Top 5 Cheap Halloween Costume Ideas for Tweens

Tired of about ten years of ghosts and witches? Try some of these cheap and wonderful Halloween costume ideas to spice up the life of your tween.

1. Candy Corn - This cheap tween Halloween costume is a great crowd-pleaser - everyone loves these little candies. This costume is fun and creative, without costing too much in time or money. It can also be made in various lengths for a more modest vs sexier look. For a fun twist, make the costume with the colors upside down, and your tween can quiz people on "what's wrong with this costume?" or call herself a 'confused candy corn. Making the costume takes about 1-2 hours which can be fun time to spend with your tween!

Directions: All you need is a few feet of felt of each color - yellow, orange and white. Take two pieces of newspaper, and tape them together. Draw a large triangular shape (with the top of the triangle missing). Cut it out and make sure it is long and wide enough to be a roughly good fit (better to err on the side of a little bit too big than too small). Decide where to divide the triangle into the three colors and cut it into the three appropriate pieces. Trace pattern onto felt and cut two of each. Sew together sides, and make a quick strap.

2. Loofah - This cheap Halloween costume is fantastic costume idea for tweens with a little bit of flare! It is quick and easy to make and is another very unique and fun costume. This costume idea can be customized to fit your tween, and can be made in their favorite color.

Directions: Buy about 10yards of tulle. This is one of the cheapest materials in most fabric stores and often goes on sale, particularly around Halloween time. Sew loosely along the length of the tulle, and use the string you sewed into it to pull it together so it bunches. Sew a ribbon along the bunched part to keep it together. Wrap around your tween's waist, an voila! You can dress is up with a rope tied into their hair or on any other part of their upper body as the loofah string.

3. Pirate - This cheap tween Halloween costume consists mostly of items you probably already have laying around the house. Your tween can 'dress it up' according to their own personality and flaunt this wonderfully cheap costume to all their less creative friends!

Directions: Collect old clothes - preferably a white shirt and anything with stripes. If you don't already own these items you would be surprised by how easy they are to find on sale at most retail stores. Purchasing a bit of ribbon and some ruffles and adding them onto their clothing can also go a long ways towards making your old clothes into a wonderfully creative and fun cheap Halloween costume! Finally, and eye patch made of an elastic and a piece of black cloth and just the right "Arrrggghhhhh" should finish the job.

4. Fire Hydrant - Does your tween have a great sense of humor and a dog? Then this is the perfect cheap Halloween costume idea for you! They'll look fabulous sporting whatever pieces of yellow clothing they already own, and can take along Sparky as they go trick-or-treating, making it just a little bit safer to let your tween go out on their own. It also works well for a party, just make sure dogs are allowed, since this costume would not be compete without Sparky trotting along next to your tween with the cheapest and greatest Halloween costume around.

Directions: For this simple and cheap tween Halloween costume, you need only dress your tween in yellow and supply the dog. The rest is up to your tween and their creativity and sense of humor.

5. Crayola Marker - This cheap Halloween costume idea requires a little bit of work, but they payoff is amazing. Not only does your tween get a cheap costume that's guaranteed to be unique, but it will also give you a bit of fun time with your tween that's quickly growing up.

Directions: For this cheap costume idea, you'll need about 4 yards of felt, which can be purchased easily from your favorite fabric store. The cutting and sewing is easy, you need only make a cylinder and sew it up the two sides and a nice strap to hold the cylinder up. A black felt hat made from a half circle of felt folded over to make a cone is the perfect way to top this cheap costume! The best part is that you get to come up with the name of your new Crayola Marker. Some ideas are 'Perfectly Pink', 'Gorgeous Green' or even 'Generous Green' if you hope to get some of that candy from your tween when they return from their trick-or-treating!