MARYSVILLE – Looking for last-minute Halloween costumes that won’t bust your budget?
The Marysville Goodwill and Value Village stores, along with the Marysville Historical Society, are aiming to provide affordable attire that’s appropriate for the season.
Both the Marysville Goodwill, located in Suite D at 9315 State Ave., and the Marysville Value Village, located at 1334 State Ave., not only stock new and used costumes, but also carry varieties of everyday accessories that, with a bit of creativity, can be turned into mix-and-match make-your-own costumes by themselves.
“In our new items, we have everything from Spider-Man to ‘High School Musical’ costumes,” said David Sandler, spokesperson for the Seattle Goodwill. “We also have used Superman capes and western wear that can be turned into cowboy costumes without breaking the bank.”
“Avatar and ‘Alice in Wonderland’ costumes are big this year,” said Randu Weidekamp, store manager for the Marysville Value Village. “We have used costumes for lower than $15, and some are even half-off.”
Both stores also boast selections of Halloween-themed home decorations, from artificial pumpkins and door-hangers to black-lights and spooky horror soundtrack CDs. For those who haven’t settled on a look for this year, both stores also have costume consultants on hand to help customers pick out the outfits that they didn’t even know they wanted.
“Once you figure out what they’re into, you can build off that,” said Alex Clawson, a second-year costume consultant with the Marysville Goodwill. “Because I know what’s in the store, I can pick out the right pieces. It’s fun to brainstorm with customers, because your ideas feed off each other.”
“I was able to make this outfit from stuff that was all in this store,” said Marysville Value Village costume consultant Erin Garvie, while wearing an elaborate “steampunk” ensemble. “It took me an hour and a half to assemble and costs me about $25.”
The net proceeds from the Marysville Goodwill’s sales support its free job training and education programs, that help low-income and under-served people in the community find work and support their families.
For those who want to support an organization that supports the local community in turn, but who have even less less time to spend on picking out a costume, close to 50 of Sheila Stump’s painted masks are being sold for $20 apiece at the Marysville Historical Society, located at 1508-B Third St.
“When you wear a regular mask, it gets hot and you lose your peripheral vision,” Stump said. “I used to paint theater makeup on my kids’ faces, instead of letting them wear masks.”
Stump’s masks are made of a fiberglass screen material that not only offers full vision for the mask-wearer, while completely obscuring any views of the mask-wearer’s eyes or facial features, but is also non-allergenic. Since she has allergies to plastic and polyester, she wanted to offer masks that she herself could wear.
“I like that I can see everything, but nobody can see my face,” said Hailey Robertson, 7, who wore one of Stump’s masks last Halloween.
All profits from the mask sales will go toward the Marysville Historical Society museum-building fund.
