Sunday, October 31, 2021

Broadway's Back: Our Broadway Musical Themed Group Halloween Costume

We are super-excited to be bringing back the Walkush family costumes in full force this year. And this year, we've chosen to celebrate Broadway's BIG return. (Fun Fact: This family LOVES a musical!)

Broadway's Back Group Halloween Costumes

Broadway closed its curtains in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and as of September  2021, has slowly reopened. We thought this would not only make a perfect group Halloween costume but also be the perfect way to celebrate the long-awaited return to stage!

Can you spot the characters and the shows we represent? Some are a little more difficult than others!


Moulin Rouge


Les Miserables


Annie



Hamilton


Here's a closer look at all of the costumes:

Welcome to the Moulin Rouge

Jaxon is Harold Zidler, ringmaster of the Moulin Rouge. Jaxon was VERY interested in this costume chiefly because it included a bowtie, and Jaxon loves to wear bowties! This might have been the easiest costume this year. I used some advice on How to Save Money on Halloween Costumes by repurposing an old costume of mine from a circus-themed family photoshoot. The pieces that we repurposed were the jacket, hat, bowtie, and cane. Jaxon already had the white dress shirt, black dress pants, and black vest. So we didn't have to purchase anything for this costume and he loved it. (Turns out he loved that cane too!)



Who am I? 24601!

Aidyn chose Jean Valjean from Les Miserables. Although this is not a literal interpretation of the costume, which would have been a prisoner costume from early 19th-century France, I was happy to oblige my teenage son, who specifically requested a standard "prisoner" costume and mugshot sign. I am just happy that he still wants to dress up for Halloween! We also repurposed another costume from our Police Officer costumes for our German Shepherd Chance so that he could also be a fellow prisoner with Aidyn.



You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile

I was the title character from Annie. This was another easy costume this year. Other than the purchase of a red wig and lacy socks, I only needed to pull the dress, heart locket, and black patent leather flats out of my costume closet to complete this look. (I got the dress for my costume closet from a clothing swap party and have just been waiting for the perfect opportunity to dress as Annie!) Our pup Smitty got to play Annie's dog Sandy for the evening, which meant that he got to go without any costume other than his usual fluffy cuteness. He was so happy about that!



While we were taking photos, we realized that Aidyn's costume and my costume put together, made for a Smooth Criminal reference: Annie are you OK? . . .  You've been hit by a smooth criminal (We are cornballs, but this is not brand new information . . .)


I Am Not Throwing Away My Shot

Ryan was Alexander Hamilton from Hamilton. This costume was one that we purchased, and it was fantastic quality for a Halloween costume. It included a one-piece jacket (with an attached vest), a cravat, and pants. We paired it with Ryan's costume boots.


And here's a look at the whole cast. Coming soon to a stage near you!



Happy Halloween from the Walkush family!

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Tuesday, October 19, 2021

20 Halloween Activities for Teenagers

Now that the boys are getting older, I suspect that we won't have too many more Halloweens where the whole family walks the neighborhood (in costume) so that they can trick-or-treat. Many kids decide at some point that trick-or-treating is "too young" an activity for them. (Hey, I think kids should get to trick-or-treat as long as they want to - but it might just not be fun for your teen or tween anymore.)

So, what are some fun activities that you can do with your teenagers on Halloween? If your older kids are looking for fun things to do around Halloween, here's a list of ideas.



Have a Pumpkin Carving Party

This activity is perfect for older kids. Why? Well, any pumpkin carving parties that they may have attended while they were younger may have either had them painting pumpkins or Mom and Dad doing all the carving. Now that the kids are older, let them choose a pumpkin for the party and carve it themselves. Make sure to cover your work area with either newspapers or plastic trash bags to make clean-up easier. If you'd like to go all out for the party, provide your teens and tweens with pumpkin carving patterns (which are readily available at stores this time of year).


Go to a Pumpkin Patch

Instead of loading up on pumpkins from the grocery store, let your teens pick out their own pumpkins at a pumpkin patch or farm. During October, many of these places also offer additional fun activities like hay rides, hot chocolate, face painting, games, etc. Make sure to check out all the options for a pumpkin patch near you at pumpkinpatches.com.


