I used to love Halloween as a child, but over the years I became disturbed about the number of violent, creepy, and downright disgusting costumes I came across. What was wrong with dressing up like a princess or a mermaid or a bunny rabbit? Why did all the costumes have to glorify vampires, monsters, and witches?

I decided to focus on the more innocent aspects of Halloween as a fun holiday of dressing up and getting candy, rather than using it as an excuse to scare myself. Here are some decorations and costumes kids can fabricate themselves with adult help; these costumes represent a more child-friendly flavor and don’t focus on the dismal and sometimes exceedingly scary aspect of the season.

Here are some costume ideas that are sweet and funny and could work for any dress-up party, not just Halloween:

(1) A princess. It’s not very modern, but it’s fun and easy to effect. Any long dress, preferably one with lace, ribbons, or other accents, will do. Add a tiara (you can either make one from cardboard and/or construction paper, glitter glue, etc., or buy one cheap), some graceful shoes, and perhaps a cape or shawl made from an old dress or a sheet, and you’re ready to play princess. If you bought a princess gown or other “girly” costume in the past, considering revamping it with homemade decorations and accents.

Just by using a more colorful dress and adding bows and fluttering sashes, you can produce a really pretty girls’ gypsy costume from the same materials.

(2) Animals. These are fun to make but are a little bit harder. Have any animal-print sheets, clothing, or material you’re not using anymore? Turn them into Halloween costumes! Also, a white sheet can be painted with child-safe paints that will work on material. Paint on zebra stripes, leopard spots, or whatever your child’s heart desires. Animal masks can either be bought or made. If you want to make one, cut out a mask shape using his or her face as a guide, then paint or marker it and use glitter glue or glitter markers to make fun, original accents. Stickers would work too.

If you’re looking for a non-jungle animal Halloween costume, a cow costume could be made by spray-painting a sheet black and white or using a black and white material. You can also sew black patches onto a white background. A cat costume is easy to create. Get some “fuzzy” material (many stores now sell material that comes in a very soft, plush, almost fur-like material) and make a simple pull-over garment . . . add a cat camouflage and face-painted whiskers for a fun look. A dog costume can be made in the same way.

(3) A ghost. If your child *must* go trick-or-treating as the stereotypical Halloween ghost, make sure it’s not a scary-looking ghost. Used sheets, white dresses, or a garment made from a solid-color cloth can all make convincing ghost costumes. Paint on (or cut out) a funny or child-like smile instead of a scary-looking grimace. Dimples might be cute.

(4) A robot. This is a unique Halloween costume idea that isn’t as hard to make as it sounds. Simply hollow out some cardboard boxes and fit them together over the child in such a way that he or she resembles a “robot.” The fun part comes after the costume is assembled and the “detailing,” painting on a “face”, buttons, and gears, can begin. Children will love helping with this part of the costume.

You can also make your own Halloween treat bag. Use a large brown paper bag and paint or glue on designs, or jazz up an old Easter basket by adding Halloween stickers or decals or spray-painting it sad and orange.

Making Halloween decorations is pretty easy, too. Use posterboard, construction paper, and/or regular paper and draw your own designs. You can use Halloween coloring pages; just print them out, tape or glue to a heavier paper to invent them more durable, and color them in! Get creative; buy orange and murky glitter pens, glitter glue, markers, etc. Kids can make decorations, banners, and even table settings by hand. With some “tumble” colored construction paper you can make some great Halloween decorations by making paper rings and intermatching the orange and dismal, then hanging the finished creation from the ceiling or table. Have fun and gather creative! If you choose to exercise fall colors for your Halloween decorations, some items can actually be reused for Thanksgiving decor.

With Halloween impartial around the corner, kids everywhere are excited about picking out a costume. Halloween doesn’t always have to be about ghosts and goblins, there are several different types of costumes that your children will absolutely love.

