Homemade Halloween Costume Ideas

Homemade Halloween costumes can be a lot more original than the costumes you can find in the stores. Especially if you’re struggling financially, as so many are, a little DIY crafting can save you a lot of money. It’s also a great opportunity to do something for the environment. Recycling and upcycling materials to create a unique Halloween outfit, not only will make you feel good, you’ll also have an interesting topic to talk about at any party.

There are plenty of everyday materials you can use to create something truly amazing and original. Something as simple as a large cardboard box can turn into a TV, an aquarium, a robot if you use several, a closet, a car, a LEGO brick,… Granted, it’s not strong and durable enough to be able to wear it for several years, but most people want a different costume every year anyway.

Bubble wrap, tin foil, traffic cones, old sheets, pillows , papier-mâché, … can all be combined to create a new costume. If you don’t know where to start, there are plenty of websites like www.instructables.com that can spark your imagination. Most of these sites will even give you full instructions and a list of the materials required.

A few ideas of what people created with materials they would have otherwise thrown away:

– A full body armor made out of trash cans
– Batwings with a broken umbrella
– A cupcake outfit out of a laundry basket
– A samurai warrior costume out of corrugated cardboard and an old calendar
– Detergent bottles and football shoulder pads to create a robot
– Newspaper strips to create a shaggy dog costume

The fun part about homemade Halloween costumes for kids is that they can help create them. And let’s face it, most kids would rather get creative with the help of their parents than go to a store where they see a billion outfits that they want, but can’t have. Give them full say in the colors that are used, while you focus on the practical side and make sure the costume is safe and comfortable to wear.

You may want to think about the type of costume you want to create a couple of months in advance. This will give you plenty of time to gather all the needed material and put it all together. You can always make little changes along the way. Then again, depending on how complicated your design is, you might even be able to get everything together the day before Halloween. Good places to look for extra materials are thrift stores and hardware stores.

And the best part about homemade Halloween costumes? It doesn’t have to be perfect. If something doesn’t turn out exactly as planned, nobody will know. Just say it’s supposed to be that way if anyone starts commenting.