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Hold a Halloween Costume Swap and Save BigHalloween is approaching fast and it's time to start planning what your kids will wear trick or treating. If it were up to the kids - they would have the latest character costumes that will send your wallet into hiding. Well here's a creative solution to help save you and other families you know a bunch of money. It's called a Halloween Costume Swap Party. Now don't get worried - I'm not talking anything complicated or fancy. Just a simple get together where families can swap costumes. Let's face it kids grow fast! You buy them a Halloween costume one year and the next year it's too small. If you're lucky you can get 2 years out of a costume or maybe hand it down to a smaller child. Plus the price of costumes have gone up dramatically in recent years. Most thrift stores sell costumes for $5 or more and retail stores sell them for $14.99 and up. It's not unusual to find children's Halloween costumes costing $39.99 each. Ouch! Here's how the costume swap party works. 1. Decide on a location. You can use your home, ask your church to use one of their rooms, even someone's back yard (weather permitting), etc. Any place large enough to hold a group of people and all the costumes. 2. Tell a bunch of moms you know. Create a simple flyer and hand it out at your child's preschool, elementary school, church, playdates, mom groups, neighbors, etc. The more families involved the better the selection for everyone. If you only have a few people participating make sure the kids are all about the same size - so everyone gets a new costume in return. 3. Have everyone bring their costumes early, so you can sort the costumes by size and gender. Examples include: baby, toddler, 2-4, 4-6, 6-8, 8-10, 10-12, teen, adult. When a family drops off a costume be sure to give them a ticket. One ticket for every costume gives them one ticket to pick a new costume. For example if the Jones' bring 3 costumes they will receive 3 tickets and later get to choose 3 new costumes. 4. Schedule a set meeting time for everyone to come together and pick a new costume. Maybe ask some older kids to offer face painting or to set up a coloring table for little kids. It will keep them occupied while older siblings are choosing a costume. This idea is simple and can work for almost anyone. Save some money, get together with friends and have fun swapping costumes. About the Author: Kimberly Shavatt provides helpful hints,tips, articles and resources on family and home-based work issues. Anything a mom at home may need help with. Find lots of useful resources http://www.HelpingMomsAtHome.com. |
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