Fwd: Simple Times - 10/10/09 - Frugal costume ideas; shopping in costume

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Simple Times

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Vol. 11, No. 13 -- October 12th, 2009

http://www.SimpleMom.com

DSimple

Copyright 2009 Deborah Taylor-Hough

ISSN: 1527-1269

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Celebrating more than a decade of saving your time, money and sanity!

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IN THIS ISSUE:

-- "Dear Readers":

-- Simple20Living Quote

-- What Do Costume Parties and Shopping Have in Common?

-- Frightfully Affordable Halloween Costumes

-- Letters to the Editor / Reader Tips

-- Debi's New Books!

-- Assorted Information (archives, etc.)

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< < < O.U.R S.P.O.N.S.O.R > > >

 

Tupperware® Online Catalog

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Same great products ... shop online convenience!

 

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Dear Readers,

 

'Tis the season ... to dress in costumes, that is.

 

Whether your family celebrates Halloween or not, it seems like

costume parties are all the rage this time of year. From harvest

parties to office parties, it always seems I have to come up with

some sort of costuming option for at least one person in our family

each October. If you're faced with the never-ending question, "What

should I be this year?" perhaps some of the ideas in this issue of

Simple Times will at least help the costumed ones in your life stay

within a frugal budget.

 

One year, my youngest daughter wore her old bathrobe, pajamas,

slippers, ratted her hair, applied dark circles under her eyes, carried

an empty coffee mug, and wore a sign around her neck which read,

"I'm not a morning person." It

was the hit of the party that year! And

best of all, didn't cost a dime. :-)

 

Simply Yours,

 

Debi

(Deborah Taylor-Hough)

Editor, Simple Times Email Newsletter

--Author of the popular Frozen Assets series; A Simple Choice: A

practical guide for saving your time, money & sanity; and Frugal

Living for Dummies®

--Editor, Simple Times and Bright-Kids email newsletters

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Visit my simple living blog!

http://thesimplemom.wordpress.com/

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SIMPLE LIVING QUOTE

 

 

 

"October. This is one of the peculiarly dangerous months to

speculate in stocks. The others are July, January, September,

April, November, May, March,=2

0June, December, August, and

February."

 

--Mark Twain

 

 

;-)

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WHAT DO COSTUME PARTIES AND SHOPPING HAVE IN COMMON?

Copyright Gary Foreman

Used with permission. All rights reserved.

http://www.stretcher.com

 

 

Are you among those who enjoy costume parties? Seems like a

lot of us do. Not only are they a staple at Halloween-time, but you'll

find various theme dress parties throughout the year.

 

Ever wonder why that is? I think I have an idea (not that it's terribly

unique). For a few hours we get to be someone that we'd like to be,

but are not in real life. You can be that swashbuckling pirate or the

beautiful movie starlet. I get to be the daring race car driver!

 

It's a lot of fun. It's an accepted way for adults to play "let's pretend"

without being embarrassed.

 

One reason it's so much fun is that we get the 'good' without the

'bad'.

What do I mean? Well, the pirate isn't likely to really lose an eye or

limb ("Arrgh! Me peg-leg, Matey!"), the starlet doesn't face 5am wake-up

calls, and I can avoid hospital stays after a serious high speed car crash.

 

The other advantage is that it's only for a few hours. We get to 'try on'

the role without being stuck in it forever. For those of us who are limited

adventurers, that's a good thing.

 

Ok, so what does all this have to do with shopping? More than you

might think.

 

Let's take a little test.

 

Try to remember your last 4 or 5 purchases. What were you thinking

at the time? Was your only concern practicality? Or was there some

part of you playing the starlet or race car driver? It's okay to admit it.

We're all human and want to experience things beyond our normal

boundaries.

 

The danger is that we tend to forget about the other aspects of the

purchase: How much extra are we spending? Will we be able to

handle the payments? What if our income is cut?

 

And, unlike the costume party, those downsides don't disappear

when we take off the costume. We're stuck with them. Whether

we like it or not.

 

So I think that I'm going to try something different before my next

major purchase. I'm going to delay the purchase long enough to

mentally dress up as a race car driver. I'll spend about 4 or 5 hours

in costume. Feel the thrill of victory (isn't the roar o

f the crowd great!).

 

But, then I'm going to take off the costume and consider the potential

downside of any purchase I might make. Got a funny feeling that I'll

avoid more than one high speed crash this way.

