A Reuse Halloween

By: Sondra Primeaux (ACR Board Member)Halloween is the best time to break out the scissors and let your imagination go. Perhaps that is easy for me to say because it is my favorite holiday.  But how often are you able to be someone else for an evening? Rarely. And if you make your own costume? Well, the possibilities are endless.Although I’ve never been an off-the-costume-rack kinda girl, my kids really sealed that deal. Without fail, they always wanted to be some kind of character that I just couldn’t grab off of a shelf at Target. Eventually, making our costumes just became a no-brainer. Being forever eco-minded, I would always start with what I already had in my arts and crafts stash. Where I fell short, off to a second hand store like Austin Creative Reuse I would go. I would argue that reuse makes for an even more original costume. I’m pretty sure that going to a Halloween party and seeing another person dressed exactly like you ranks up there as one of the worst things ever.Here are just a few of my favorites over the years.In 2012, Minecraft had only been on the scene for about three years. I remember seeing a few of the game characters that Halloween and most were DIY’d. It was fun to see all of the interpretations. My daughter was four at the time and it was unicorns-everything-all-day so I wanted her to have something she could play dress-up in throughout the year (until she was over unicorns). Yarn, construction paper, felt and camo fabric were about all we needed for that year’s success.So maybe I talked my son into being the Gnome from one of my favorite books (his face gives it away), but this was an easy one to pull together. We just needed some simple poster board, fabric and a bit of fiber fill. The book only made for added effect. While kid costumes are fun to make, you can really go wild with adult costumes. This particular year, I was going for a French circus performer vibe. I had the beaded butterfly that I’d picked up at a yard sale years before and I knew that would be the centerpiece to inform the color palette. I had to do a bit of dying for this but ACR always has full bins of lace and trim ready to go. The skirt is just scraps of different tulle, something else I can always find at ACR and I just built that onto an already existing bodice. The headpiece was fun to make as well, which I crafted from silk scraps and a headband.Austin Creative Reuse is ready to fulfill your most imaginative handmade costume needs! From paper to yarn to fabric, we have it all. Even if you don’t know exactly what you want to create, come in and browse. You never know what you’ll find to inspire your next best Halloween costume.