You might wonder what you can possibly do with old newspapers besides line the bottom of birdcages or recycle (please don’t say wrap gifts). But for a creative film student, seamstress and award-winning costume designer, newsprint presents no limitations.
When Costume Craze saw the Salt Lake Tribune’s announcement of a costume contest in which all entries were to be crafted from old Tribune newsprint, CEO Kate Maloney commissioned employee Camilla Whitney (the above mentioned film student and costume designer) to create the ultimate costume from newspaper.
I watched as Camilla cut, measured and taped. I’d guess it took her 5-6 hours, working on it about one hour each day. When she finally pieced it together, I was stunned that a bunch of newspapers could actually resemble a late 19th century Victorian dress. Camilla’s artistic design and careful details turned out to be the winning combination.
She won First Place! The Salt Lake Tribune announced the winner in their Friday, October 31st issue which featured a nice color photo of Camilla “in her ingenious fair maiden’s gown, complete with puffed sleeves, a sweeping apron and pleated skirt, all trimmed with black and silver duct tape.”
Costume Craze has plans to display the prize winning paper dress in a glass case. Congratulations, Camilla. Wonderful job!
Over 2000 years ago, the Celts celebrated their new year, on November 1st, which marked the end of the harvest season. The Celts believed that on the night before the New Year (Samhain) the veil between the living and the dead blurred, allowing ghosts to haunt the land and damage crops. To avoid being recognized by unearthly spirits, people adorned ghoulish masks and costumes when they ventured out after dark.
European immigrants brought their customs with them to America, but because early New England maintained a strict Protestant belief system, celebration of Halloween in colonial times was extremely limited.
Over time, a distinctly American version of Halloween began to emerge as cultures melded. Halloween was more common in Maryland and the southern colonies, with citizens taking part in public harvest celebrations–telling stories of the dead, dancing, singing and telling each other’s fortunes. Halloween was not yet celebrated everywhere, but yearly fall festivities were common.
With the arrival of millions of Irish immigrants in America (because of the potato famine of 1846), Halloween finally took hold as a national celebration. Interestingly, the first store bought Halloween costume didn’t become available until the 1930’s.
In addition to wearing costumes, many of today’s other Halloween traditions can be traced back to the ancient Celtic “Day of the Dead”, including bobbing for apples, trick-or-treating, carving vegetables (The Celts originally used turnips, but pumpkins were more readily available to early American immigrants) and drinking cider.
Starting now, everything (and we mean EVERYTHING) at Costume Craze is 30 to 60 % off!
If you think this news is too good to be true… it gets better. Because we’re an online costume store, you can shop from the comfort of your home. You’ll save time and avoid the danger of being trampled by enthusiastic herds of shoppers hungry for great savings.
This blowout sale ends at midnight on Nov. 15th, so hurry…before all the savings are gobbled up!
In what will probably be one of the biggest hit family films of year, the bittersweet High School Musical: Senior Year dances into theaters on Friday, October 24th. Advance ticket sales in the United Kingdom, where the film opened Wednesday, broke records set by “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” in 2005, while online ticket sales in the United States indicate a box office opening that’s really going to rock.
HSM 3 follows young lovebirds Troy (Efron) and Gabriella (Hudgens) as they wrestle with the reality of leaving each other after graduation. Troy is planning to attend the fictional University of Albuquerque (the city where the series is based) on a basketball scholarship. Gabriella, meanwhile, has earned early acceptance to Stanford University. Joined by the rest of the Wildcats, they stage one last musical that reflects their experiences, hopes and fears about their future.
With new music, complex dance numbers, new characters and flashy fantasy sequences, “Senior Year” will be an exuberant movie experience for the whole family…and Nirvana for frenzied tweens.
Are the kids itching to join the Wildcats in their high school film fantasy? We’ve got the High School Musical costumes that will have them singing and dancing in the theater aisles!
Having a Halloween party but not sure how to decorate? Here are a few simple tips to get your festive party juices flowing:
• Dress up the table with a black tablecloth and run caution tape down the middle or drape around the sides. Or, use a skull or tombstone as the centerpiece.
• Make easy and decorative Halloween placemats by using large sheets of scrapbook paper in orange, black, purple and green.
• Slip black plastic spider rings onto bottom of wine glass stems for creepy-crawly drink charms.
• Serve the Monster energy drink Khaos which comes packaged in a black and orange can!
• Make your own Halloween snack mix with Cheese-Its, peanut M&Ms (take out the blue ones) black corn chips, raisins, popcorn, etc.
Okay, now that you have an idea of how to make your party frightingly festive, you will need to dress the part of the spooky host. Shop our huge cauldron of Halloween costumes now for the best selection…or you might end up making your costume too!
