I know it's early but...

... I was at Joann's today and noticed that the leaf garlands are on sale 40% off.  I wanted to share a Halloween costume idea that I created when my son was 4 years old.  It was quick, easy and CUTE!  We have shared the costume with family and friends several times over the years.  I think it has won prizes at the little Rotary Parade a few times.  (We still have the two dollar bill Clint won the year he wore this in the parade.)
Here are the ingredients:

suspenders

Bushel basket with the bottom cut out

Leaf garland (I used two or three of the kind with the leaves that lay a little flatter, but that one is at school)

Clip the suspenders to the basket.  You have to fuss a little to make sure they will stay put.

Put the child inside the basket with suspenders on their shoulders so that you can tell they won't fall off.  Then just wrap the garland around the outside of the suspenders until the child and suspenders are mostly covered up.  Because Halloween is often pretty cold in western NY we always tried to plan costumes that allowed for layers underneath.  For this year we even needed a hat, so we just stuck individual leaves into a knit cap.  Here he is almost 15 years ago (tear).  He just walked past the basket on the floor and muttered, "I can't believe I fit inside that!" (add another tear here).

I think I borrowed the leaf garland from the stair railing for this costume..

We found that we could carefully lift the whole thing over his head to get him in and out of the car.  When it was time to get back in it he would just put his hands over his head like he was putting a shirt on.  

Like I said, I know it's early for Halloween costumes, but I wanted to share in case someone saw this post during the sale week for fall garlands at Joanns.  I have a couple of other costumes that were quick and cute that I will share later on.

:) Melissa