Mustachian Halloween

[Emilyngh]

What do you do for Halloween?   Do you have children?   What are your Mustachian plans?

We live rurally, so we don't get any trick-or-treaters :(   But, I get candy for my students, we decorate the house, and DD goes trick-or-treating downtown and/or in the in-laws' neighborhood.   We are pretty much ready for this year:

-We have 7 pumpkins getting big already in the garden.   We have both large carvers and pie pumpkins, so we'll have plenty jack o'lanterns, decorations, roasted pumpkin seeds, and pumpkin to freeze for pumpkin bread.

-I got two bags of fun sized m&m's on sale for $2 a bag, plus two packs of halloween pencils at the dollar store for my students.

-Halloween is the one holiday I really do like to decorate for (we do a small tree and white lights for xmas, but Halloween is the only holiday that we really decorate for).   I've found that I can usually find 2-3 items each year that I like at the dollar store.   So, I pick up a couple each year, sometimes do some crafting for others, and then our decorations build.   This year at the dollar store I found some of the  hologram portraits that look like old fashioned photos at one angle and then take on ghoul heads at a different angle and rat stickers for our stairs like this:

Also, as an example of the type of crafty decorations, we still have book pumpkin like this that I've made in the past:


-DD is going to be a care bear and we're just taking a hooded purple sweatsuit that she already has, spending a couple of dollars on felt, and making her costume following this:

What about you?

[sol]

I love Halloween.  It's a weakness.  We decorate heavily and hand out full sized candy bars from Costco, unless you're a teenager with no costume.  Then you get jolly ranchers.

We were "The Halloween House" in our old neighborhood.  Complete strangers have written us thank you notes after Halloween.  I was Frankenstein for answering the door last year (I'm big and scary anyway) and then in June this little kid walked by with with Mom and pointed out "Frankenstein's house" to her.

We moved this year, and I admit that finding a suitable house for Halloween was high on our list of criteria.  Lots of kids.  Sidewalks and streetlights.  Easily visible front-facing yard suitable for decorations.

We have a graveyard with lights and a fog machine.  We have animatronic and stationary zombies.  We have scary things that jump or make noise at you when you get too close.  Strobe lights.  Bodies that hang from tree limbs.  We have cobwebs and candles and spooky music.  We do not have any cutesy inflatables or cartoon characters.  My goal every year is to send at least a few kids screaming from my front porch, and I've yet to fail in that endeavor.  Is that unhealthy?  If I give them candy afterwards?

Every year on November first I go to the local seasonal Halloween stores and spend like $300 on cleaning out their stock at >50% off.  After a few years of that, you build up quite a stock of decorations and can start building thematic scenes.

It's not a frugal hobby.  But it is one of the most rewarding things I've done for my community.

[Emilyngh]

I love Halloween.  It's a weakness.  We decorate heavily and hand out full sized candy bars from Costco, unless you're a teenager with no costume.  Then you get jolly ranchers.

We were "The Halloween House" in our old neighborhood.  Complete strangers have written us thank you notes after Halloween.  I was Frankenstein for answering the door last year (I'm big and scary anyway) and then in June this little kid walked by with with Mom and pointed out "Frankenstein's house" to her.

We moved this year, and I admit that finding a suitable house for Halloween was high on our list of criteria.  Lots of kids.  Sidewalks and streetlights.  Easily visible front-facing yard suitable for decorations.

We have a graveyard with lights and a fog machine.  We have animatronic and stationary zombies.  We have scary things that jump or make noise at you when you get too close.  Strobe lights.  Bodies that hang from tree limbs.  We have cobwebs and candles and spooky music.  We do not have any cutesy inflatables or cartoon characters.  My goal every year is to send at least a few kids screaming from my front porch, and I've yet to fail in that endeavor.  Is that unhealthy?  If I give them candy afterwards?

Every year on November first I go to the local seasonal Halloween stores and spend like $300 on cleaning out their stock at >50% off.  After a few years of that, you build up quite a stock of decorations and can start building thematic scenes.