Host a Costume Party

Let your teens and tweens invite some friends over for a costume party. Let them plan a fun evening with Halloween-themed party food and make an awesome Halloween-themed playlist! Since they're missing out on trick-or-treating, make sure to have lots of candy and treat bags on hand so that the guests can load up before they head home. Here's a list of Halloween party food ideas to get you started:

Halloween Party Food Recipes

    1. Holiday M&M Cookie Bars
    2. Halloween Butter Cookies with Sprinkles
    3. Chocolate Peanut Butter Fudge Cake
    4. Oreo Dirt Cake (make it into a graveyard with decorated cookies and pumpkin candy)
    5. Pumpkin White Chocolate Chip Cookies
    6. Pumpkin Crunch Cake
    7. Pumpkin Bread
    8. Party Popcorn
    9. Crockpot Witch's Brew (Spiced Apple Cider)
    10. Non-Alcoholic Party Punch (make it orange, purple, or green for Halloween)


Enter Your Pet into a Halloween Costume Contest

This time of year, many local shelters, animal rescues, and radio stations host pet costume contests. People are encouraged to dress up too! If your teen is an animal lover, let them pick out a costume for your dog (and maybe a matching one for them) and enter the contest.


Have a Halloween Movie Marathon

We have a local drive-in that switches one screen to Halloween and scary movies for the month of October. Another historic theater near us shows classic horror movies the month of October. And the downtown park of a nearby town hosts Friday movie nights that include favorite Halloween movies. But, whether you make a special trip to watch these movies or just pull up some old favorite Halloween movies on Netflix, your older kids might enjoy a scary movie marathon.


Visit a Corn Maze

You can find a corn maze (or maize maze) near you and let the teens navigate. They'll love that they are "in charge" of finding all of the checkpoints and ultimately getting the group out of the maze. Depending on which farm you visit, you might also find other Halloween activities there. Make sure to read about a few in your area to see what each offers before deciding which one to go to.


Have a Halloween Food Taste Test

Here's a fun game for a teen or tween party! Blindfold guests, let them eat Halloween food, and have them guess what they ate. Keep track of who's the best guesser in the group! Here's a list of unique Halloween snack items, but if these items aren't available in your area, you can always do a quick Internet search to determine what Halloween candy and snacks are new this year:

  1. Count Chocula, Frankenberry, or Boo Berry Cereal
  2. Monster Cereals Fruit Snacks
  3. Halloween Oreos
  4. Reese's Cups: Halloween Lovers
  5. Halloween M&Ms
  6. Halloween Peeps
  7. Halloween Dunkin or Krispy Kreme Doughnuts
  8. Ghost Dots
  9. Hostess Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes or Twinkies
  10. Halloween Hershey's Kisses


Have a Photo Scavenger Hunt

In the days before Halloween (when your neighborhood is sure to have the most decorations out), let your teens and tweens invite friends to walk the neighborhood in search of Halloween-themed items for a scavenger hunt! Have them take photos along the way! If you have a large enough group, split them into two smaller groups and have them compete for which group can complete the Halloween scavenger hunt first. Here's a list of items to put on your scavenger hunt list:

Halloween Photo Scavenger Hunt Ideas

    1. Jack-o-lanterns
    2. Scarecrow
    3. Skeleton
    4. House with more than one Halloween inflatable
    5. Something purple
    6. Halloween wreath
    7. Mums
    8. Hay bales 
    9. Something white
    10. Spider
    11. Corn stalk
    12. Something with wings
    13. Ghost
    14. Tombstone
    15. Teal pumpkin
    16. Halloween sign
    17. Halloween blow molds
    18. Witch's hat
    19. Halloween flag
    20. Red leaf
    21. Uncarved pumpkin
    22. Acorn
    23. Black bird
    24. Spider web
    25. Selfie of group posing like Frankenstein

Visit a Haunted House

If your teen or tween would enjoy doing something scary for Halloween, let them get together a small group of friends and go to visit a haunted house. Visit hauntedhouse.com for descriptions of haunted houses near you.


Take a Ghost Tour

Similar to visiting a haunted house, this spooky activity for teens will teach them some history of your area (albeit spooky history with a dash of superstition mixed in). Many of these tours are at nighttime and they will require a walk, so make sure your teen wears suitable clothes and shoes for the length of the tour and the time it starts. Visit haunted.tours for a description of ghost tours near you.


Visit a Theme Park

Theme parks in our area host special ticketed Halloween events. This type of activity is perfect for teens and tweens because they not only get to ride amusement park rides, but they get the added bonus of spooky decorations and lighting, special Halloween shows, and haunted activities. (And another bonus for you! Lots of photo ops because theme parks decorate for any season pretty well.) Check out theme parks near you to see whether yours offer these types of Halloween activities.


Visit the Zoo

Here's another activity that animal lovers may like as an alternative to trick-or-treating in your neighborhood. Many zoos host Halloween activities in the weekends leading up to Halloween. From costume contests to a trick-or-treat trail and Halloween decorations to live music, this type of event might be the perfect one for your teenager.


