Y’all had some fantastic ideas for Halloween costumes that began with a B. I really would have loved to have been a ballerina but couldn’t find any tutus in my size. As it turns out, some other party attendees had the Betty and Barney Rubble and black-eyed peas idea.

Well, I don’t have a photo of The Modern Beau and I in our Halloween getup, but here’s a clue as to what we decided to go as …

It wasn’t the best interpretation of Bob Barker and a Barker beauty, but it was still pretty dang funny. The MB had the suit and tie to a tee and I made him a super-skinny microphone out of a chopstick, cotton ball, yarn and black electrical tape (my middle name is MacGyver).

The hair was a bit of a challenge. The MB is balding, so we had to go with a wig, and wouldn’t you know, all the costume stores were out of white crew-cut men’s wigs yesterday when we shopped for one. The solution? We bought a Marilyn Monroe wig and gave it a haircut. It started out OK at the beginning of the night, but by the end, the MB looked more like Don King than Bob Barker.

For my part, I decided to play the role of Holly, the blooper-prone red-haired beauty from the ’80s. It seemed like the smallest stretch for me. I found a red-haired wig that looked a bit Lucille Ball, put on long dangly earrings and … wait for it … wait for it. THE bridesmaid dress. Score one for the Modern Gal for getting another wear out of that thing after all.

I also grabbed a box of Chicken Helper from the pantry as a prop and cut out a cardboard sign that when flipped up revealed the price.

Actual retail price of the stuff we had to buy on Saturday to put the costume together: approximately $30 for two wigs and the roll of electrical tape. Everything else we already had.

Our costumes were funny, but unfortunately there was another Bob Barker at the party — similar outfit but went for the white-sprayed hair style which turned out more salt and pepper. The star costumes of the B party were a couple dressed as a Wall Street investment banker and a lifeguard (ahem, bailout) and a gal who wrapped herself in bubble wrap. I wish I had thought of that.

Oh yeah, one last thought: Help control the pet population. Have your pet spayed or neutered.