It's not a frugal hobby.  But it is one of the most rewarding things I've done for my community.

Oh, wow, Sol!   That sounds absolutely fantastic!    I too just love Halloween.

[Mrs. Frugalwoods]

Super cute! I absolutely love Halloween! I have a great stash of decorations (ghosts, pumpkins, candles) that my mom and mom-in-law didn't want anymore. I happily took all of their hand-me-down decor and have been using it for several years now. I did buy some faux mini-pumpkins a few years ago so I wouldn't have to buy real ones every year.

Our plan is to get some Costco candy to hand out to the trick-or-treaters out front with our neighbors. We'll probably dress our poor dog up too :)

[sol]

We'll probably dress our poor dog up too :)

Yes, all dogs must be in costume.

I figure if I'm going to seriously deny candy to teenagers who come to the door without costumes, everybody who answers the door better have a costume.  And our dogs cannot be kept away from the front door on Halloween.

[Frankies Girl]

I love Halloween so much, I got married on it. ;)

I'm also THE Halloween house in my neighborhood. Last year we did minimal decorations due to death in the family and health issues, but we usually go all out and give out toys and awesome candy in addition to decorating. We wanted kids, but unfortunately couldn't have any, so I do tend to feel a bit more "bittersweet" now about seeing all the adorable or awesome costumed kids.

I mod on one of the biggest Halloween home prop builder sites on the web... and using scrap, trash and recycling/repurposing stuff is one of my favorite parts of building props - so it is actually possible to be frugal and still have a really awesome Halloween house.

Our outdoor decor is PG - nothing super scary or gory - more of a spooky atmosphere. Same thing as Sol - graveyard with fog machines, lights and music and animated props like a witch stirring a cauldron or a glowing ghost floating in our front window. We also go down the driveway to give candy to the little ones that are still too scared to walk up. We sit outside so we can see the reactions and talk to the neighbors. We usually have a party the week before and the indoor decor is usually "haunted house" (lots of stuff I made that looks a bit "Addams Family" like) but skewed to match whatever that year's party theme is (I do a different theme each year), and it can be pretty crazy compared to the outside stuff.

I sew and have a background in theater prop building, so I can paper maché, use basic tools and craft stuff for just about anything I can imagine.  The Halloween decor gig is a huge industry that unfortunately tends towards expensive, cheaply made stuff, but sometimes the prop or decoration is just too cool (and I've got lots of those around). But it's much more fun and unique coming up with home-built stuff.

[lexie2000]

Unfortunately, we've stopped doing Halloween.  We live on a court in a rural neighborhood and the feeder street to our court is mostly dark so not many kids bother coming down as far as our court.  The last year we decorated and gave out candy we only got (6) kids.

[pachnik]

I love handing out candy on Halloween.  We are living in a house now so I think we'll be getting some trick or treaters.  My brother and SIL live next door and they love decorating for Halloween.   I'll just carve a pumpkin and hand out candy. 

[CommonCents]

Just moved to a new house from a condo, so this will be our first time with trick or treaters.  No idea how many to expect, so I bought a lot of candy.  DH has assured me he will take one for the team and eat any that are leftover.  My mom used to keep a notepad each year we moved and tally the treaters so she could buy appropriate quantities the following years (military - moved every 2-3 years).

I also miss my dog very much on Halloween, because it was his favorite holiday.  Tons of people coming to the door to just greet him (in his mind), what's not to like?!  I got him when I was 13, and took him trick or treating (my last year going, as an 8th grader), selecting my costume solely based on bringing him.  I was Dorothy with Toto (although he was a Shelty).

Love the rat stickers.  Now I'll be on the lookout for them...

[ViragoStache]

Our neighborhood is really popular and I love seeing how people go all out.  The decorations, the costumes, the shots (for the adults), the sausage on a stick (someone must know a butcher) the racing sausages (if you know Milwaukee, you will know that one - we really have people in racing sausage costumes run through the neighborhood all night).  We had a firetruck AND a live band (and late night party for the adults, more liquor).  It's great. 

