It’s Halloween once again! It’s nice to let our kids experience Halloween Costume parties by dressing them up and a great time to let them express their imaginations. Here are some tips for low-cost, home-made creations:

• Ask your grocer for a potato bag. Cut arm and neck holes for your child. Don it over jeans and a plaid shirt, tie a rope at the waist, add a few wisps of straw and an old hat and you've transformed your child into a scarecrow.

• Give your kids some large pieces of foam, sticky paper and markers. They might transform themselves into huge parking tickets or passes for sporting events.

• Flexible tubing, such as electrical conduit or drainage pipe, is great for spider legs and the like.

• For a ghost, use a left-over wedding runner. Just fold it and cut a hole in it, then tie the waist with yarn. If you shred the edges, it'll give the costume a creepy effect. An old pillowcase can also do the trick.

• Old bridesmaid dresses are perfect for little princesses; just pin up the skirt. You can buy a cheap tiara, or join the would-be princess in making a cone-shaped hat out of poster board, then drape it with inexpensive netting.

• Old curtains can be recycled in many ways. Velvet is perfect for a king's cape You can make a magician out of a bunch of old scarves. Use handfuls of them - around the waist and on the head - for a gypsy outfit. Costume jewelry and a colorful skirt complete the look.

• Face paint often is the final touch that makes the costume. Colorful oversized shirts and scarves make a good basis for a clown costume, but creative face painting gives the clown his character.

• Headbands are useful for propping up ears or antennae. Use an old animal-print jersey, felt ears on a headband and black tights to create a cat.

Safety Tips:

• Costumes should not have trailing material.
• Pointed objects such as swords and devil's forks should be made of soft material.
• Be sure all parts of the costume are flame retardant.
• If your child wears a mask instead of makeup, double check that the eye holes are large enough to see through clearly.