Last Minute Halloween Costume Tips, Advice

It's late on October 31^st Halloween. You put in a hard day at work, and you're ready to watch TV before you snore the rest of the night away. The phone rings and your best friend, or excited co-worker, or a long lost family member invites you to a big Halloween bash. They boast it'll be mild, wild and everything in between. They convince you to ditch TV (How much can you watch Night of the Living Dead, Psycho or It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown!) and put off the snoring till later. You say you'll be there, and then promptly freeze in your tracks.

You don't have a Halloween costume!

Don't fret my little horrified, unprepared Halloween hooligan! Before you make a mad dash down to the local Halloween super store or Wal-Mart, there are loads of fun Halloween costume makings ready to go right there in your own home. If you're in a real rush, and on a strict budget, here are just a few last minute ideas for home made Halloween party costumes.

Ace Bandage Bounty

The last sprain or strain you or a family member suffered will now help provide a nifty Halloween costume. This home medical healing staple, that helps stabilize and give firm support to a wounded wrist, ankle or knee is a flexible Halloween handy. The elastic design, length and thickness of the Ace bandage can do so much for making all sorts of improvised costumes. An obvious one is simply pretending you're badly wounded. Head wounds are most effective. Grab a bold red marker or sharpie, a bottle of red nail polish, or some red food coloring dye and go to work making that Ace bandage look as bloody as you can muster.

Draping the now 'bloody' bandage dramatically around the head or other limb and you're all set to go as a pathetic injured man or woman. With a few more food coloring dye flourishes, you can add fake blood strategically around other parts of the face or limbs.

Paper Plate Props

Let's add proper props to your bloody, injured person costume. Fetch a stack of paper plates, markers or paints, along with a hefty roll of duct tape. Get ready to make paper knives, swords and even a flying saucer UFO!

Get a real knife. I'd use a butter knife, since it's blunt and easiest to trace without potentially cutting yourself, plopping real blood on the props. Use the butter knife as a template and trace out a knife on the paper plate. Cut it out, then wrap it up with scotch tape or masking tape first to make it sturdier. Use duct tape for the final metallic prop like effect. Duct tape has a great silvery finish to it and can wrap up a paper prop knife making it look like metal. Be creative in the ways you trace, draw or cut out the knives or swords, and you can get all sorts of weapon looks from various periods in history.

UFOs, at least the classic 1950's movie type, look a lot like inverted pie plates. Take two paper plates, or better yet if you have them aluminum pie plates. Join them up with the duct tape and use markers, pens or paints to draw some cool lights or weird names or wacky markings. "Take me to your leader!" or "E.T. Phone home!" are classic science fiction phrases. These Halloween costume tips won't win you any party prizes, but they'll help save you from being branded a party pooper by not showing up dressed at all.