A Costume Challenge: Reusing Instead of Buying New

Thankfully, my three-year-old son doesn't have a very strong opinion about what to dress up as on Halloween. This year he/we decided that he'd be one of his favorite book characters, Waldo of Where's Waldo fame. A pretty easy costume. Just needed a knit hat from a very talented family friend, some round glasses, and the most essenital item--Waldo's trademark red and white striped shirt. We had to order the shirt and glasses online. Thought it'd be no big deal, but we had our first Halloween party today (10 days before Halloween) and we were short one item. The shirt. There's really no Waldo costume without the shirt. So, after didn't come in yesterday's mail, we had to scramble and find something from what we already had at the house. 
 
My son's reused costume came together quite nicely. He was a skeleton paleontologist. Just as cute as Waldo, I think! As we searched through the house, I realized just how many potential costumes we had lying around the house. A pretend play doctor outfit, a fleecy one-piece lion/bear outfit, a train conductor hat and overalls. But the skeleton sleep outfit that's a size too small combined with the dress-up paleontologist set proved the perfect combination. 
 
Next year, instead of ordering new, I'm going to try to take a look around the house and see what clever and fun costumes we can come up with. It's a good challenge and there's certainly more pride of ownership when you create it on your own!
 

My son in his "Skeleton Paleontologist" outfit
 
Author: Kate Bevins, mom to James (3)