Trickin’ out my wardrobe is a terrifically frightening treat. It’s frightening because I never thought of my everyday clothes as potential Halloween costumes, but it turns out my dresses and skirts are just one odd accessory away from hell. Such a lucky break for when the workplace wants to do a whole week of themes for outfits!
Oh, sure, I could just wear some skeleton earrings and a black T-shirt. That’s what I normally do for one day out of the year: the actual day of Halloween. However, the night before the first day of Halloween dress-up at work, I found inspiration in my closet. The rest of the week just skyrocketed like a witch on a broom from there.
How I Got a Broom Handle on Spirit Week at Work:
Day 1 Theme: Music
What I Was Going to Do: Borrow one of Alex’s Nirvana T-shirts.
What Alex Convinced Me to Do Instead: Dress up as Amy Winehouse
Things I Needed:
–An outfit I’d only worn once
–A hairstylist
–Tattoos on my arm
–Lots of eyeliner
–An electric guitar
Things I Actually Had:
–An outfit I’d only worn once
–A cardboard toilet paper roll, bobby pins, and a faint memory of DIY hairstyles in Teen Magazine, circa 1984-1988
–Gobs of smoky eyeshadow (no liner)
–Alex’s electric guitar
After creating a bump of hair in the back of my head with a toilet paper roll and bobby pins—and coloring my eyes and eyelids to resemble a train wreck effect, I think I pulled this look off pretty well. I just needed tattoos. Those temporary ones would work well, but I didn’t feel like running to the store.
Alex’s reaction: Aww, Mom! You look cute!
Nate’s: I can see the toilet paper roll in your hair.
Day Two Theme: Tie Dye
Things I Needed:
–A tie-dyed shirt
–A non-matching, strangely patterned skirt that I’d only worn once and loved
–Daisy chain for my hair
Things I Actually Had:
–A tie-dyed shirt
–A bright pink skirt (The one I was hoping to wear had disappeared somehow?)
–Two plastic flowers leftover from my wedding day + bobby pins
By far, Day 2 was one of the easiest days ever. I just pulled on my skirt and shirt and stuck the plastic flowers to my head with bobby pins.
Alex’s Reaction: Aww, Mom! You look cute!
Nate’s Reaction: I like the first costume better.
Day Three Theme: Woodland Creature
Things I Needed:
–Fairy wings
–Cat ears
–Flowing dress
(I was going to be some kind of cat-winged creature I could picture clearly in my head.)
Things I Actually Had:
–Cat ears
–Flowing dress
–Wolf hands, which I found in the garage from one of Alex’s Halloween costumes.
This costume was pretty easy to put together too. The bonus was the backdrop in my opinion. Nate painted those trees, so they were the perfect scene from which a cat-wolf could materialize.
Alex’s Reaction: Aww, Mom! You look cute!
Nate’s Reaction: I still like Amy Winehouse the best.
Day Four Themes: Sports + Spirit Day
The Creative Services Team at work decided we should all wear ghost sheets + sunglasses for a team picture. I’ve been staying home because Nate had some minor surgery. He’s recovering well, but I wanted to be nearby just in case, so I took these pictures to join everyone in spirit instead.
Things I Needed:
–Bedsheet
–Sunglasses
–Ohio State Buckeyes shirt
–Gray tights
–Red ribbon for my hair
–Tiny “O” or buckeye printouts to tape to my face because I can’t paint/draw things that look like the things they’re supposed to look like
What I Actually Had:
–Bedsheet
–An array of expensive sunglasses to choose from because of Alex’s summer job/bonuses working at the sunglass store
–Ohio State Buckeyes shirt
–Gray tights
–Red ribbon for my hair
–I tried to print out tiny “O’s,” but there was no ink in the printer, and I was too tired to replace it.
The picture-taking for this one was excruciating. I wasted a good half hour trying to do the O-H-I-O because I kept wanting to do the Y-M-C-A. In any case, here’s the photographic proof:
Alex’s Reaction: Aww, Mom! You look cute!
Nate’s Reaction: Okay, now the Buckeyes outfit you have to wear every game day. I mean it.
Day Five Theme: Favorite Funko Pop! T-Shirt
This one was super easy: Elvira! I have her as a Pop! Tee and a Diamond Glitter Pop!
Alex’s Reaction: Aww, Mom! You look cute!
