How I am managing to NOT spend a ton of money on Halloween costumes...#CookiesKids #CBias

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Last year I spent $100 on Halloween costumes. Yes. $100. And my kids wore them for 2 hours. Oh my gosh, even just thinking about it makes my tummy hurt.

I vowed to myself that I would NOT do that again this year.

So when I asked the kids what they wanted to be for Halloween, I was dreading their responses. I was pleasantly surprised, though, to hear that...

Kinsley wants to be Katniss Everdeen...

Grayson wants to be a zombie...

And Tyler wants to be a vampire...(that stinkin' adorable costume is from Pottery Barn Kids)...

OK...I may be able to work with these. I have never been one to make my kids' costumes...and that is for no other reason than that I am lazy. And I would rather be doing something else with my spare time. I have friends who have made the MOST amazing costumes for their kids...and I think it's absolutely wonderful. It's just not me.

So, this year I'm thinking that maybe I could  buy REAL clothes for my kids, and pass them off as Halloween costumes. Oh yeah. That's my challenge. 

I headed over to Cookie's Kids online to see what I could find. Have you ever shopped there? Either online or in one of their brick and mortar stores? Well, I had never shopped there either...but I gotta tell ya, I was so excited by what I found. Amazing kids' fashion...brand names...excellent prices. Take a look at just a few of the things they have available for sale...

Yeah. Those are brand names you see up there. And the prices? They can't be beaten. Here's just a little more...

I LOVE how you can get outfit ideas with just the click of a button! I will definitely be back to shop here...but, for now, I needed to focus on Halloween...

Here is what I found for each of the kids...(check out my entire shopping trip here on Google+).

Kinsley's Katniss Everdeen Halloween costume 

This was my first idea for her...I ended up not getting the brown pants, the Guess shirt or the boots...

Gray's Zombie Halloween Costume 

This will need some roughing up, but I think it will be perfect...

Ty's Vampire Halloween Costume 

This will work just perfectly...except for the tie and handkerchief...we'll put those aside for another time.

I placed my order and received the clothing in just a few days...and I couldn't have been more happy. 

3 "costumes" for under $60? Oh yeah...that's my kind of Halloween. Especially if the kids will be able to reuse these items. 

OH! One more thing...Cookie's Kids has $5 shipping ALL THE TIME! And there are always coupons available to help you save even more! Just sign up for their emails, and you will get them delivered right to your inbox...

Now for the fun part. Kinsley was really excited to try her "costume" on, and because there wasn't too much "extra" stuff that needed to be added to hers, she got dressed right away.

Here's how her Katniss costume turned out...

OK...I seriously love this. She ended up wearing her own boots, which was great for me, and I picked up an archery set in Target's Halloween section. Just perfect. AND she loves the top and pants, so I know she will wear them again...woo hoo! One down, two to go...

Unfortunately, Grayson, my middle son came down with a bug just before I was going to get his photos done...and I just didn't have the heart to make him dress up...but I know he will look awesome. He loves the clothes he got for his "costume" and he can hardly wait to try out his whole zombie look.

Now, Tyler, my 5-year-old is a stubborn little child. Absolutely adorable, but incredibly stubborn. So when I asked him to get dressed in his costume he informed me that he was NOT going to put on makeup and he did NOT want me to do his hair...sooooo...you pick your battles I guess.

But here he is as a vampire...

Hmmm...did I mention he's stubborn? No smiles for me...

Don't his clothes look great, though??? And if he wants to capeless, he can still pull off the whole vampire thing...(as long as he lets me do his hair and makeup on Halloween...).

There's a little smile...yay. Success.

So, what do you think? I'm thinking this will NOT be the last time I find "real" clothes to use for costumes and it will NOT be the last time I shop at Cookie's Kids.

Find Cookie's Kids online or, if you are from the New York City area, check out their stores in Bronx, Brooklyn & Jamaica.

You can also keep up with Cookie's Kids on Facebook and Twitter...

AND GUESS WHAT??? Cookie's Kids is offering Midwestern Girl readers 10% off on ANY purchases made between now and November 30! No minimum purchase required! Woo hoo!!! Just use the code: midwesternsewinggirl at checkout. Isn't that awesome???

***Free Shipping on all orders. Excludes Furniture, Gear and Toys. Contiguous U.S. Only. Expires 11/30/12***

And here are just some really fun facts about the origin of Cookie's Kids...

In 1972, a young man named Cookie and his brother Marvin went into business together. They rented a 1600 square foot store in Jamaica, Queens, fixed it up, bought inventory and Summer and Fall, and opened a day after Thanksgiving with a full stock of holiday toys. The toys were a success and they put the extra money toward buying children's clothing for the next season. When that did well, they bought more clothing. The business was on it's way.
As the brothers Cookie, Marvin and Sonny, who had come in as a third partner in the business, began to open new stores in new locations, inventory expanded. Besides the latest fashions, our customers wanted shoes, toys, backpacks and accessories and we were prepared to deliver.
By the late 1990's there were six superstores throughout the NYC area, and though they previously had different names, by that time they were all named Cookie's Kids. Also in the late '90s came an important addition to Cookie's Kids' inventory: school uniforms. It was the steady success in uniform sales that paved the way for founding CookiesKids.com in 2007, which originally sold uniforms and soon after the entire Cookie's Kids Inventory.

DISCLOSURE: I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and CookiesKids.com #CBias #SocialFabric. All opinions are my own.