I came across this website today: ThreadBanger.com. It’s to DIY for.

They’ve got wonderfully creative ideas (with an emphasis on “green” materials) with easy-to-follow pictures, too.

Now I’m all for letting our kids make their own costumes – when they can – but helping them with the process can be a cherished experience – one that will likely be remembered even more than the costume itself. So if you’re looking for some ideas and direction for what to make and how to make it, I’d say ThreadBanger is a great place to start.

Here are a few of my other favorites:

• Knitty.com’s knitted wig
• About.com’s DIY fashion
• Budget101.com (“frightening ideas that won’t hurt your wallet”)
• AllFreeCrafts.com

Of course, our new book, Celebrate Green! also has great DIY ideas, including a recipe for making your own face paints!

I’ve been so excited to hear about all of the people organizing costume swaps. Everywhere I turn, I’m told that neighborhoods, churches, organizations, schools and groups of friends are finding ways to put “Reduce, Reuse & Recycle” into Halloween action.

High-five to everyone.

But it suddenly struck me: Halloween is the second biggest holiday (after Christmas) for consumer spending on decorative items (in 2008 Americans are expected to spend 1.58 billion on decor alone). That’s almost as much as we spend on costumes (2.1 billion). We should be having decor swaps as well!

What do you think of this idea?

Have you done something like this in the past?

Share your opinions about it here (free AND zero-waste).

I came across this post today from TheDailyGreen.

It has great photos of costumes you won’t find on any rack.

For some reason the images remind me of that quote, “What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail?”

Here are a few of my favorites, but if you need inspiration for your own get-up, check out this list of ideas.

It’ll surely get your creative juices flowing…

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Green Halloween & BabyLegs 2-part Contest

1) Now through October 3rd, send us your ideas for new steps your family will be taking to celebrate a healthy and Earth-friendly Halloween. We’ll choose our five favorites and send them a three pack of Halloween-themed BabyLegs.

2) Then, we invite everyone to send us photos of your kids* dressed in costumes that incorporate BabyLegs of any style. Photos are due November 3^rd.

We’ll post the pictures online. The family that submits the best photo (preference given to handmade styles that incorporate a “green” theme, of course!) will win a pair of BabyLegs of their choice (excluding “super soft”).

By the way, we love BabyLeg’s new organic line and think you will too.

*Contest open for kids up to age 14

I know you’ll find this astonishing and sad (and you’ll be justified in thinking my parents neglectful) but when I was a child, I never once had a store-bought costume.

Can you believe how awful it must have been for me to hunt through my parent’s closets trying on over-sized shoes and hats, or rummaging through my mom’s art kit looking for paints and random bits of fabric? Can you believe how crushed I was having to dream up ways to actualize the costumes in my mind: an Ewok, a chicken, or a dragon? It’s true, I’m still traumatized…

Of course, you know me well enough to know that I’m only kidding. Creating costumes is one of Halloween’s greatest joys! It’s not only rewarding for children to strut around in something they made themselves, but the there’s also great joy to be found in the entire process – beginning to end.

Okay, so avoiding off-the-rack costumes puts some meaning back into the holiday, but how is it green?

It’s green when the materials you make it with are easy on the Earth, such as:

• Reused, vintage, recycled or reclaimed materials
• Fabrics such as Organic cotton, hemp or burlap

My #1 favorite? Wool. Not only is it non-petroleum based (like polyester is), it’s compostable, biodegradable and naturally fire retardant! Perfect for Halloween.