Nate’s Reaction: What? No toilet paper for the hair?
Thanks to all the foraging around in the closet, I think I’ve found a bonus costume for Halloween on Monday. I’m planning on dressing as the Sun-Maid Raisin lady, but I probably won’t get around to throwing it together until the night before. I think I can fashion a red bonnet out of one of my red sweaters by folding it around several tubes of toilet paper rolls, for a wickedly genius frugal touch.
Happy Halloween!
Your Turn: Do you like creating new looks from the clothes in your closet? What’s your favorite combo? Or, what’s a costume you’ve worn that you still love and remember?
Fixin' Leaks and Leeks 
Awwww, Cecelia! You look cute.
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Thank you!!! 🙂
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You’re welcome! 😀
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Thankfully we don’t celebrate Halloween in Europe. I’m not sure I could dress for work in this way though I could probably manage Amy Winehouse, minus the tatts.
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It was fun to see everyone’s costumes. My workplace employs artists/designers, so people went all out. Some chose not to participate, which was fine. I typically don’t–I just had a moment of inspiration? Lapse in judgment (LOL)? In any case, this time, it was fun to try to find things I already had and mix and match them.
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Understandable if everyone’s very artistic
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Very cute! 😁
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Thank you!
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Hilarious costumes! I like the cat wolf best! So many years since I dressed up. I feel nostalgic for my long ago school days when we’d do dramas all the time with clothes borrowed from our families, and all kinds of household props. India has so many festivals, but none that I’m aware of when everyone dresses in weird costumes.
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Thanks! I loved dressing up for school plays–especially if I got to be a really silly character (which was pretty often, now that I think about it.)
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I’m with Alex. You look cute in all the costumes.
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Thanks! Nate was so funny–and such a good sport for snapping pictures of each outfit.
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I have to agree with “cute” remarks!!!!
How cool to use and repurpose the items you already had! How trendy and sustainable!😊
You look like you are having such a great time too!
Always smile when I read your blogs.
I dressed as a witch (my favorite) for a Halloween party my brother had a few years ago. Since I was home on vacation to the states I went on a thrift store tour to collect almost all the items and had a wonderful time doing it and I looked really great too! Haven’t had enough of those things in the last few years. Maybe it is time for a real change!
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Thanks so much! I wish I could see your witch costume! I’ll bet it was amazing!!!
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🧙♀️
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Definitely cute! I’ve been following these pics on FB and I admire your creativity!
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Thanks so much! I had a lot of fun–I haven’t done this in years!
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Such a fun post! The cat wolf is my favourite! Your antics made me nostalgic for my long ago school days, when we would put on scrounged costumes and enact dramas almost every day. I wonder why, when we have so many festivals in India, there isn’t one (as far as I know) where people dress up in weird costumes!
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Ironically, as much as I love Halloween, I hardly ever dress up, so, yes, I had to go digging in the closet and my craft drawers for something I could put together. There was a 18+ work costume party and as it was a weekly paper, it was a public event people bought tickets to and so we staffers all “had” to dress up. I had a black velvet cape and a black t-shirt so I made a headband out of a strip of red sequins, and I put a big A in red sequins on the cape, and I got red felt press on letters for the t-shirt and spelled out “Animal Avenger” on the front, and I had some, well, pants, that said “bad kitty” on them, and I had leggings that had the “b” word on them and so I wore those with some tall shiny black boots. (I like all your costumes, but the Funko Pop one is fun!)
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I hardly dress up, either–I don’t know what came over me, but it was fun. I would love to see that costume you came up with–it sounds amazing!!!
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I have photos somewhere LOL
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I think we can use some fun these days, for sure! (I mean, if this industrious and hard-working Virgo is slacking off–by my standards, anyway–that should be a good sign of the times! Ha!
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Fun! I’ve eaten a million little boxes of Sun-Maid Raisins but never took a good look at her outfit, that’s the most enormous bonnet I’ve ever seen. I guess a raisins costume would be pretty scary to a bunch of grapes, kind of like a grape mummy.
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Indeed! And the bonnet is a doozy. I did actually pull that look together. I used a sweater that I folded up around my head. Alex snapped the picture and that was that. It didn’t last long, but it was fun!
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Alex is the best kid. And way to go with the creativity!
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Thanks!
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Alex is such a sweetheart! I love the costume with the wolf hands! 🙂
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