My family never really had a lot of money, so when I was a child my mom made our costumes. She had some of the most excellent ideas. I remember of course being a fairy princess. I had also been a unicorn made from a cardboard box, as well as many other fancifull things. My younger sister was a bunch of grapes made from purple balloons one year.
I have bought costumes for my son who is now 11 years old. One he liked the most though, was a skeleton costume I painted on all black sweat pants and shirt while I was studying the bones for massage therapy. I passed the bones test BTW.
This year he wants to make his own. I'm gathering the materials for him, but I'm not really sure what he means when he says he's making a warlock ninja with a skeletal mask

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The true point here is...I did that skeleton costume because it had something to do with a part of my every day life at that time. Some of the BEST and most original ideas come upon us in that way.