Inespensive Halloween Costume Ideas

Halloween can be an expensive time of year. There are pumpkins to carve, decorations to put up, candy and costumes to buy. If you have more than one child, then you could run into a lot of money on costumes.

Halloween costumes can be very costly. They usually run about thirty dollars for the basic children's costume and only go higher from there. An inexpensive alternative is to make your own costumes.

Making a Halloween costume doesn't have to be expensive or time consuming. Here are some simple ideas that will keep your budget in check and don't require a lot of time.

Last year my son wanted to be Spongebob Squarepants for Halloween. The costumes online started at thirty dollars or more. So, I decided I'd make his costume. I looked on eBay and found a yellow t-shirt that only had Spongebob's face on it. This cost me about five dollars. Then, I went to the store and bought red and white felt. I used the white to make the collar on Spongebob's shirt and the red to make his tie. It was cool on Halloween, so my son work dark brown corduroy pants with it. It worked out perfect! The whole costume was less than ten dollars.

My youngest daughter (who was a year old at the time) has such a sweet disposition, so I wanted her to be an angel for Halloween. She already owned a velour nightgown that had silver threads run through it. I put this on her with a pair of white tights (which were also already part of her wardrobe), a pair of angel wings I bought for a dollar and I took imitation baby's breath and braided it to make a halo. We got TONS of compliments on this costume and it only cost me two dollars to make!

This year, my older daughter, who is four, wants to be the Little Mermaid. Again, these costumes are expensive, so I'm making her costume. For her top, she will be wearing one of her one piece bathing suits. For her "tail" I am taking an aqua colored piece of shiny material (bought from the local fabric store) and wrapping it around like a wrap around skirt. On the bottom of the material, I will sew an aqua colored tutu (that I picked up for a dollar) for her fin. I will make a slit in the top of the material, feed the extra through the slit and tie it in a knot. This costume will be less than ten dollars to make.

Once my mom made me a gypsy costume. She had a long broom skirt that she pinned up to fit. She put on a dress shirt with it. We tied a scarf around the waist and used one to make a head piece. I wore a bunch of necklaces and bracelets. Put on lots of make-up and large hoop earrings. It was one of my favorite costumes!

Here are some other fun and easy ideas for Halloween. If your daughter wants to be a dog, you can put her hair in ponytails for ears, paint her face, and let her wear brown sweats. To make a tail, take a tan colored knee hi stocking (you can purchase a cheap pair for less than a dollar). Stuff the stocking with old newspapers or tissue paper and safety pin it to the back of her pants.

To make your child a clown, you can pick up some wild colored pants (can even be adult pants) at the thrift store. If they are big, you could stuff them. Put on a patterned shirt, paint their face with white make-up and a red nose. You can get a clown wig pretty cheap or, if your child will not wear a wig, colored hair-spray.

You can make you son a hobo by putting on layers of old clothes (works best if some of the outer layers are too big). Take some brown paint to make his face "dirty". You can even use a bit of black paint to give him a five o'clock shadow. Take a bandanna and tie it to a stick and you've got a cute hobo costume.

You can also pick up little sets of cat, dog, or devil's ears and tails for around five dollars. Pair those with appropriate colored clothing and you've got an easy, inexpensive costume.

So, this Halloween season, put your creative hats on. Your children will enjoy helping make their own costumes and you will save money!