WF BLOG
Getting Crafty on a Budget
Inspires Thrifty Fun
S After watching a
number of YouTube
videos on how to tear
clothing for zombie
costumes, I grabbed
a pair of scissors and
went to work.

FATCAMERA/E+/GETTY IMAGES
18 Washington FAMILY
BY GINA GALLUCCI-WHITE
hortly after Halloween two years ago,
my son announced that he wanted his
next costume to be Jason Voorhees.

Why? I am not really sure.

He has never even seen a horror movie let
alone one from the Friday the 13th franchise,
but he never wavered all year in his costume
pick. I think it was his fascination with the
old school hockey goalie mask.

The only problem with his choice was that
there were no costumes like this to buy for
a tween. I found many adult-sized costumes,
but none to fit my 10-year-old. (In case any
large costume producers are reading this:
Not every tween boy wants to be a Marvel/
D.C. superhero.)
I can’t sew and I will never be that
Pinterest-worthy mom, so I had to get cre-
ative in how to piece together this costume.

I Googled costume pictures of the legend-
ary screen villain and found one where he
was wearing a torn-up denim shirt, a white
T-shirt and blue jeans.

My son had a white T-shirt and a pair of
jeans that looked pretty beat up from every-
day wear, so that part was done. But, there
was no way I was going to buy a brand-new
denim shirt just to completely destroy it. So,
I decided to go to Goodwill. I donate to the
Walkersville location quite often as my two
kids have outgrown clothes and toys, so I
figured I’d give it a try.

I ended up finding a beautiful George-
brand denim button-up shirt in excellent
condition for $1. It was a tad big on my
son, but Jason Voorhees doesn’t look like
the type of criminal that has to have
fitted clothes.

After watching a number of YouTube
videos on how to tear clothing for zom-
bie costumes (go ahead, look them up), I
grabbed a pair of scissors and went to work.

I’ve got to admit that I was a little sad to tear
up this shirt, because it looked like it had not
been worn much, if at all.

As I snipped away at the fabric, I was actu-
ally surprised at how hard it is to make the
tears look realistic. I ended up making small
cuts with scissors and then using my fin-
gers to rip the incision bigger and pull at the
fraying threads. I cut off any parts that were
neatly sewn together and made them as jag-
ged as possible. Then we threw the shirt in
some dirt and charcoal with some splatters
of fake blood to complete the look.

OCTOBER19 2019
I found a hockey mask at a Halloween
store, but it was plain white and didn’t have
the red markings like the character’s tradi-
tional facial cover up. After red paint failed
to properly adhere, we ended up using a red
Sharpie which worked well. My husband
scuffed up the mask with sand paper and he
applied ash leftovers from a recent cookout
for a weathered, beaten-up look.

After finding a fake machete online, the
total price for the costume was less than
$10. This was the cheapest costume my son
has ever worn, but I think one of the best
because of all the creative work it took to
bring it to life. I’ll admit, I had fun.

Goodwill also helped me to create a cos-
tume for my daughter when her class did a wax
museum project. Each child was asked to pick a
famous individual/hero to research, highlight-
ing his or her background, accomplishments
and how the hero overcame obstacles.

Projects were displayed in the school cafete-
ria “museum” with the students posing by info
boards they created. When passersby pressed
a button on the board, each student came to
life to discuss his or her hero.

My daughter chose Urbana High School
graduate and American Ninja Warrior super-
star Jessie Graff. One of the stuntwoman’s
most iconic outfits was inspired by Wonder
Woman and featured a red crop top and a
blue skirt with white stars. I had searched
online for possible matches, but each were
too expensive for a one-day event.

I headed back to Goodwill since my pre-
vious excursion was successful. I found a
red top with small stars and a big blue star
on the front. For the bottom, I found a one
piece Fourth of July dress with red and
white stripes on the top and a blue skirt with
white stars. The skirt was actually sewn into
the top so I was able to cut the skirt off at
the hem without having to sew it (whew!).

I reused the discarded top as a rag to clean
shelves. The look cost less than $5 and my
daughter was thrilled to match her hero.

My takeaway: As your children outgrow
items, don’t throw them away. Make sure to
donate them, knowing that they may come
to life again at a wax museum or a Halloween
party near you. ■
Gina Gallucci-White is a local mom, writer
and reporter for several local and national
news outlets.