It also attracts a lot of out of neighborhood kids. We see close to 300 kids so I need to budget for and economize the giving (it's at night and I've had to close up at 7:30 when I run out). 

We've started doing the small bags of chips which you can buy flats of at the grocery or Walmart or Sams.  I looked and if I get them on sale at Pick n Save they can be cheaper than Sams.  The kids really like them an although I'm adding to the salt, at least it's an alternative to the sugar (my kids don't even hit every house in our neighborhood and bring back bags of it - literally, you have to take a bag along to off load them).  My co-workers get a lot of overflow candy!

[mudgestache]

We make the older kids dance for their candy :)

[lifejoy]

Commenting to follow!

[socaso]

When I saw this gallery of Halloween ideas this morning I thought of this thread right away. The ideas here are clever and inexpensive and the more expensive ones would last more than one Halloween (pumpkin diorama!) I thought some folks here might enjoy the ideas. I love the idea of dressing up family photos and artwork with masks and devil horns!
http://living.msn.com/home-decor/diy-decorating/43-spooky-and-creative-halloween-craft-projects-1

[Public Hermit]

Our neighborhood isn't in the best area, and we don't have any trick-or-treaters. I found out this metal band I like is playing nearby on Halloween night. $15 a ticket +$20 for drinks, should be a good time.

[justajane]

I love Halloween.  It's a weakness.  We decorate heavily and hand out full sized candy bars from Costco, unless you're a teenager with no costume.  Then you get jolly ranchers.

Love it! Your house is most assuredly remembered by the kids in the neighborhood, and they will return every year for the fun and full-sized bars. My kids definitely remember which houses give the good treats.

I love Halloween too and spend ca. $150 a year on it. Plus I let my kids gorge on the candy. I figure it's only once a year, and why be a Scrooge about it? I sometimes feel the societal pressure to limit their eating, but it's part of the fun and excitement of being a kid. If you're worried about your kids' health, make them run around the block a few times after they eat all the sugar!

[mrsggrowsveg]

We don't have trick or treeters, but will take our son to a Trunk or Treat that is thrown by a nearby church.  I am making him a Captain Kirk costume.  We are throwing a Dia De Los Muertos/Halloween dinner party for our adult friends.  I will probably go to the local Pandaceria for some candy skulls and I will make some of my own pastries.  I would love to do a big party with a haunted trail on our farm.  My parent's used to do that when we were teens for all of our friends and it was awesome.

[CheapskateWife]

Love, love, love Halloween.....

The mustachian part for us comes in with homemade costumes for the kids...last year little man wanted to be Indiana Jones. 

The year before that was a robot, lovingly handmade with repurposed can tops, dryer vent and silver spraypaint

This year he wants to be a Ghostbuster....I'm thinking of being the Gatekeeper and having hubby dress up as the Keymaster :P

[hybrid]

I love Halloween.  It's a weakness.  We decorate heavily and hand out full sized candy bars from Costco, unless you're a teenager with no costume.  Then you get jolly ranchers.

We were "The Halloween House" in our old neighborhood.  Complete strangers have written us thank you notes after Halloween.  I was Frankenstein for answering the door last year (I'm big and scary anyway) and then in June this little kid walked by with with Mom and pointed out "Frankenstein's house" to her.

We moved this year, and I admit that finding a suitable house for Halloween was high on our list of criteria.  Lots of kids.  Sidewalks and streetlights.  Easily visible front-facing yard suitable for decorations.

We have a graveyard with lights and a fog machine.  We have animatronic and stationary zombies.  We have scary things that jump or make noise at you when you get too close.  Strobe lights.  Bodies that hang from tree limbs.  We have cobwebs and candles and spooky music.  We do not have any cutesy inflatables or cartoon characters.  My goal every year is to send at least a few kids screaming from my front porch, and I've yet to fail in that endeavor.  Is that unhealthy?  If I give them candy afterwards?