 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

--Gary Foreman is the editor of The Dollar Stretcher.com

http://www.stretcher.com/ website and various e-newsletters.

 

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SIMPLE TIMES RECOMMENDED BOOKS

Book list for frugality and simple living

Go to: http://snurl.com/simplebooks

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FRIGHTFULLY AFFORDABLE HALLOWEEN COSTUMES

Copyright Deborah Taylor-Hough

Adapted with permission from Frugal Living for Dummies®

http://www.SimpleMom.com

 

 

Halloween costumes don't have to scare the living daylights out of

your budget. Even a simple homemade gypsy or hobo costume

can be loads of frightening fun, especially if the children design it

themselves.

 

 

Be sure to check thrift stores -- and even your own garage, attic and

closets -- for supplies. You don't need to buy expensive costumes.

Part of the fun of the holiday can be seeing what creative ideas you

and your kids can come up with from things around the house.

 

 

Frugal Costume Ideas

 

The following inexpensive costume ideas can be made from things

found around the house or at thrift stores:

 

 

Tacky Tourist: Hawaiian shirt, sunglasses, hat, camera, layer of

white sunblock on the nose (just use white face paint), large bag

or purse, and maps or tourist brochures peeking out of a few

pockets.

 

 

Soldier or Hunter: Camouflage clothing, green and brown face

paint splashed on randomly, a canteen, backpack, compass, or

whatever you have around that can complete the look.

 

 

Ladybug: Dress your child in a pair of black leggings or tights

and a plain long sleeved black shirt. Remove the arms from a

large red sweatshirt (bought at a thrift store or garage sale or

found in the attic), and pin, glue or draw large black dots all

over with a stripe down the middle of the sweatshirt. You can

also fashion antennae with black pipe cleaners.

 

 

Dalmation: Begin with a white sweat suit, then pin on black

spots made from either felt or construction paper. Make black

floppy ears from construction paper or black felt and attach to

a headband or a20white baseball cap.

 

 

Rock Star: Throw on anything glittery or wild; things don't have

to match. Spike or over-tease their hair, maybe spray on a little

temporary hair paint, add some over-sized jewelry, a pair of dark

glasses, and you're all set!

 

 

Ghost: This is an old standby, but still a hit with the younger set.

Use a permanent marker to draw some details on a sheet, like

spider wens or fake blood stains. For a costume with a literary twist,

add an old chain or two to drag on the ground and tie a large white

handkerchief around the top of the child's head and under his jaw,

and suddenly you've created Jacob Marley from Dickens' classic

book, A Christmas Carol.

 

 

Birthday Gift: Take an old box big enough for your child to "wear"

and cut a hole in the top of the box for her head and two holes in

each side for her arms. Wrap the box with gift wrap, attach a ribbon,

and tie curled ribbon or a big bow in her hair. Cute, simple, and

very cheap!

 

 

Tooth Fairy: If your child has an old pair of fairy or angel wings

from a previous costume or Christmas pageant, add a fluffy cute

skirt and blouse, and then tie old toothbrushes all over her clothes

with dental floss. You don't have to use real toothbrushes, though.

To save money, cut toothbrush and large tooth shapes out of paper

and decorate with markers. You can also make the20fairy wings

out of aluminum foil; fashioned over wire coat hangers that you've

shaped into wings.

 

 

Professional "Whatever": If you or someone you know wears a

uniform at work, let your child dress up as that person. Possible

ideas include a doctor, a nurse, a baker, a cook, a waitress, a

lumberjack, an athlete, or a junior executive.

 

 

Scarecrow: Use an old flannel shirt with holes in it, old ragged

jeans, and a straw hat, and then tie or stitch a bit of decorative

straw-colored raffia to the shirt and pants openings.

 

 

Mummy: Attach ragged strips of cloth ripped from an old white

sheet to a white T-shirt and pants. Or wrap the child lightly in

surgical gauze if you find some on sale or at the dollar store.

 

 

Animals: You can adapt different colored sweat suits to become

almost any type of animal you can imagine: A pig, cow, unicorn,

or kitten. Just attach any extra finishing pieces, spots, stripes,

arms, tails) to the sweat suit, add any required head gear (horns,

antennae), and your little goblin's good to go!

 

 

If you're due to buy your child new pajamas, purchase ones that

double as costumes like super heroes, animals, race car drivers,

cartoon characters, or princesses.