Visit a Scary Themed Escape Room

If your teen likes solving puzzles, then an escape room might an ideal Halloween activity for them! Zombies, mystery mansions, autopsies, and haunted houses are just some of the themes that you might find in our area. Your teenager will have their pick of Halloween themes this time of year. And this is a fun option to do with a group of people, so have your teen invite a group of friends (the more friends, the more people to help solve the puzzle)! Check out options near you online and then make sure to schedule your visit in advance. 


Sit Around the Fire and Tell Spooky Stories

As the weather gets cooler, it's the perfect time to have a bonfire or to sit by the firepit. Whether you're roasting marshmallows or hotdogs over the fire, teens and tweens will enjoy this fall activity. You can easily change this to a Halloween activity by telling scary stories around the fire.


Hand Out Candy on Halloween Night

If your teens aren't trick-or-treating anymore, they might enjoy handing out candy to younger trick-or-treaters. If they have always enjoyed wearing costumes (but just don't want to go trick-or-treating anymore), encourage them to wear a costume while handing out candy. This will be fun for them as well as the younger kids they get to interact with on Halloween night! 


Be in Charge of Halloween Decorations

I have always decorated BIG for Halloween, but while we are always out on Halloween night taking the boys trick-or-treating in the neighborhood, I have always kept my decorations inside. (This way our house, which is on a corner lot and gets lots of Halloween night traffic, won't become a "destination" for trick-or-treaters while we're not there. We have always left out a giant tub of candy for kiddos to take on the honor system.) 

But, if your teens and tweens aren't going to be trick-or-treating, give them a budget and let them be in charge of outside decorations and lighting. Encourage them to make a plan for how they'd like to decorate and look up any DIY outdoor Halloween decoration tutorials that they may need help with.  You can even let them look through some of your inside Halloween decorations to see if any can be easily repurposed for an outside display.


Collect Donations for a Local Charity

Older kids are sometimes in service clubs that require a certain amount of volunteer hours. One way to get some extra volunteer hours would be to advertise that you'll be collecting donations for a local charity in the weeks leading up to Halloween. (If you're collecting physical donations, like canned goods, you can also set up a box near your candy station on Halloween night.) Put your teen in charge of notifying the neighborhood via social media so that everyone knows what you're collecting and for how long. Drop off the donations you collected on November 1.


Donate Halloween Baking

If your teen volunteers time by baking for local charities, October is the perfect time to switch to Halloween goodies. Have teens bake Halloween-themed cookies or cakes to donate instead of their regular dessert donations. Here are some ideas for Halloween baking for charity:

  1. Halloween Decorated Chocolate Chip Cookies
  2. Earthquake Cake
  3. Halloween Butter Cookies with Sprinkles
  4. Holiday M&M Cookie Bars
  5. Pumpkin White Chocolate Chip Cookies
  6. Pumpkin Crunch Cake
  7. Pumpkin Bread
  8. Oreo Dirt Cake (make it into a graveyard with decorated cookies and pumpkin candy)
Halloween Butter Cookies with Sprinkles

Read a Scary Book or Series

There's a wide variety of Halloween-themed or scary books available, so your teenagers and tweens can easily find one that interests them. Here are a few Halloween book recommendations to get you started:



Have a Halloween Game Night

Game nights are always fun and there are lots of Halloween board games or party games that have a Halloween theme. Pop some popcorn, grab your Halloween candy bowl, and settle in for a night of family fun! Here are a few ideas for your game night:



BONUS: More Resources for Halloween Teen Activities

To get you started on your search, here are a few more Internet sites to help with find the perfect Halloween activity for your teen or tween in your area (usually listed by state). Happy Haunting! 
  1. FrightFind.com: Haunted houses, real haunts, pumpkin patches and mazes, festivals, Halloween parades
  2. GhostHuntUSA.com: Haunted location tours, ghost hunts
  3. Haunts.com: Haunted houses, hay rides, zombie hunts, mazes, spook walks, theaters & plays, haunted river tours
  4. HauntWorld.com: Haunted houses, hayrides, escape rooms, pumpkin patches, corn mazes, ghost tours
  5. American-Rails.com: Halloween train rides


What Can My Teen Do for Halloween This Year (Besides Trick-or-Treating)?

Even though they may have "outgrown" trick-or-treating, there are still so many fun activities for teens and tweens to do this Halloween. I hope this post has inspired you to try some new Halloween activities for your teenagers. Make sure to pin this post for ideas for this year and next!




