Halloween is the time to be creative! Every year, I love making my own, unique costume and dressing up for Halloween! I know that I will be dressed differently than anyone else and I like making cute or character-like costumes. The scary and ugly stuff is not for me. This year was busier than usual and I was on a budget so I didn’t get started on my costume in August or September like I normally would!
Costume Crisis!! It was two days before Halloween and I needed something quick, but still CUTE, and COMFORTABLE that could be put together with things from around the house and maybe a trip to the Thrift or Dollar Store! And it had to be assembled in one evening!
I was somehow inspired to be a Scarecrow! I already had the jeans, boots, floppy hat and rope for a belt. I made a trip to the thrift store and found the shirt, gardening gloves and scarf – spending about $8. I wanted to make sure all of my skin was covered except for my face. I also made a trip to the Dollar Store and found the “stuffing” which was actually paper from several Halloween decorations that I took apart and some fall leaves for the hat (brim of the hat is hiding the fall leaf adornment) and spent about $4!! A costume for under $20 is unheard of these days!! Creativity really pays off!!
I’m a sewer too, so I already had scrap fabric at home to make the “patches”. I cut various sizes of two different fabrics and hand-sewed them to the knees of the jeans, various places on the shirt, and one end of the scarf. No need to use nice stitches! Quick slip-stiches gave a raw, unfinished look.
The stuffing was actually not attached to the costume/removable so I could function throughout the day and not leave piles of it as I moved around! For the party, I just placed the stuffing up my sleeves, my pant legs and in my shirt for the full scarecrow-effect! It was actually very funny when it fell out and I picked it up to re-stuff myself!
I did not want to buy special make up or deal with the greasy “costume” stuff, so I used regular makeup, just more of it than one would for every day – and put in on in an almost “doll-like” face. I covered my face with powdered bronzer to help make it look dirty or leathery (from a scarecrow being outside in the sun all day!) Black eyeliner was used to draw eyebrows and expand my smile on my cheeks. Blush was used to make circles on both cheeks and add color to my nose. It’s hard to see in the photo, but many layers of mascara caused my eyelashes to thicken and almost clump together to give an even more doll-like appearance.
Some people thought I was dressed up as the scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz, but I actually joked that I was his wife – and I didn’t make it into the movie because I was home with the kids at the time. That comment brought laughs and many people expressed their fond memories of the Scarecrow from the Classic Film, in addition to reciting lines or singing from the movie. Turns out the scarecrow has universal appeal.
To my knowledge, I was such a good scarecrow that this picture is going to be enlarged and placed in a co-workers chicken coop!
I was very pleased with the costume and had fun at the party! If I’d had more time, I would have spent time on figuring out a way to create the appearance of a sack around my head/face much like the Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz. Well, hey – there’s always next year!!
Your comment has been sent successfully.