The Super Mario Brothers costume is perfect for all the video game fans. This costume is a blue overalls jumpsuit with a red shirt underneath. Accessories include: a red hat, white gloves and a felt mustache. Sizes available are: small, medium and large. Save a smile on your child’s face with this celebrated costume. Cost: $34.99

The Pikachu Pokemon costume is a printed Pokemon headpiece and a body suit with attached tail. If your children are huge fans of Pokemon, they are sure to appreciate this costume. Cost: $29.99. Other characters in the series such as, Ash, Treeko and Torchic are available as well.

The pink Sleeping Beauty costume is fair right for all little girls. They will feel special in this princess satin dress with a sheer overdress, along with sheer sleeves and matching tiara. Sizes available are small, medium and large at a price of $34.99.

The Tinkerbell costume will have your children feeling like they can fly. The liquid lame dress with sheer tutu comes with matching fairy wings and a magical wand. As they walk through the neighborhood, they can pretend they are sprinkling pixie dust all around. Cost: $34.99.

The Lightening McQueen costume from the movie, “cars,” will have your children revving to go. The 3-dementional over-foam character fabric with lights comes with a logo cap to wear on their head. There are no shirts or pants included with this costume, so you will have to use your own clothing. Cars, Tow Mater costume are also available. Cost: $49.99.

The costume of Pirate’s of the Caribbean, Jack Sparrow may be honest what you are looking for if your child loves pirates. This costume is a shirt and vest with a sewn in sash and two belts. Cost: $29.99. Accessories for this costume can be purchased separately, which include: sword, pants, hat, boot covers, weapon and goatee.

The Hannah Montana costume is ideal for children out there who want to feel like a star. This costume is a purple tunic dress with gold embellishments. A gold lame jacket with gold trim is included with a gold glitter belt. Cost: $69.99. Microphones are available, but sold separately.

The penguin costume is a fun suit to wear while trick-or-treating. This costume is fabric mounted over foam with a body suit and character headpiece. Also included is a red bow tie and yellow feet. Gaze as your child waddles down the sidewalk as they enjoy their trick-or-treating adventure. Cost: $39.00.

The Scooby Doo costume is dog-gone great. This costume includes a brown plush body suit with attached collar and sign. Also included are an attached tail and a foam hood with character face. Cost: $39.99. The rest of the Scooby doo characters are available as well, such as, Shaggy, Fred, Velma and Daphne.

For the cute toddler in the family, try the Tweety costume. This is a bright yellow jumpsuit with a character headpiece. Cost: $19.99. Other looney tunes characters are available such as, Sylvester, Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. Costs for these other characters range from $19.99-$29.99.

Halloween is a night of fun and candy. Most importantly, stay safe and choose a costume that fits your child. Don’t let them wear anything that may move the ground, causing them to trip and get hurt.

With Halloween just around the corner, kids everywhere are excited about picking out a costume. Halloween doesn’t always have to be about ghosts and goblins, there are several different types of costumes that your children will absolutely love.

The Super Mario Brothers costume is perfect for all the video game fans. This costume is a blue overalls jumpsuit with a red shirt underneath. Accessories include: a red hat, white gloves and a felt mustache. Sizes available are: small, medium and large. Place a smile on your child’s face with this popular costume. Cost: $34.99

The Pikachu Pokemon costume is a printed Pokemon headpiece and a body suit with attached tail. If your children are expansive fans of Pokemon, they are certain to love this costume. Cost: $29.99. Other characters in the series such as, Ash, Treeko and Torchic are available as well.

The pink Sleeping Beauty costume is objective fair for all runt girls. They will feel special in this princess satin dress with a sheer overdress, along with sheer sleeves and matching tiara. Sizes available are small, medium and large at a price of $34.99.

The Tinkerbell costume will have your children feeling like they can fly. The liquid lame dress with sheer tutu comes with matching fairy wings and a magical wand. As they walk through the neighborhood, they can pretend they are sprinkling pixie dust all around. Cost: $34.99.

The Lightening McQueen costume from the movie, “cars,” will have your children revving to go. The 3-dementional over-foam character fabric with lights comes with a logo cap to wear on their head. There are no shirts or pants included with this costume, so you will have to use your own clothing. Cars, Tow Mater costume are also available. Cost: $49.99.