Every year on November first I go to the local seasonal Halloween stores and spend like $300 on cleaning out their stock at >50% off.  After a few years of that, you build up quite a stock of decorations and can start building thematic scenes.

It's not a frugal hobby.  But it is one of the most rewarding things I've done for my community.

Sol, if you lived on Hanover Avenue in Richmond you would be in a big slice of Halloween Candy Heaven.

http://www.richmond.com/arts-entertainment/article_2c2bd3f6-f8c0-52ae-a673-a5040433032c.html

This street in the Fan district is filled with homes built in the 1910s and 1920s, thin but very deep, affluent, and packed closely together. A trick-or-treaters dream come true for the ultimate combination of housing density plus quality candy. Anyhoo, an enormous tradition has developed here and several long blocks of Hanover Ave will see well in excess of 1,000 kids from all over the city. There are parties on many of the porches, and the residents who participate (most of them) sit outside to distribute candy while often enjoying their own liquid Halloween refreshments. There can be lines of kids several deep at each house, and the kids pull in an amazing haul in a few hours, it's only 60 feet or so from one door to the next..

A new resident to the area asked for advice and was told to buy 1500 pieces of candy and to give out exactly one piece per child. She was out of candy in two hours. I've been to this event a few times and it is just plain amazing. 

[MandalayVA]

Sol, if you lived on Hanover Avenue in Richmond you would be in a big slice of Halloween Candy Heaven.

http://www.richmond.com/arts-entertainment/article_2c2bd3f6-f8c0-52ae-a673-a5040433032c.html

This street in the Fan district is filled with homes built in the 1910s and 1920s, thin but very deep, affluent, and packed closely together. A trick-or-treaters dream come true for the ultimate combination of housing density plus quality candy. Anyhoo, an enormous tradition has developed here and several long blocks of Hanover Ave will see well in excess of 1,000 kids from all over the city. There are parties on many of the porches, and the residents who participate (most of them) sit outside to distribute candy while often enjoying their own liquid Halloween refreshments. There can be lines of kids several deep at each house, and the kids pull in an amazing haul in a few hours, it's only 60 feet or so from one door to the next..

A new resident to the area asked for advice and was told to buy 1500 pieces of candy and to give out exactly one piece per child. She was out of candy in two hours. I've been to this event a few times and it is just plain amazing.

I live in the Church Hill section of Richmond and Halloween is crazy there too.  The first Halloween we were there I bought my usual two normal-sized bags of candy and brought them out.  My neighbor took one look at the bowl and laughed in my face.  I was definitely not prepared for the marauding hordes.  Since then I've gotten smarter--I buy three HUGE bags of fun bars from Costco (450 pieces) but I still run out in about an hour and a half.  It's so much fun to chill on the porch steps with my neighbors (and yes, the wine is busted out) and hand out candy and admire the costumes.  My upstairs neighbor hands out pencils and small dollar store Halloween toys, which the kids love.  Our building has gotten a rep in the 'hood as THE place to hit up because "you get chocolate and stuff to play with."   

[CommonCents]

Beacon Hill in Boston is the trick or treat haven.  Sadly I didn't spend much time wandering around when I lived there.

"The gigantic candy bars and the open door policy that lends an almost block party atmosphere are not the only reasons to trick-or-treat in the Beacon Hill neighborhood. Taking into consideration the walkability factor, population density and crime rate this area has maintained over the years, Beacon Hill has been rated the number one spot to show off the children’s Halloween costumes across the nation. Visiting ghosts and ghouls in big rambling homes and festive lawns only two feet away from each other makes this holiday a treat with safety, fun and expediency part of the attraction to parents in Boston."

The police shut down some streets, and this is a *rich* area with folks going all out on decor.

http://boston.cbslocal.com/top-lists/bostons-best-neighborhoods-for-trick-or-treating/

[Mrs. Frugalwoods]

Ok we're decked! Best part is that all of my decorations are hand-me-downs from my mom and mom-in-law. Love that they were 1) free 2) remind my husband and I of our childhoods 3) wheat stocks!

