Home-made Childrens Halloween Costumes

If you are like me you are looking for inexpensive and cute Halloween costume ideas that you can make at home. I always start by listing everything I have at home that can be used in each costume; clothes that are no longer worn and are just taking up space in your garage or attic, costumes from previous years that are packed away, toilet paper and paper towel rolls, aluminum foil, boxes left over from big purchases, make-up you no longer wear and left over decorations from birthdays and holidays. These items may seem like garbage with little to no use to you but if you look a little closer at them you can begin to imagine the many possibilities just waiting to be discovered.

I look for clothing articles that have feathers or faur fur trim, sequined shirts and dresses, worn and distressed blue jeans, denim and flannel shirt cast-offs, animal prints and anything that has an attached cloth belt. I like to cut the fur trim from these articles to create a lions mane or fur puffs for the sleeves, sequins are always a perfect fit for princess and ballerina costumes. Old flannel and jeans are perfect for your little ghouls and frankensteins, even a simple hobo costume can be constructed from these articles. Animal prints are the quickest and easiest way to turn your cutie into a ferocious yet cute wild animal of the wild.

The basis of most Halloween costumes that you create will be body-suits and tights or blanket sleepers. You can purchase them in just about any color and they will keep your little one warm during the trek from house to house no matter what the weather forecast is. For an added guarantee of warth choose costumes that requires layering several articles of clothing to create your desired effect.

Simple Hobo Costume

This is one of the easiest costumes I have created thus far, you will need the following items to receive the desired outcome of cuteness:

Oversized, worn-out flannel shirt.

Pair of loose jeans that are well-worn and stained.

A bandana or similar piece of cloth.

2 foot long gnarled tree branch about an inch in diameter.

Black eyeliner and reddish lipstick

Small pillows or clothing for stuffing

Cotton balls

What you want to do is dress the child in the flannel shirt and jeans making sure you tuck in the shirt. Take your small pillows or small clothing articles and stuff the shirt around the mid-section (stomach) to create the look of a jovial pot belly. Draw a thin mustache on their upper lip with the eyeliner and apply many small dots along their jawline for beard stubble. Take a cotton ball and slightly blot the stubble creating a bit of a smeared apperance. Color in their cheeks with the red lipstick and blend it in with a second cotton ball so that it resembles a wnd and cold chapped cheek. Now fold the bandana or coth into a triangle shape and tie the ends of it around the tip of your tree branch, it should resemble a make-shift carrier for personal items. Stuff it with small items of your choice but do not make it so heavy your child will not want to carry it during the trick-or-treating.

Easy Frankenstein Costume

Items needed:

Green eyeshadow, black eyeliner and red lipstick. Cotton balls for applying.

Two small thread spools

An oversized dinner jacket in black or dark grey.

Pair of black khakis or dress pants.

Small pillows or clothing articles for stuffing.

Hair gel or black hairspray if your child has light hair.

Two rectangular empty tissue boxes.

Dress your child in the outfit you have chosen and stuff the arms and chest with the pillows or clothing to give an appearance of muscles. Cover their face, neck and hands with the green eyeshadow and apply eyeliner around their eyes and lips, apply the lipstick to their lips and eyelids. Comb their hair straight back using the gel or spray the hairspray once you have it combed back. The most difficult and intricate part of this costume is creating the appearance of bolts protruding from the neck. This is the point where you will have to spend money on some face puddy; you want to apply a small amount on the bottom of both thread spools and on the neck. You may need to hold it in place for a few minutes until it has some time to dry and adhere to the spools; take the redlipstick and apply to the leftover face puddy to give it a bloody appearance. Cut the bottom out of the tissue boxes and let your child color them black, slip them over their shoes to finish off the look.

Cute and Fun Kitten Costume

Items needed:

Black or light tan blanket sleeper.

Black eyeliner

Black and silver poster board

Black or silver pipe cleaners(you can find these at any craft store)

Several pieces of Black or silver lace two inches wide by ten inches long

Black thigh-high pantyhose

Paper towel roll

Safety pins

For the ears you will draw a triangle about the size of realistic looking kitten ears for your child on the black poster board; cut them out and set to the side. Repeat this step on the silver poster board only reduce the size a bit.; glue the silver onto the black poster board. Roll the bottom of the ears and attach the pipe cleaners to them using a stapler; take of lace and attach the ears. Take it and tie it around your childs head as if it were a headband, tie it beneath their chin or fasten it to the blanket sleeper with the safety pins. For the tail take the paper towel roll and slide it into the black pantyhose and tie off the end and shape it by crunching and twisting it until it resembels a cats tail. Fasten it to the seat of the sleeper with a safety pin. With your eyeliner dot along your childs checks and create small whiskers, color the tip of the nose.