Here at Costume Craze, costumes are flying off our shelves like bats from a belfry.
Maybe that’s because, according to surveys conducted by the National Retail Federation and Visa Inc., Americans plan to spend more on Halloween this year than last.
In fact, 64.5% of adults eighteen and older plan to participate in Halloween activities. About 35% of adults plan to dress in costume this year and at least 73.7% plan on handing out candy.
Here are some other interesting Halloween facts I scooped up on the internet:
• Snickers are the #1 candy of choice for Halloween.
• 86% of Americans decorate their homes for Halloween.
• Halloween is the 8th largest card sending holiday.
• Of the pumpkins marketed domestically, 99% of them are used as Jack-o-lanterns at Halloween.
• Halloween is the third biggest party day of the year behind New Year’s Day and Super Bowl Sunday!
It’s clear that Halloween is more than the customary night of trick-or-treating. It’s expanded into a holiday that includes activities for people of all ages, while remaining relatively stress-free and inexpensive. And this year, there’s the added bonus of October 31st falling on a Friday. Gee…a moderately priced, stress-free Friday? Sounds like a good excuse to have a frightfully fun Halloween!
Halloween is a big deal at Costume Craze. In fact, our warehouse can be a pretty scary place between August and October!
And since this is our first Halloween in our new building, it just made sense to kick off the holiday with a grand soiree!
Friday, August 8th we met at the warehouse after work. Employees brought their families and a delicious potluck dish to share.
The tables were full of all kinds of goodies to try, including Teri’s fancy Texas Caviar (black bean salsa).
All the “kids” in attendance, young and old, had a good time in the Backyard (our game area) after dinner with video games, table tennis and foosball. And of course, a T.V. was mounted on the south wall so we could catch bits of the Olympic Opening Ceremony!
Thanks to the Maloney family (our fearless leaders) for a great season kick-off party!
CLICK HERE to view all the photos in this gallery.
At the Ernst & Young black tie event on Friday, June 27th, the Costume Craze CEO, Kate Maloney, was honored as a finalist for the 2008 Entrepreneur Of The Year award.
The competition is getting tougher each year and we’re proud to have been participants for two years in a row.
Everyone had a great time. The Three Waiters, a group of talented performers, infiltrated the crowd posing as ‘real’ waiting staff.
Here’s a video of the Three Waiters in action:
But they weren’t the real stars of the evening…that role goes to our staff.
Costume Craze employees showed up for the event in their finery and frippery which did little to quell their child-like enthusiasm. Each of their tables was outfitted with an ample supply of fog horns and party poppers to cheer on the winner…and everyone else.
By the end of the night, confetti lay strewn across the tables, in glasses and on the floor as a colorful witness of their revelry. What else would you expect from a Costume company? While the staff probably admired their spirit, chances are they didn’t love cleaning it up!
Congratulations, Kate!
Be sure to visit our Photo Gallery to view all the great pictures!
You probably knew that the Declaration of Independence was approved by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, setting the thirteen colonies on the road to freedom.
But…did you know?
The stars on the original American flag were arranged in a circle to ensure that all colonies were equal.
Before cars ruled the roadway, the Fourth of July was traditionally the most miserable day of the year for horses, tormented by all the noise and by the boys and girls who threw firecrackers at them.
Both Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died on Independence Day, July 4, 1826.
The names of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were withheld from the public for more than six months to protect the signers. If independence had not been achieved, the treasonable act of the signers would have, by law, resulted in their deaths.
The word patriotism comes from the Latin patria, which means homeland or fatherland.
Costume Craze has a great selection of patriotic costumes for all of your Americana needs…plays, ceremonies and special events!
Have you ever wondered what kind of dress code a costume company would have? Let’s look in on a “normal” day at Costume Craze and see what the employees think “business casual” means:
Who wouldn’t want to see this face at the reception desk?
The IT department manager really attacks
our technical problems passionately!
We never have to worry where the money’s going with our bookkeeper!
Shaggy, the marketing director, is like our on site ghost buster
(C’mon…if you were a ghost, you’d be very afraid)!
Who said working in the warehouse isn’t fashionable?
So there you have it…a typical day here at Costume Craze. Okay, okay. The truth is, Ernst & Young came to interview Kate for the 2008 “Entrepreneur of the Year” award and we just wanted to show off a few of the thousands of great costumes that we sell. If you’re not impressed now, you will be when you see our New 2008 Costumes!
When Costume Craze saw the Salt Lake Tribune’s announcement of a costume contest in which all entries were to be crafted from old Tribune newsprint, CEO Kate Maloney commissioned employee Camilla Whitney (the above mentioned film student and costume designer) to create the ultimate costume from newspaper. 
You probably knew that the Declaration of Independence was approved by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, setting the thirteen colonies on the road to freedom.