[Metta]

I love this idea to fake a head in a jar:

http://www.instructables.com/id/head-in-a-jar-prank/

[Emilyngh]

Ok we're decked! Best part is that all of my decorations are hand-me-downs from my mom and mom-in-law. Love that they were 1) free 2) remind my husband and I of our childhoods 3) wheat stocks!

How cute (including the rest of your house)!

[Emilyngh]

I love this idea to fake a head in a jar:

http://www.instructables.com/id/head-in-a-jar-prank/

Yeah....that's creepy...

[Pigeon]

I did the head in a jar for April Fools this year. I got a nice, satisfying scream from each of my teens when they opened the fridge.

[9ofPentacles]

I love Halloween! We get tons of trick-or-treaters here, and I love handing out candy (M&Ms, Reese's, and Smarties--all bought on sale of course). And I just scored my son a really cool alien costume on an online yard sale for only 15 bucks.

[deborah]

I've just looked up when halloween is - its not for a month!!! How come you are all getting so excited already?

[Kriegsspiel]

i love Halloween too. I've decided, when I buy a house, I'll just keep it in Halloween condition year-round! Fortuitously, I want to buy a shitty fixer-upper, which makes this even easier! I can easily acquire a corpse to decorate the front yard, and spiderwebs are totally cost-free. How much more mustachian can you get?

[domustachesgrowinhouston]

I love this idea to fake a head in a jar:

http://www.instructables.com/id/head-in-a-jar-prank/

That is Awesome!  I love this forum!

[Emilyngh]

I've just looked up when halloween is - its not for a month!!! How come you are all getting so excited already?

Are you not from the US (looking up when Halloween is)?

I don't know about the rest here, but I'm a planner.   All things are planned at least a month in advance ;)   

Plus, if people decorate for Halloween, IME they often put up decorations early in Oct, so in the next week or two, so now's the time to start talking plans.

[Kriegsspiel]

I've just looked up when halloween is - its not for a month!!! How come you are all getting so excited already?

Are you not from the US (looking up when Halloween is)?

I don't know about the rest here, but I'm a planner.   All things are planned at least a month in advance ;)   

Plus, if people decorate for Halloween, IME they often put up decorations early in Oct, so in the next week or two, so now's the time to start talking plans.

DEBORAH IS FROM AUSTRALIA, WHERE THEY ARE NOT AS FORTUNATE AS US TO HAVE HALLOWEEN!

[Thegoblinchief]

i love Halloween too. I've decided, when I buy a house, I'll just keep it in Halloween condition year-round! Fortuitously, I want to buy a shitty fixer-upper, which makes this even easier! I can easily acquire a corpse to decorate the front yard, and spiderwebs are totally cost-free. How much more mustachian can you get?

Are you and dragoncar best friends IRL or the same person using two aliases? ;)

[Mrs. Frugalwoods]

Ok we're decked! Best part is that all of my decorations are hand-me-downs from my mom and mom-in-law. Love that they were 1) free 2) remind my husband and I of our childhoods 3) wheat stocks!

How cute (including the rest of your house)!

Thank you! And, I agree with you on planning ahead--I'm a planner from way back. Plus, we love enjoying our decorations for as long as possible. Which makes me think that, when the times comes, we're going to need to start a new thread for...... Christmas/winter decorations!!!!

[Emilyngh]

We finished decorating today, and spent a grand total of $2 on decorations this year.   Here are some pics.

[gnomemom]

We love Halloween, Too!  We put up a HUGE spider web out front between our two huge trees - including a large, lit spider.  We hand out full sized candy bars.  We just really enjoy it!

DH made the web from rope he bought at work.  I found the spider at Target.  This will be our third year with the web.

[Metta]

I did the head in a jar for April Fools this year. I got a nice, satisfying scream from each of my teens when they opened the fridge.

How awesomely cool!

