Halloween and costumes are a BIG deal around here. Each year our friends and family wait to see what costume we surprise everyone with on our social media platforms! It's so much fun. I mean. who doesn't want to pretend to be someone else for a few hours to escape reality lol--especially in 2020?!?
I was looking back on all of my Halloween photos and realized that my husband and I have really created a significant repertoire of costumes over the years. I thought I would put together a little blog post to help you get inspired for your next Halloween event or costume party (If we are ever allowed to be around people again lol).
Mary Poppins and Bert is my ALL TIME FAVORITE couple costume we have ever put together. We chose a combination of his chimney sweep look and Mary's traditional look. Most of the fun for me is starting early by pulling together thrift store finds, Ebay wigs and the home made touches that make our costumes 100% better than a prefab store bought one. BOR-ING!! lol....I glued the items onto the hat, and spray painted the "chimney broom" ends to make it look soot-ey. I know a costume is meant to be when I find almost everything we need in one thrift shop outing.
Here are are few more of our top favorites.
MARTY AND DOC- BACK TO THE FUTURE
I was able to find most of these costume looks on Amazon. The key is to start shopping at the end of August because most "cheaper" items come from China and take up to 8 weeks to arrive. Things like the red vest I wore in the winter again:
This one was a blast! My daughter even photo shopped us into the movie cover lol...EPIC!!!!
Plus, I got a good pair of white NIKE running shoes out of it (I added the red stripe myself with a sticker that I removed). I really try to get pieces I can reuse in our costumes. The shirt "Doc" aka my husband, Ken is wearing, later got worn on a trip to Mexico.
So fun!!!!
CRUELLA DEVILLE AND PATCH- 101 Dalmatians
So. Much. Fun. Maybe not for Ken lol, but definitely for me! It's exciting playing an evil villain for a night.
The dog costume Ken is wearing is actually an adult onesie, so that's definitely got worn again on these cold winter nights.
If you ever want to feel like a badass chic, go as Cruella...so fun! I still have this shawl...what to wear it with lol!!!? For the make-up, I watched some make up tutorials and it all came together perfectly.
ANGER AND SADNESS- INSIDE OUT
Oh my gosh, I had to be sad all night but I actually laughed my head off behind the scenes. When I laid on the floor like her character in the film, my family died laughing too. This costume came about when I found blue pants for $9 on clearance...the idea was skied and then we rolled with it. The wig is from Walmart and the face make up is from Michaels. I think we pretty much had all of the other elements already in our closets.
My husband NEVER EVER gets angry so it was hilarious to watch him during the evening hahaha
COWGIRL BARBIE AND METRO KEN
This one was almost ten years ago now...so the quality of the photo won't be as good so bear with me! Since my husband's name is actually KEN I have been called "Barbie" about 546 million times. So I figured I would give in and give the public what they've always wanted...a good old Ken and Barbie costume.
Here are some awkward poses for ya! We tried to look barbie-like...so funny! Most of the clothes were items we already had and I took a little trip to the dollar store for the accessories. Then I printed a name tag off the internet for Ken.
JENNY AND FORREST- FORREST GUMP
"Life's like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gunna get."
I guess I had to have a costume with the first name, Jenny since that's my name and Ken had his chance... haha. This one came about because of the shoes. We found them first at the thrift store and the costume developed from there. I bought the necklace and flower crown at Claire's and everything else we had laying around. The wig was from the local Halloween store in our town. Since everyone called me "JEN-NAAAY" all night in that cute Forrest Gump tone, my Son in law Ben calls me like this to this day...super cute and endearing.
CAPTAIN SMITH AND THE UNSINKABLE MARY BROWN- TITANIC
It was a little strange stepping into real life characters who's fate was forever changed by the sad story of the demise of the Titanic ship. But.....BEST PARTY EVER!!!!! I can't wait to have another like this one day.
This costume was particularly fun because we had a murder mystery dinner that night too!! I have to admit, it was fun wearing la coeur de l'ocean around my neck for a night. I found it on Amazon as well as the big Kentucky Derby style hat. I wore the gown to my daughter's wedding so that was a bonus! The facial hair and captains hat came from the local Halloween store.
TRAILER "TRASH"
OK...before you get completely offended....We totally joked about this at the time because we had lived in a 1970s mobile home in a trailer court for a 7 years while we got our degrees on a strict budget. After we bought an actual home we decided to throw a "trailer trash" party lol. This is in no way meant to offend anyone living in a trailer, but to make light of our situation we were in for so long. I hope you can laugh along ;)
I carried around my "baby" in the baby carrier, we had a "kitty-litter cake", did a corned beef sculpting contest and drank cheap beer and wine. Super fun party you guys! Especially the wigs from Walmart! This was a throwback to 2009 lol!!!
DELMONTE GRAPES
DISCLAIMER!!!! Please think ahead before pinning 40 balloons to your body...you won't be able to use the washroom for the evening lol.
...and makeup from the dollar store gets really blotchy haha. Invest in the better stuff from Michaels if you try this. This is a great budget friendly costume for sure! The trick-or-treaters loved it!!
1920'S RAGTIME/GATSBY/DOWNTON ABBEY COUPLE
I edited these photos to look old and worn out--pretty cool eh! This was one of the best costume parties ever!! The dresses were under $30 on Ebay or Amazon. and I still have my dress and wore it to a dinner party in Mexico two years ago.
The accessories are mostly from Amazon as well. Tons of fun! The best part of planning a party is the food and music too. We had a poker table with whiskey, champagne, hors d'euvres and lots of fun food from the Gatsby era.
1970's COUPLE
Last but not least, this was our costume from a really fun 70's themed party! All of this was thrifted at Value Village. Good times for sure! We transformed the whole living room to make it look like That 70's Show. It was great!! For some reason I only have this photo...oh well. You get the picture, I had a blast!
What's happening for Halloween 2020, you ask? HMMMMM....This year has been the pits for so many and we need some jolie good fun. What do you think this Mr & Mrs are going as? You'll have to come over to my Instagram page on October 31st to see who we will be dressing up as this year! After you've been in quarantine with your spouse, you may turn into this famous movie couple too, hehehehe :). Leave your best guess below or DM me on Instagram and I'll send the winning guess a Halloween gift surprise!!!
I hope you enjoyed our costume tour and it gave all you cats and kittens some ideas for the future. Love, Jenn & Ken (we graduated from College the same year...you could totally turn this into a couple costume!!!!! :))))))