Waste Less Wednesday: Halloween Costume

It’s our very irregular Wednesday series where we share simple tips to reduce your consumption and environmental impact. You can find our full WLW archive here.

Halloween’s just 5 days away! Don’t have a costume yet? We have a pretty simple suggestion that’s going to cost you less than $10, and you may not even have to leave your house to get it.

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Waste Less Wednesdays: Halloween Costumes

Many Wednesdays this year we’re checking in to share how we’re reducing our environmental impact. Some of these ideas are big and require a bit of effort. Others are super small and simple, like this one. But we believe that they all make a difference.

Happy Halloweenie! Halloween is a favorite holiday of mine. I start to get excited each time I see the costume stores taking over once empty storefronts. Unfortunately, Halloween generates lots of waste, but luckily, it doesn’t have to! Waste Less this year and instead of buying a readymade costume, dive deep into that closet of yours and find a unique piece, a comfy outfit, or something outrageous that you absolutely love and don’t get to wear enough. It’s a simple concept, but an impactful one. Imagine the waste that could be reduced if even half of our outfit-purchasing party guests shopped from their own closet?

In the past, this idea has served me pretty well. I’ve reused an old prom gown and went as Cleopatra and once as Audrey Hepburn from Breakfast at Tiffany’s. A few years ago, a comfy dress that I love sparked the idea of a porcelain doll, and to add a little creep factor, I went as a broken one. You could go a few different ways with this costume, cute, sexy, or creepy. I choose creepy 🙂 Forgive the photos, I never have my sh!t together I’m usually too tipsy to take high-quality photos in good light on Halloween.

Porcelain Doll Essentials :

  • Porcelain doll inspired dress – look here for inspiration and then search your (or your sister’s and friend’s) closet or go thrifting.
  • Stockings or thigh highs
  • Mary Jane heels or really any shoes of your choosing
  • Long locks or a wig & wig cap – I highly recommend going to a beauty supply store and trying on wigs instead of buying one online. I spent about $25 on mine. I take care to store it properly and I’ve had it for more than five years!
  • Thin satin hair ribbons and matching choker – I simply tied a length of ribbon around my neck and it stayed put all night
  • Makeup – admittedly the hardest part for me! I enlisted the help of my makeup savvy girlfriend shown below.

That’s that! What are you dressing up as this year? Were you able to source items from your closet and home costume bin? Do you have a favorite costume from years previous that used clothes from your closet? Let us know, we need ideas for this weekend!

Baking with Kids : Halloween Style

Cooking with Kids is an ongoing series where we share recipes that are easy enough to make with assistance from a two-year-old. If you’re new to the series, our first post provides detailed tips for cooking baking with little ones.

On Tuesday Sarah shared a Halloween appetizer. Yesterday I shared a well-wrapped main dish, and today we’re sharing the dessert that’s sure to make your little trick-or-treaters squirm giggle.

The focus of this Cooking with Kids post is all on the decorating, and in this post we give you sources for all of our fun supplies (including the spider cupcake holders!). Kids LOVE decorating treats, and Halloween is the perfect time to let them go wild. Make it spooky, creepy, silly, cute. It definitely doesn’t have to be perfect. And that’s what makes this project such a hit with big and little people.

liveseasoned spider cupcakes

I like to plan projects for us to do throughout the season, some more time and energy intensive than others. Decorating spider cupcakes purposefully falls on the easier side. It’s something that you could do on an afternoon when you want to add a little bit of Halloween excitement (and sugar!) to their day.

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Halloween DIY Shirts

As we roll into the last week of October, the Halloween excitement is palpable in our house. The boys have reached amazing ages where they are super excited about the holidays, and they enjoy a good holiday craft.