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Thursday, October 7, 2021

How to Save Money on Halloween Costumes for Your Family

Every year, our family dresses in a group family costume for Halloween. So, I thought I'd talk a little about how to save on Halloween costumes without scrimping on quality. Here are 5 tips and tricks for how to get the most bang for your buck.


Make Your Halloween Costume Yourself

Costumes that you purchase from a costume store are often very expensive. Sometimes it's cheaper to make your own. (And sometimes if you've chosen something obscure, like a giant Mott's for Tots Juice Box, you have no choice but to make it yourself.)

In our case, we have a very tall person in our family. And for some reason, costume makers do not take that into account. So many times, I have had to make my husband's costumes with clothes that will actually fit him.

The year we went as an entire family of Elvis, I made his costume from black pants and a black jacket purchased from Ross Dress for Less. (Pro Tip: Buy from the cheapest places you can for pieces to make your Halloween attire.) I painted the stitching and jail numbers on with glitter puff paint and sewed the striped shirt myself. The total cost for the costume couldn't have been more than $30 - certainly less than a licensed costume from Elvis Presley Enterprises (which probably wouldn't have included all three pieces) and it fit him perfectly!


Ryan's Freddie from Scooby Doo costume was simply a white sweater purchased from Hamricks, a piece of orange chiffon fabric tied into a scarf, and a blonde wig. We owned the blue collared shirt and jeans. Total cost: $30.


That year, we also made Aidyn's costume because he wanted to be Shaggy. That was a purchase of a lime green t-shirt from AC Moore. We already owned the white undershirt and the corduroy pants. We drew on the soul patch with a makeup pencil and let him grow his hair out. Total cost: $2.50 for green t-shirt. (My agonizing over the extra weeks of unkempt hair = FREE.)



The year we went as SuperFamily - nearly the entire family's costume was DIY. We had just had a baby and pretty much needed to work with what we had. Ryan already had a Superman t-shirt and of course, we both had business attire. We popped the lenses out of a pair of old sunglasses for Clark Kent's glasses and designed and printed the Daily Planet press passes ourselves. The baby-sized Superman costume was a gift. We purchased two SuperDog bandanas for our dogs. Total cost: $10 for two dog bandanas.





A List of Tutorials for Halloween Costumes You Can DIY

Over the years, we've posted quite a few DIY tutorials for Halloween costumes. Here's a list of costumes you can make yourself. (Some require sewing skills, some are craft projects, some are crochet patterns, and some just require a trip to your closet and/or the thrift store!)


Buy Your Halloween Costume Early in the Season

If you're going to purchase your Halloween costume, make sure to purchase it early. If you wait until the last minute, you're almost guaranteed to have to choose from more expensive costumes. (The more affordable ones will usually be the first ones to sell out.) If you are planning on purchasing a Halloween costume from a Halloween store, be on the lookout for discounts and coupons. Many of these stores will offer a discount off one item purchased, so make sure to take advantage. 

And remember to compare prices online before committing to your purchase. The same costume is sure to be available at different retailers. Make sure you get the best price by doing your research before purchasing.

Reuse and Repurpose Pieces from Old Halloween Costumes

You should always try to repurpose your Halloween costume items when you can. If you can invest in pieces that you can use from year to year, then you can amortize the cost of them over more than just one costume and lower the price per use. You'll extend the life of the purchase.

Shoes will usually be your biggest investment for a costume. So, if you can get a few different costumes out of your purchase, that's where you can stretch your dollars.

Ryan has a pair of costume boots that have seen quite a bit of use. They cost about $60 when we bought them, but we've used them many times - Han Solo, Jack Sparrow, and Wolverine. (Because he is so tall that the Jack Sparrow and Wolverine costumes looked like capri pants on him, the knee boots covered that nicely.) So that averages to $20 per costume.





I have a pair of white go-go boots that I've also used a few times - Princess Leia (2006), Vegas Elvis, Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go (Go-Go Dancer), and Princess Leia (again in 2018). About $15 per use at this point.



Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go

DIY Star Wars Family Halloween Costumes


Hair Extensions and Wigs can also be repurposed if they're not too "out there." For example, the bright orange Daphne wig I purchased when we were the Scooby Doo gang has probably one use. However, when I purchased hair extensions that were the color of my own hair to go with my Wonder Woman costume, I knew that those might be repurposed some day. I have worn them twice as Wonder Woman (2009 and 2016).

I Need a Hero: SuperFamily Costumes


And, I was able to reuse those extensions again the year we went as Movie Monsters. I was a mummy and I figured I needed some extra oomph since the costume wrapped around my head and enveloped my own hair without them. 


I've also used these extensions to give myself big 1980s hair for our Harris Sisters' 1980s-themed  costumes.