The costume of Pirate’s of the Caribbean, Jack Sparrow may be just what you are looking for if your child loves pirates. This costume is a shirt and vest with a sewn in sash and two belts. Cost: $29.99. Accessories for this costume can be purchased separately, which include: sword, pants, hat, boot covers, weapon and goatee.

The Hannah Montana costume is ideal for children out there who want to feel like a star. This costume is a purple tunic dress with gold embellishments. A gold lame jacket with gold trim is included with a gold glitter belt. Cost: $69.99. Microphones are available, but sold separately.

The penguin costume is a fun suit to wear while trick-or-treating. This costume is fabric mounted over foam with a body suit and character headpiece. Also included is a red bow tie and yellow feet. Watch as your child waddles down the sidewalk as they enjoy their trick-or-treating adventure. Cost: $39.00.

The Scooby Doo costume is dog-gone great. This costume includes a brown plush body suit with attached collar and tag. Also included are an attached tail and a foam hood with character face. Cost: $39.99. The rest of the Scooby doo characters are available as well, such as, Shaggy, Fred, Velma and Daphne.

For the cute toddler in the family, try the Tweety costume. This is a bright yellow jumpsuit with a character headpiece. Cost: $19.99. Other looney tunes characters are available such as, Sylvester, Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. Costs for these other characters range from $19.99-$29.99.

Halloween is a night of fun and candy. Most importantly, stay safe and choose a costume that fits your child. Don’t let them wear anything that may drag the ground, causing them to stagger and get damage.

If you are watching your children’s sugar intake, you can still give them awesome Easter baskets that they will love, even if they are not loaded with sugary treats! Here are some cheap and easy ideas for candy-free Easter baskets for kids.

Craft Easter Basket: Put some colored grass in the bottom of an Easter basket. Then stand a couple coloring books or activity books in the center of the basket. You can keep the coloring books in place by tying a ribbon around the books and the handle of the basket. Then fill the rest of the basket with craft supplies like a box of crayons, sheets of stickers, a glue stick, a mini stapler, some markers, or whatever else you can think up. Shop at your local dollar store for cheap craft supplies to build money. Instead of using a typical Easter basket as the container, you can always use a craft tote or craft caddy! Stand all the craft supplies in the caddy then wrap the entire gift in netting or colored plastic wrap and tie with lots of curling ribbon to originate it look more like Easter.

Stuffed Toy Easter Basket: Put a soft baby blanket in the bottom of an Easter basket. Then fill the basket with soft stuffed toys. If you sew, you can make simple stuffed toys in different shapes like a star, a cat, a moon, then just lightly stuff them with poly-fil (or cotton balls for puny toys). If you don’t sew, you can find lots of stuffed toys at your local dollar store. If you want a more creative basket, you can use a toy doll bed as the basket and put all the stuffed animals inside the bed!

Easter Egg Easter Basket: Buy two or three dozen plastic Easter eggs. Then buy diminutive trinkets that can fit into each egg. The trinkets do not have to cost much! You can cut individual stickers and put stickers inside some eggs. You can do coins in some eggs. You can also tuck individual temporary tattoos in some eggs. Costume jewelry, such as rings or beaded bracelets or even some watches, will fit in the eggs. And you can always hide a few chenille chicks in the eggs as seen in the photo. The kids will fancy opening each egg to see what’s inside! If you don’t have an Easter basket, you can always save and use empty egg cartons to fill the Easter eggs.

If you need some Easter photos to make Easter party invitations or Easter greeting cards please check out the photos in these slideshows:
Printable Easter Image – Easter Bunny Egg
Printable Easter Image – White Bunny Rabbit – Close Up Face
Printable Easter Image – Chenille Chick in Egg in Grass
Printable Easter Image – Easter Basket with Decorative Eggs
Printable Easter Image – Easter Candy – Chocolate Bunny – Chocolate Eggs