If you’re in the same boat, you have plenty of time to make these Halloween t-shirts before Wednesday…

Click here for the Glow in the Dark Ghosts

Click here for Starry Night Bats

Mummy Jalapeno Poppers

live seasoned jalapeno poppers

First, homemade Jalapeno Poppers, hells yeah! Second, little mummy lookin’ cuties?! YES! Threaten me with food that follows a holiday theme and I’m in, especially when cooking with friends, it just makes everything so much more enjoyable. Kimi and I cook together on the regular, but usually it’s some type of main meal, not cute, perfect for a halloween party, Mummy Jalapeno Poppers. This is exactly how it went down.. Continue reading

Halloween Costume Idea : Troll Dolls

live seasoned halloween trolli doll costume-2

Happy Monday! It’s go time. You have a week and a half to figure out a Halloween costume. Last week we shared the Broken Doll and Max from the Wild Things and in the past, Katie offered up a few toddler suggestions: a Disco Ball and a Strong Man. Today I’m back with another super simple, yet iconic costume: a Troll Doll. Again, you must forgive the crappy cell phone pics. One of these days I’ll document a costume properly…

I dressed up as a Troll in 2010. At that time it was a throwback, Troll dolls being hella popular in the nineties, but now that the Trolls movies are such a hit, I feel like everyone will be clued in. Even though only a few people guessed my costume correctly back then, when I told them what it was they immediately knew, flipped out, jumped up and down and most gave me a hug. The next question was always about the hair, which every single person then squeezed. Troll dolls man, nostalgia in one cute and slightly strange costume. Here’s how it’s done: live seasoned halloween trolli doll costume-1

Troll Doll Essentials :

Some things explained :

  1. The bellybutton gem : cut a large diamond or circle out of the iridescent paper. Cut the shape much larger than your actual bellybutton as you’ll want it to be clearly visible. Use fashion tape or double-sided tape and adhere it to your nude tanktop.
  2. How to achieve high hair : It’s actually really easy. Find an empty water bottle. Remove the cap. Bend over and flip your head upside down so your hair is hanging down. Place the bottle on top of your head and gently gather all the hair around it, wrap a ponytail around the top of the bottle and your hair. Hairspray it a bunch and then flip your head right side up. The bottle is so light that you’ll forget your hair is up and you’ll most certainly hit it off taxi roofs and other small spaces. If your hair is shorter, use a crap ton of gel without a water bottle to create a similar (and in my opinion more realistic as far as troll dolls go) effect.
  3. How to get great hair color : shake the color spray for at least thirty seconds. Hold the can a foot away from your hair. It’s best to have a friend help and to do this outdoors. Cover your hair evenly, wait 3-5 minutes and repeat as many times as necessary.

That’s that y’all. There’s really nothing to it. This costume is especially great for a whole gaggle of friends. Whatever you do, don’t forget to strike the Troll pose – arms out, fingers spread! Look at those cute little creeps!

trolls

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Wild Things (Max) Halloween Costume

We’re sharing a variety of quick and (relatively) easy Halloween costumes this season. See Sarah’s broken doll here and her crazy troll hair here. Today we’re sharing one for the kids, and if you like this, you may want to check out our strong man too!

I may be a bit biased, but I think we’ve found the cutest Max of them all!  Don’t know what I’m talking about? Pick up a copy of Where the Wild Things Are and get ready for a trip down memory lane.

max1

If you’re making this costume for a kid, they will get so much more enjoyment out of it if you’ve read the book together. Obvious, I know, but just a plug to get yourself to the library and enjoy an afternoon deep in the stacks with your wild ones.

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Halloween Costume Idea : Broken Doll

live seasoned halloween costume broken doll-1

Happy Halloweenie! Each year I browse my closet, find a favorite dress, and work towards a costume from there. In the past, this has served me pretty well as Cleopatra and Breakfast at Tiffany’s Audrey Hepburn. Last year it sparked the idea of a porcelain doll and to add a little creep factor, I went as a broken one. You could go a few different ways with this costume, cute, sexy, or creepy. I choose creepy 🙂 Forgive the photos, I never have my sh!t together I’m usually too drunk to take high-quality photos in good light on Halloween.

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