 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

--Deborah Taylor-Hough (freelance writer and mother of three) is the

author of several popular books including Frugal Living for Dummies®

an

d the Frozen Assets cookbook series. Visit Debi online for more

recipes, tips and ideas at: http://thesimplemom.wordpress.com

 

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Feel free to forward this newsletter to your family and friends. :-)

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR / READER TIPS

We'd love to hear YOUR tips and ideas for simplifying daily life.

Send your simple living comments and tips to: DSimple

 

 

Re: Gluten-free baking

I know many in your family are on gluten-free diets. Thought these

recipes might help:

http://www.landolakes.com/mealIdeas/gluten-free-recipes.cfm

--No name given

(Note from Editor: This URL was sent by two different readers! :-)

~Debi)

 

 

Re: Frugal food blog

I know it must be hard to keep up with all the related info on the net.

Saw this blog and thought of you: http://www.feedthemasses.org/

Continue to enjoy your newsletter. And have enjoyed hearing of all your

publishing successes since that first auspicious contact by a publisher.

--Marilyn M.

 

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DEBI'S NEW BOOKS!

Available at www.Lulu.com/dsimple

 

 

The Simple Mom's Idea Book

Print: $11.99 / Download: $4.99

While starting life as a new wife and mom, the author always wished

for a personal mentor. Someone who could take her under their wing

and show her the ropes of how to be a stay-at-home mom, live on one

income, survive in a tough economy, educate her three lively kids, and

successfully raise children to adulthood. If you've been looking for simple

ideas for life and homemaking from someone's who been around the

block more than once, look no further. Have no fear ... the Simple Mom

is here!

 

 

Basics of Inductive Bible Study

Print: $7.99 / Download: $3.99

Think the Bible's confusing? You don't understand the language? Don't

let the Bible intimidate you anymore! Here's a simple, step-by-step guide

to studying the Bible for anyone, both newbie and experienced alike. Learn

to see for yourself what the Bible is really saying, what it all means, and

then discover how to easily and practically apply its teachings to your own

life.

 

 

Habits: The Mother's Secret to Success

Print: $9.99 / Download: $4.99

Charlotte Mason was a British educator from the last century whose ideas

are currently experiencing a revival, especially among American private and

home schools. Her ideas on the formation of habit are a key to understanding

how to make lasting change in your child, or even yourself. This book is an

excerpt from Charlotte Mason's writings specifically on the topic of habits.

Edited and introduction by Deborah Taylor-Hough.

 

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"FRUGAL LIVING FOR EVERYONE!"

A Community Outreach Workshop

www.SimpleMom.comWorkshopsEvents.html

 

 

This popular workshop presented by Puget Sound area author

Deborah Taylor-Hough, is the perfect Outreach Event to offer

your community during this time of economic uncertainty.

 

Be part of the solution for your neighborhood by offering this

workshop at your church, MOPS program, or through your

local civic group.

 

Community Outreach Workshops available include:

 

... Cooking for the freezer

... Saving money on food expenses

... Writing workshops

... Easy educational ideas for kids

... Living within your means

... Simplifying the holidays

... Parenting (preschool thru teens)

... Successful New Year's resolutions

... General homemaking

... Voluntary simplicity

... Christian growth & discipleship

... Inductive Bible study

... and more!

 

 

Deborah can provide themed workshops tailor-made for your group

or community's needs. Debi is also available for consultations for

individuals, churches, and other groups on outreach strategy,

missional living, publishing, writing, media relations, and low-cost

publicity planning.

 

Contact Debi at: DSimple for more information.

________________________________

 

As always, a special "Thank you!" goes

out to Gary Foreman

and the friendly folks at The Dollar Stretcher for making this

mailing list possible!

 

== http://www.stretcher.com/ ==

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EDITOR'S BOOKS AND RESOURCES:

Books and resources by Deborah Taylor-Hough

Editor, Simple Times Email Newsletter

http://snurl.com/debisbooks

________________________________

 

DEBI'S ON-LINE RESOURCES:

Website: http://www.simplemom.com

Personal Blog: http://dsimple.wordpress.com/

Frugality/Simplicity: http://thesimplemom.wordpress.com

Cooking Ahead: http://frozenassets.wordpress.com/

Bright-Kids: http://brightkids.wordpress.com

Tupperware®: http://snurl.com/DebiTupperware

Kids' Books: http://snurl.com/books4kids

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NEWSLETTER INFORMATION

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