[Metta]

We finished decorating today, and spent a grand total of $2 on decorations this year.   Here are some pics.

Very nice! I like the wicker pumpkin with the white ones. Elegant!

[justajane]

Another cheap, lasting Halloween decoration is to cut pieces of leftover plywood into tombstones and paint them black. We painted the names with white paint. When I pull them out, I can take pictures.

You can google search for clever names or phrases to put on yours, but we went literary. Once says "Frank N. Stein" with Mary Shelley's dates, and the other says "Asher T. Ashers" (i.e. ashes to ashes). But there's lots of silly things you can paint on there.

I went to the dollar store today and found a couple nice things. One is a orange pumpkin trash bag that you can fill with leaves. The other was some rubber rats. Most everything else was joke, but I like the pumpkin and the rats can be reused from year to year.

[somecobwebs]

Ahh, the perfect thread for me!!

I live in an apartment, so no Trick or Treaters, but my roommate and I love Halloween so we've decorated like crazy.

We keep it very frugal, though. I decorate for holidays with the four Hs -

1. Hand-me-downs (for example, this year I got a lovely Day of the Dead sculpture from my Abuelita!)
2. Handmade (crochet and construction paper)
3. Harvest (mini pumpkins, apples, and candy corn as centerpieces, all of which will be eaten after the holiday is done)
4. High-quality (I ask around the overpriced home goods stores to learn when the holiday decorations will be 50% off, then show up on the first day of that sale and buy up to $25 worth of decorations each year, looking for high-quality make and reusability. I'm slowly building up a collection of classy Halloween decorations, including embroidered pumpkin napkins, spider napkin rings, a spider web cake tray, etc!)

For the construction paper.... it's so easy to cut out bats and ghosts to put on the walls. I host a big Halloween decorating party with my friends the last weekend of September. It's fun, social, cuts down on decorating time, and leads to some seriously creative results!!! For example, I got busy cutting out bats, then glanced over at the fireplace and discovered that it had an eye, teeth, and even a lolling red tongue! (My sister and my childhood friend were giggling and snorting, trying to look innocent.)

A specific craft I've been doing a lot this year is soaking the labels off of jars (apple butter and moonshine, both mysteriously emptied), filling the jars with candy corn, and then putting a little candle inside to flicker and look pretty. Easy, festive, and frugal!

[somecobwebs]

By the way, does anyone know a good frugal alternative for those fake spiderwebs? I really love the effect they create - it feels wrong to have Halloween without them - but they are very tough to reuse, making them not a great purchase.

I'd also love ideas about a more permanent/reusable version of the construction paper bats that I make for my walls every year. Maybe laminating them? Cloth? Cardboard?

[Elderwood17]

Our kids are all gone now and we moved to a street that is out there a ways.  Last year was our first ever without one trick or treater coming to the door.  So this year will be our most frugal of all Halloweens - we won't spend a penny!

[guitar_stitch]

Mustachian Halloween for me is going out and making premium scratch playing music.  ;)

Fake spiderwebs could be obtained with some polyfil or similar batting material from the arts and crafts section at wal mart.  When you're done, restuff a pillow.

[Sylly]

Our kids are all gone now and we moved to a street that is out there a ways.  Last year was our first ever without one trick or treater coming to the door.  So this year will be our most frugal of all Halloweens - we won't spend a penny!

Hahaha, we're pondering whether we want to entertain trick-or-treaters this years. Last year, we had candy ready, but only two kids stopped by our door because our front of the house was dark (we're not in the habit of those lights on, so it's not like we were intentionally discouraging trick or treaters). We figured if we keep it dark again, we'll get minimal knocks again. The alternative is turning one of the lights on and having hordes knocking, since we're in one of those neighborhoods that people drive to to do their trick-or-treating.

[Dan_at_Home]

Halloween is my favorite holiday.  Every year we have the best house on the block for decorations. 

