Halloween in NYC-- 2013

One of our best resources for things to do in the city is "Mommy Poppins."  The site is constantly updated with fun, and often free or cheap things to do with kids.  And without kids for that matter. So we hopped online and found a parade going on at Washington Square Park (We're huge fans of August Rush, so any chance we get to go here, we do!)  

 We ended up at the end of the parade route before it even began, giving us first dibs at the popcorn, cotton candy, and other freebies.  T ate two bags of popcorn, clutching the bag with a tight fist.  She's a lot like me and her grandma "Besta" in her love of popcorn. 

When we took away the popcorn for a picture without the prop... not a happy Oompa Loompa.  She can keep the popcorn!

 We joined in the parade for as long as it was fun, then cut across the park for some time with the band and a ride on the (very fast) carousel.  

Take a good look at Scott's bowtie in this pic, I'll break down the cost of these costumes later...

T must have had at LEAST 50 strangers take pictures of her today.  She was a total star.  The costume isn't really that extreme-- it's all about the green hair.  She was loving the attention, but did get nervous once when a gang of 15 circled around her with 5 cameras flashing in her face at once.  We are really proud that she is ours :)

Here's the deal on the costumes, get excited for a few victories:

1.  Scott has a velvet black coat in his closet.  It's from a vintage store in Long Beach years ago, and it's come in handy more than once since I came into his life.  Now that we live in NYC, I think he can get away with wearing it for real!  

2.  His bowtie:  Purple. Sparkly. Totally Willy Wonka.  I passed a random little fabric shop near my house, and of course popped in to see what it had to offer.  With bolts falling off shelves and strewn across the floor, I literally bumped into this fabric and bought 1/4 yard for A QUARTER.  Steal.  

3.  I found a black top hat for $8 at a shop nearby. But I thought I'd email the moms in my church group to see if any of them had something before I bought the hat.  Within 10 minutes I had not one but TWO hats at my disposal, and both were in my hands within an hour of me sending the email.  Thank you Harlem moms group-- you totally pulled through for me!

4.  T's costume sewed up in 30 minutes with fabric I already had on hand, and a few buttons from my stash.  She wore a black top she already had and those precious shoes are from my mom.  They were PERFECT for this costume!  The green hairspray cost $4 and our friend Brenda met us today with orange and white face paint to work some make up magic. Amazing. 

5.  On my way home from the subway I passed a corner store being restocked.  They had already broken down the boxes so I just asked for one piece.  No searching for an exacto knife or dulling my scissors.  Win.  I had gold spray paint from other projects and used ribbon from my stash to call it good.  I do wish I had gold leggings, but let's be honest-- the Ooompa Loompa is the star anyway, so let's focus on her! 

All in all, the costumes for the three of us came to $4.25!  That's less than a round trip subway fare.  Hooray!

The carnival part of the party wasn't as crowded as I'd anticipated.  We only waited 2 loads for our turn on the carousel!