want to buy four of each item, especially with all the fun colors, I would use it all year round. So if you are in love with the colors, be sure to grab a few to last a bit.

I especially love it because they are a makeup company, so their makeup isn’t going to ruin my kid’s skin and my kids will love using the makeup all year as well.

>Look around your house for items to use to create different textures, colors, illusions and more. What is great about creating your own costume, it will be unique, it will also teach your kids various skills like planning, coordination, sewing, gluing and other skills that are useful to them. 

A Spooky Playlist To Celebrate It All

How about the creepy music that will make our hair stand up, and the gatherings we have to celebrate such darkness and light at the same time.

What is your favorite Halloween song? What would your Samhain or Dia De Los Muertes playlist be? 

There are songs that make us want to dance like the Monster Mash, which is the most popular. Then there are songs that celebrate life and death as well, so no matter which you are celebrating; Dia De Los Muertos, Samhain or Halloween music will help bring it all together.

I like to put on iHeartRadio or Pandora and listen to their Halloween Hits station with the kids. I’ve been listening to it while writing this. 

Celebratory Foods and Drinks for Harvesting and Sharing With Neighbors

In ancient times, Samhain celebrates not only the dead, but also the new seasons approaching them, Fall and Winter, which back then, many would die as a result. It is a time of harvest for everyone, no matter where in the world we are in, we are harvesting something. 

And in Mexico, they served all kinds of foods, some that were only for adults and some sweet treats for the little ones. They had large displays of foods, which is probably where we got the ideas of having buffet tables filled with foods of all kinds.  

This is why we use things such as pumpkins, colored corn,  and other newly harvested fruits and vegetables. We use them not only for decorating our tables, front steps, and yards but also the foods are used to feed the community during the Fall and Winter months.

It is at this time where many start their canning to help foods last their family longer. If you are interested in growing, harvesting and canning your own foods, check out the Grow, Harvest and Canning Class.

Halloween food is the most creative way I have ever seen people display food. Bone shaped foods aren’t just for dogs. Have you tried the skull head pizza?

Food is a large part of the celebrations. In Ireland, they set a place setting at the dinner table or leave out foods for the spirits to take along with them during their journey through this very special time. And in Mexico, they may even bring foods to the cemetery where they continue their celebrations.

It is a large celebration, so be sure to have plenty of foods to feed everyone. Have a variety of foods and drinks such as breads, pastries, candies and other foods that would be fun, filling and sweet. 

What do you think of the movie Coco? It gives a great visual to some of the traditions, though it is set in Mexico, these traditions also occur in Ireland.

This is probably why we have such interesting ways to display our Halloween treats. Did you know many years ago, they gave away “soul cakes”? 

>When it comes to buying things like molds, I like to use silicon more than other types of kitchen wares. It makes clean up easier and the foods don’t stick as much. They tend to last longer as well, so in the end, it can save you money. Silicon kitchenwares last longer in my house, and I feed ten. I use them in the freezer, the oven, and clean up in the dishwasher.

Halloween Colors, Decorations and Accessories

Let’s start with Halloween Colors

The colors, they are festive, fun and energetic for me. Weird huh, but other Halloween enthusiests will understand. 

Halloween Tricks, Treats & Costumes

After researching the History Of Halloween, it makes sense to me why the colors for Halloween appeals to me and seems to be festive and energetic for me.

The main colors for Halloween are orange, white and black. Have you ever thought about why? 

White for many is a fright. We turn pale or “white as a ghost”, for the French, green is fright and for Italians is it blue and whites that represent fear and fright. 

Sometimes, we just need to expirence fear in order to progress and move ahead in life. This color gives me a blank space to decompress. 

Orange represents the colors of foods that were being harvested as well as the changing of the seasons; life and bounty. It also represents strength and endurance according to the celts. Orange is also the fire from bonfires used to celebrate this special occasion. 

This is the total opposite of darkness that many associate Halloween with. It is an energetic color for me. The mix of colors brings a balance for me, how about you?

Black for some does represent fear, since darkness is associated with bad stuff happening. But it also represents the long hours of the night. It represents death, but also things like the black cat, spiders, and other related Halloween items. 

Purple for all things mystical, witches, and represents the third eye in the chakra. The third eye probably comes from the ancient traditions of the fortune telling that went on. 

Lime green is for all the glowings things at night and slimy stuff.

It is pretty interesting how I say Halloween is fun and festive. It is festive in a way. It all started in Ireland with the Celtic Festival of Samhain (celebration of the dead, originated in Ireland) which celts and druids would light bonfires, dress in costume to ward off bad spirits and celebrate life and death.

Even in Mexico, this is also a time of fun, honor, remembrance and celebration. Their belief is that their ancestors would be insulted if they were all moping around and sad. So they make great use of the sugar skull, which is a brightly painted skeleton, that is happy and smiling.

I am not at all sure who started the rumor that Halloween is this evil celebration to never think about or speak of, but they certainly interpreted it quite negatively and incorrectly. 

What we now know of as Halloween is actually a full day of festivities that begins on October 31st as the sun is setting and ends on November 1st as the sun sets. A full twenty-four hours of partying! In Mexico, it ends on November 2nd. However, it is called Dia De Los Muertos because it is dedicated to their ancestors whereas the rest celebrate the harvest and both death and life. 

So Halloween marks some very important parts of our lives. It isn’t just a night where we dress up and go door to door begging for candy, which by the way has been a part of the festivities all along. 

Halloween is my favorite time, well actually October through December, the whole season is my favorite. I love the colors, each of the holidays, and love celebrating it all. Connecting, making family memories and hanging out with friends in general.

Halloween Tricks To Play With Others In Your Neighborhood

Sources To Learn More About Samhain, Dia De Los Muertos, and Halloween

1. History Of Halloween from History (dot com) 
2. History Of Dia De Los Muertos from Mexican Sugar Skull (dot com)
3. Halloween Color Meanings from Color Matters (dot com) 
4. Isle Of Halloween (dot com)
   

Halloween Recap & Last minute finds

Spooky Graveyard – How to.

Halloween Masks from Big Mouth Inc. 

Cool party decorations, like plates, mugs and more from Papyrus

Even your cat can have fun with this Ghost shaped Cat Scratcher – how cool, they also have catnip Halloween themed toys too. 

I’m loving this Be Scareful nail polish and it glows in the dark too.

 How about some fun Halloween kids crafts, I love seeing what the kids come up with.