Halloween's over — What do you do with the costumes?

When I was a kid, each year for Halloween I wore whatever costume my older sister had chosen the year before. I have no idea what my mom did with them once I outgrew them, though I figure they probably wound up rotting in a landfill somewhere.

But back then, costumes weren't made like they are today. The body of the costume was very flimsy material that frayed easily. Most had only a drawing of an outfit on the front and nothing on the back. So, for instance, the year I went trick-or-treating as Lucy from "Peanuts," my costume had a print of Lucy's blue dress on the front. The masks that accompanied the costume was made of plastic and had little eye holes, nostril holes and one mouth hole just big enough for kids to entertain themselves by sticking their tongue through it. An elastic cord stapled on each side of the mask helped secure it to the child's face.

Even if I had a younger sister close enough to my age to pass the costume on down again, they weren't likely to have that kind of a shelf life.

Today's costumes are made with better material. The manufacturers create layers and panels so that the body of the costume looks like actual clothes. And few have any mask at all, though several might come with headgear or other accessories appropriate for the costume.

That means most can be handed down or sold or donated multiple times, which is what I do. I've sold a couple of my daughter's past costumes, and a few were donated to a thrift shop that uses its profits to benefit a local charity. And I am far from the only one. Each year as Halloween approaches, the store has a big sale on all of the costumes it has collected throughout the year. It will literally have thousands of costumes.

Even if my daughter were to rip her costume badly enough that it couldn't be salvaged for another trick-or-treat outing, the material, not as prone to fraying as the costumes of yore and free of funky prints, could still be upcycled into other crafts projects.

So now that Halloween is over, my daughter's Elsa costume, which she wore last year as well so it's not likely to fit again, will be headed to the thrift shop, ready for a new life for another little "Frozen" fan.