Takin' It Back to the Old School: 1980s Halloween Costumes

And I've used them again to give myself voluminous hair in our Harris Sisters river siren photo shoot.

River Sirens Photoshoot

Buy Next Year's Halloween Costume This Year

Most retailers are looking to clear their shelves on Halloween day and the days following in order to roll out Christmas merchandise. If you find a deeply discounted costume that might be a contender for next year, why not snag it now? This idea is probably best served for adults since kiddos tend to want the latest and greatest costume ideas each year. But if you find a timeless costume piece for yourself, now's the time to grab it. After all, some costumes will look the same from year to year, so it won't really make a difference when you purchased the costume (Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, Marilyn Monroe, etc.)

Over the Rainbow and Through the Looking Glass to Grandmother's House We Go

Goodbye Norma Jean

Recycle Clothing Items into Halloween Costume Pieces

Of course, make sure your friends and family know to save any costume-worthy clothes, accessories, costume jewelry, and shoes for you to build your costume closet. Make sure to keep your eyes peeled for costume-worthy pieces at clothing swap parties. And set aside pieces from your own closet if they might be useful in a costume someday. 

Remember to try everything on to see if it fits! (You can wear men's clothing, children's or teenager's  clothing, etc., and as long as it fits, it'll work for a costume.) 

Hey, over the years, I've racked up these pieces for my costume closet:

Other Resources for Sourcing Thrifty Halloween Costumes


Happy Halloween and good luck planning your Halloween costumes!

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Sunday, October 3, 2021

Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz: Group Halloween Costume

This year for Halloween, The Harris Sisters are paying tribute to Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz. If you remember this year's Girls' Weekend trip to Boone, NC, we visited The Land of Oz and posted a detailed write-up of our visit to the abandoned theme park. If you were paying close attention to that post, you might have noticed at that time that we didn't post a single photo of ourselves while we were there. Well, that's because we were saving those photos for our super-big, Halloween costume extravaganza! (Hey, when you've got a chance to see some of THE most recognizable witches out there - you've got to save that for Halloween, right?!?)

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

One of the most memorable images from The Wizard of Oz is the iconic Yellow Brick Road. Of course, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to take photos in our Dorothy costumes while skipping down this path! Did you know that the way they skipped down the Yellow Brick Road in the movie is an actual dance called the Wizard Step or the Dorothy Step? You can learn how to do the Wizard Step with this YouTube tutorial!




The Devil's in the Details

Any Dorothy costume is going to have three major components: a blue dress, red shoes, and hair crafted into pigtails, but we chose to put our own spin on these costumes.
  • Shop your closet for a the main pieces of the costume. You may already have a blue dress or red shoes that might fit the bill. Notice the variety in the dresses and shoes that we are wearing. From flats to heels to glitter Converse, we found that a pair of red shoes from your closet instantly transforms into ruby slippers when worn with a blue dress and pigtails!
  • If you really want to stand out in a crowd of Dorothys, don't forget to accessorize:
    • Deanna is wearing a poppy pin on her lapel as a nod to the famous poppy scene in the movie.
    • Donna is wearing rainbow sunglasses to represent "somewhere over the rainbow."
    • Deanna is wearing ruby earrings, and Donna is wearing emerald earrings.
    • All three of us are wearing a piece of Mama's jewelry, since her name was Dorothy. In fact, we left you a clue about our costumes on Facebook and Instagram before the big reveal today, and that was also a piece of jewelry with Mama's handwriting engraved on it! If you look closely at that photograph, you can also see the Yellow Brick Road in the background of that photo.





Here's a closer look at our costumes:





Where Troubles Melt Like Lemon Drops

There were lots of fun photo ops in The Land of Oz and we took advantage. Here Deanna poses in Munchkinland, Donna poses with an apple from The Angry Apple Tree, and Misty has fallen asleep among the poppies.
 



Somewhere Over the Rainbow

The Harris Sisters definitely had lots of fun recreating the look of Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz. Over the years, we've dressed up as bad witches for Halloween (The Sanderson Sisters and Disney Villains), so it was high time that we had the opportunity to dress up as Good Witches (as our good friend Glinda would say).




If you're looking for group costume ideas about a more traditional Dorothy Halloween costume styled with Alice in Wonderland and Red Riding Hood, check out one of our very first fairy tale photo shoots: Over the Rainbow and Through the Looking Glass to Grandmother's House We Go.

Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz Group Halloween Costumes

Don't forget that sometimes when you're creating group Halloween costumes it can be fun to all dress as different variations of the same person. We've done this several times:


Happy Halloween from The Harris Sisters!


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