How to shop smart for your kids Halloween costume

Halloween is my favorite holiday behind Christmas. I love free stuff and candy, so there isn't much better in life than combining those two loves.  

I've also always been a big fan of dressing up. I actually don't know too many kids who don't love pretending they are someone or something else and expressing that with some fun costume and accessories.  My kids are getting older and we don't have a dedicated toy room filled with plastic toys anymore {hallelujah!} but we do have a few tubs full of dress up clothes. If we have kids over anytime of the year, all of them tend to gravitate towards our dress up bucket. I love getting dress up items at garage sales, but I also use this time of the year to stock up on those accessories that make the outfits at our local Spirit Halloween store. {You can find a Spirit store near you here.}
Our local store is HUGE! Spirit has not only kids costumes but adult costumes and accessories. Pretty much anything that you could think of that you would need.

Before I shop, I always take inventory of what I have at home. Is there something my kids are requesting that we might not have?  Is there a hot new character they want to be {Minions anyone...}?

I am not one of those people that grabs a complete costume in a bag. I have far more fun putting together something from things I have and then using accessories to pull it all together.  So, I hit the accessory aisles and there was plenty to choose from!

I tried to stay focused on the list of things that I had at home {I seriously wanted to grab the aviator hat and glasses, but since I didn't have a leather bomber jacket at home that would have made the outfit, I had to pass}.  It's all about shopping smart. Use what you have, and pick up accessories that you might not have.

I was glad to see that Spirit had a whole aisle of basic items. Like girls black body suits and tights. The best costumes start with basic layers. Spirit is the one stop shop for all things Halloween.  I like to remember that my time is worth something and while I could make every single item of their costumes, sometimes it's worth it to spend a little bit of money and save my sanity!

I know I've heard stories of moms going out to look for that one hard to find item that their kids want to complete their costume. My guess is, they could have saved a lot of time just by popping into Spirit because if they don't have it, it probably doesn't exist! You can also pick up Halloween decor and party supplies all in one spot!  Time saved is money saved!

This is the haul of some things I bought, and some things that got sent to me as part of a surprise package from Spirit. I managed to make over 15 different Halloween costumes for boys, girls and adults using just these supplies.  Come back next week to see how I styled the costumes using basic clothes and costumes and accessories from Spirit Halloween store.

In the meantime, you all know how much I love to save money.  I've got a 20% off coupon just for you!  Go! Shop smart!
disclaimer: this is a sponsored post for Spirit Halloween store.  All opinions are 100% my own. I wouldn't write about it, if I didn't love it.