How to Put Together a Dress-Up Box

Costumes can be expensive, but it's easy to put together a child's dress-up box using thrift store purchases and stuff you have around the house.

Things You'll Need

• Costume Jewelry
• Cowboy Hats
• Crowns
• Scarves
• Straw Hats

Instructions

1. Sort out old clothes in grown-up sizes ' shorten the legs of a pair of pants and put a bright, shiny cord through the belt loops, and your pirate will have his pantaloons! Big T-shirts can become dresses or Robin Hood-style tunics.

2. Find a bunch of scarves and bandannas ' these serve as bridal veils, pirate scarves, exotic turbans, sarongs, and much more.

3. Get heaps of hats from thrift stores, or from your closet or storage locker. Straw hats, velvet hats, baseball caps - if you have it, they'll wear it.

4. Find some felt squares; these common craft supplies can be trimmed and glued into flower petals, Dalmatian spots, rabbit or teddy bear ears, hats, eye patches, and lots of other things.

5. Give up some old kitchen stuff! Old plastic storage containers and colanders can become helmets; wooden spoons turn into magic wands, and pot lids become shields or cymbals.

6. Search for junk jewelry ' the brighter the better. Yard sales and thrift shops often contain piles of glittery clip-on earrings, brightly beaded necklaces, and more.

7. Dig out joke items from the back of the closet. Hats with fish heads on them, ties with blinking lights, T-shirts that glow in the dark, bunny slippers, and anything else that you got in a joke gift exchange during the past decade.

8. Find or buy some funky accessories: sheriff's or police badges, tiaras and crowns (plastic or made from pipe cleaners), purses, gloves, and whatever else strikes your fancy.

9. Donate old lengths of ribbon and fabric scraps ' your kids will find something creative to do with them!

Tips & Warnings

• Get a big box, chest or steamer trunk to use as a dress-up box ' make sure the lid is safe and no one can get trapped inside. Let your kids help decorate it themselves.

• A little paint or glitter (supervised!) goes a long way. Use it to spice up just about anything in the dress-up box ' as long as you don't plan to throw the item in the washing machine or dishwasher.

• Avoid giving children shoes that might cause them to sprain or break ankles. Stiletto heels may be out, at least until they are older.

• If your children are very young, don't give them anything that they could choke on or anything that might contain lead-based paint.