Halloween Costumes with a Twist

Start with an old raincoat, either plastic or fabric. Clear see-through plastic will be distracting, so choose a coat with some color, preferably a solid. You will also need an umbrella or an umbrella hat. If you want to have your hands free, the umbrella hat works best. Buy or collect tiny plastic baby dolls, about 2-4 inches long. Attach the babies to the outside of the coat and the top of the umbrella using either hot glue or needle and thread, spacing the babies out to have some on both the front and the back of the coat and all over the top of the umbrella. Make sure that the babies are not all in the same position--some should be upside-down or sideways. Use fishing line to attach a few babies hanging from the edges of the umbrella. Put on the coat and a pair of rain boots. Grab your umbrella or umbrella hat. (If using a regular umbrella, you may want to wear a rain hat). You are now a Baby Shower.

2. Baby Sitter

The basic outfit for this costume should be that of a chubby grandmotherly type or a ditzy bubble-gum-popping teenager. If you choose the grandmother, wear a pair of tights under a dress and stuff the seat of the tights to give the look of a very large bottom. For the teen, a plaid mini-skirt and tights or denim peddle-pushers and hair in two ponytails will look cute. You will need a soft lightweight baby doll that is 10 to 12 inches long. With safety pins or needle and thread, attach the baby to the back of the dress, skirt, or pants so that when you sit down, you are sitting on the baby. For the grandmother, carry a newspaper turned to the "Help Wanted" page and walk around saying, "I'm looking for a babysitting job. Does anyone need a babysitter?" For the teen, wear a small sign around your neck that says, "Babysitter--Cheap. Will work for pizza." Carry a small diaper bag to hold your candy and you are the Baby Sitter.

3. Static Cling

You will need a solid-color sweat suit and various small pieces of clothing--socks, handkerchiefs, washcloths, a child's t-shirt--and several fabric softener sheets. Use needle and thread to attach clothing and dryer sheets to the sweat suit, spreading the pieces out all over the front and back of both pieces of the suit. Carry a mini laundry basket to hold your loot. If you like, you can attach ribbon to make a strap for the basket so that you can wear it over your shoulder.

4. Good Clean Fun (Basket of Laundry)

Cut the bottom out of a round plastic laundry basket. Make the cut a few of inches to the inside so that you leave a rim under the edge of the basket. Place it over the head of the person who will wear the costume. Thread ribbon through the holes in the front of the basket, over the shoulders, and through holes in the back of the basket. Adjust to fit, then tie the ends of the ribbon to the basket. Using a hot glue gun, glue some old pieces of laundry to the insides edges of the basket so that they hang over the edge. Place more laundry inside the basket. Place a sheet around the shoulders, letting the extra fabric fall into the basket in the front. Place a box of fabric softener sheets and a small empty bleach bottle in the basket. To collect your goodies, carry an empty laundry detergent box with a handle or cut a hole near the top of the back of an empty plastic laundry soap jug.

5. Ant Farmer

Dress up as a farmer (denim overalls, plaid shirt, straw hat, work boots, work gloves). Carry a lightweight hoe or pitchfork if desired. Use hot glue to attach plastic ants all over the outfit. To hold collected candy, carry a small clear plastic ant farm box or bug box with ants attached to the outside with hot glue.

6. Christmas Eve

You will need pale pink leggings and fitted long-sleeve t-shirt or pink long-johns or one-piece pajamas. Sew or hot-glue green silk leaves to the clothing to form a bikini top and bottom. If you have long hair, wear it down or wear a long wig if you have short hair. Wrap a string of battery-powered Christmas lights around your shoulders and waist. Wear some dressy red flats that are good for walking and a Santa hat. Carry a Christmas wicker basket with a few small wrapped Christmas gifts in it. The basket will also hold the candy you collect. Add some artificial fruit to the basket and a rubber snake wrapped around the handle and peering out over the top. Now you are Eve at Christmas time--Christmas "Eve". This costume can be as simple or as elaborate as you want to make it.

7. Jack Sparrow

Wear a pirate shirt, knee boots, and dark pants. Wrap a red bandanna around head; with hot glue, add yarn hair with beads if desired (or purchase a Jack Sparrow bandanna at a costume shop). Purchase several small brown or gray artificial birds at a craft store. Locate a very small lightweight car jack. Hot-glue birds to the outfit and carry the jack.