Cheap and Easy Halloween Twin Costumes

Have twins? Need to budget your Halloween expenses this year? Try these costume ideas for a cheap, yet effective way to get them into the trick-or-treating mood while allowing them to express themselves - and save your wallet in the process.

Food Items:

Milk Bottles - one suggestion is dressing the kids in white sweatsuits, both wearing either white or red caps. Write, "Got Twins?" on the shirts. You can go further and paint cow-spots on their hands and faces, paint them white, or leave them as they are. If you have infants, stick with the "Got Milk?" logo.

Another option is to take two cardboard boxes to use as milk cartons. Open the bottom end, and tape the flaps together to form a "v" shape over the head. Cut a hole for the face to show, and for the arms. Paint them white and decorate accordingly, and don't forget the logo on front!

Ketchup and Mustard - One red sweatsuit, one yellow. Use party hats or witches hats, and paint them the appropriate colors. Tape curly ribbon to the tip of the hat, so it looks like ketchup or mustard squirting from the top. Create bottle labels with a t-shirt transfer, or draw it on a piece of white fabric and pin it. Paint their faces accordingly. This is a good idea for younger kids who will be running from house to house and need as much freedom of movement in their costumes as possible.

PBJ's- two large piece of posterboard for each costume, connected so it drapes over the shoulders. Wear it longways, so there is less chance of it bending. Paint as a pieces of bread with the crust around the outside. Make sure the crust paint is a dark brown. Or, you can outline the posterboard in light-weight, dark-colored foam. For jelly, there are several options. You can wad up purple construction paper, and glue it in place on the bread. You can use batting material and spray paint it, then glue it to the poster board. Or you can paint jelly right onto the board, but a 3-D image will have more effect. Wear purple clothing. Do this for the front and back sides.

Peanut Butter, same idea. Decorate the board as bread, then cut out beige-brown swirls, and tape them to the posterboard. Or paint the swirls right onto the board. Complete both front and back. Dress in brown clothing. Curly ribbon dripping from the hair is a cute addition to both of these suits, as is a little "jelly" or "peanut butter" on the face.

Peas in a pod - perfect for infants being strolled around. Simply dress the infants in green, full-bodied onesies, or wrap them each in a green felt blanket. Be sure to decorate the stroller, tucking green blankets around them, adding green felt to the sides, whatever the design of your stroller will allow. Add green curling ribbon to the sides and handles.

Characters:

Tired of Thing One and Thing Two? About Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee'd out? Are your twins clamoring for some individuality? You can stick with a theme, and let them design their own costume.

Pirates - this idea will never get old. Take the kids shopping at your local thrift store for clothing you can shred. Allow them to make their own choices, and discuss cutting into the sleeves and the pants for a ragged, worn look. Grab a scarf or two for the head wear and belts. Let them pick their own accessories. But here's the fun part. Let them pick their own pirate names, and the name of the ship they sail together. They can role play as they gather the candy!

Reverse the family - If your twins are male and female, go out as a family and reverse each other. Let the kids dress up as the parents, and the parents dress alike as the twins. Shopping at the thrift store is perfect for this.

Soldiers - With GI Joe hitting the screens, soldiers may well be the talk of the day. You can individualize these costumes while sticking with a theme. Look at your local Army/Navy store for camouflage wear. The carrying of toy weapons, I leave to the parent's discretion.

Princesses - This doesn't get old. You can go with the Disney format, or purchase used dresses, the larger and fancier, the better. Add costume jewelry, and let the girls pick out their names. If you have a boy and a girl, you can combine the pirate and princess costumes.

Fairies - Pick out used, fancy dresses at your thrift store, the lacier, the better. Walmart sells small butterflies in their craft department. These can be pinned onto the skirts, and each girl can have their own fairy wings and wands. Give them flowers to carry, and put curling ribbon into their hair. Don't purchase make-up for them, let them use your own. They always want to "get into" Mommy's make-up, and they'll feel special when wearing it.

Make the costumes fun, and work on them together. Get as much input as you can from your children, even if they want to do something that seems a little off-track to you. Take plenty of photos! And if you're like me, warn them before stealing all of their Reese's Cups. You might pay for it next Halloween, when they come up with that really elaborate costume idea.