When we bought a house 2 years ago, it is at the end of a cul-de-sac, our first Halloween we got maybe 2 or 3 trick or treaters and the block was pretty dead in terms of decorations.  It did not bother me though, we just put up the best display you can, and it just means less competition so you stand out better with your decorations. 

I noticed though from past experience that when house has a really kick ass display sometimes it rubs off on the others in the neighborhood and they start to get more interested in it.  It is a slow process, but I have noticed it makes some difference.

   

[justajane]

Our kids are all gone now and we moved to a street that is out there a ways.  Last year was our first ever without one trick or treater coming to the door.  So this year will be our most frugal of all Halloweens - we won't spend a penny!

Hahaha, we're pondering whether we want to entertain trick-or-treaters this years. Last year, we had candy ready, but only two kids stopped by our door because our front of the house was dark (we're not in the habit of those lights on, so it's not like we were intentionally discouraging trick or treaters). We figured if we keep it dark again, we'll get minimal knocks again. The alternative is turning one of the lights on and having hordes knocking, since we're in one of those neighborhoods that people drive to to do their trick-or-treating.

Driving trick or treaters depress me. The whole fun is walking in the elements and running into other kids.

[MandalayVA]

Hahaha, we're pondering whether we want to entertain trick-or-treaters this years. Last year, we had candy ready, but only two kids stopped by our door because our front of the house was dark (we're not in the habit of those lights on, so it's not like we were intentionally discouraging trick or treaters). We figured if we keep it dark again, we'll get minimal knocks again. The alternative is turning one of the lights on and having hordes knocking, since we're in one of those neighborhoods that people drive to to do their trick-or-treating.

The Halloween rule of thumb for trick-or-treaters is that if your front lights aren't on, you're not giving out anything.  I'm surprised you even got anyone last year if your house was dark.

And I just remembered Halloween is on a Friday this year.  This should be interesting.

/467 pieces of candy at the ready!

[JPinDC]

I love Halloween costumes! I DIY as much as I can and made 4 costumes (or at least enough accessories to get the point across) for my kickball team last week for a grand total of $12 (Popeye, a penguin, a bat, and Peter Pan -- the team as a whole went as Robin Williams). For my regular Halloween costume, my friends like to get into a theme, and we've decided on somewhat obscure heroes and villains. I've decided that I have too much time on my hands(ha!), apparently, as I jumped on Rita Repulsa from Power Rangers!



A big hit and super easy costume 2 years ago was Jenna Marbles (she's a YouTube personality). I bought a piece of foam board and printed out the frame from one of her videos to cut a hole in the middle. I was taking pictures in the frame ALL NIGHT.

[Sylly]

Driving trick or treaters depress me. The whole fun is walking in the elements and running into other kids.

They don't drive from house to house, rather.. it's people who live somewhere else, driving to my neighborhood, then walking around.

The Halloween rule of thumb for trick-or-treaters is that if your front lights aren't on, you're not giving out anything.  I'm surprised you even got anyone last year if your house was dark.

One of us was just getting home and pulling into the garage when the only trick or treaters knocked, so I guess technically there was a light.. the wide open garage.

[MandalayVA]

The Halloween rule of thumb for trick-or-treaters is that if your front lights aren't on, you're not giving out anything.  I'm surprised you even got anyone last year if your house was dark.

One of us was just getting home and pulling into the garage when the only trick or treaters knocked, so I guess technically there was a light.. the wide open garage.

Ah, the Halloween Ambush!  That's happened to me too.

[Bob W]

We just put out (actually DW did) Halloween decorations.  They almost surpass our vast xmas collection.   

Here is a trick.  Hit the local thrift stores for decorations.   They will be 1/4 or less of new retail and you might find some cool stuff. 

After Halloween,  Hit Walmart -- We bought 20 plastic pumpkins for like 30 cents a piece last year.  Great sales on kids costumes too.   Our kids love to dress up in costumes all year long so we have something like 20 costumes of various sizes.   

My wife and I have collected maybe 5 costumes each at thrift stores over the years.

Trick or Treat!