You guys this is my favorite time of year! I love the end of Sept. which ushers in the beginning of fall while still being a warm with hints of colder weather on the horizon. I love prepping for Halloween but mostly I LOVE dressing up & creating costumes. Of all the costumes I’ve created I have to say some of my VERY favorites include simple materials yet can be worn over again. And it’s probably come as no surprise but I’m crazy for cardboard when it comes to costumes! It’s either free or relatively inexpensive, durable and easy to work with (and as an online shopper, working on renovating my home, i’ve got boxes in abundance around here!).

I know a lot of you are lovers of cardboard as well and make amazing creations for your kids for Halloween and just everyday dress up. So I thought it would be fun to start a Playful Cardboard Costume Contest! Basically make a costume for your kids or yourself using cardboard, post it on Instagram using the hashtag #playfulcardboardcostumes and you’ll be entered to win prizes worth $500 including 2 signed copies of my book PLAYFUL! You have until Halloween Day, Oct. 31 to enter a cardboard costume. I will announce the winner on Nov. 1.

You might remember my juice box costume and cardboard fairy wings from last year. Well I did a gorgeous shoot with Trisha Zemp last year which never got published and I’m excited to share some of those amazing photos here. My niece ended up wearing the juice box costume for Halloween last year and let me tell you it was a hit! (I still want to do a group of kids with different flavored of juice boxes as an ensemble costume. Maybe the next time I go to the Halloween taping of The Ellen Show ).

I know so many of you have some great creative cardboard costumes waiting to be made and shared! So let’s get those boxes out and starting making! And don’t forget to sharing on IG with #playfulcardboardcostumes. Can’t wait to see what you come up with!!