One of my absolute favorite parts of Halloween is helping my kids think of fun ideas for DIY Halloween costumes and putting them together. That could mean anything from purchasing a couple of items from a thrift store to making it completely from scratch.
While it requires some effort on my part, it's usually more cost-effective than ordering a costume. It's also always a bit more exciting to see it all come together than just grabbing one off the shelf from a store. But the best part of a do-it-yourself costume is that it's also guaranteed to be totally unique.
I'm not the craftiest person in the world, but I've had some success with putting together some super-cute costumes for my kids, either way. Of course, there have also been some epic fails, as well.
Here are a few DIY costume ideas that I've made for my kids over the years … and one for me!
Hey, if I can do it, so can you.
Rock Star
My first baby didn't have a whole lot of say in what she would be for her first Halloween. My husband and I decided to dress her as a mini rock star. We spiked her hair with crunchy hair gel and gave her a punk rock outfit, complete with pink kicks. But the best part was her homemade guitar, which I crafted out of cardboard. It was a super-easy costume with a pretty big cute factor.
Hockey Player
My daughter also dressed as a hockey player one year. All she needed was a jersey, some black eye makeup, and a hockey stick. If your kids have a favorite sports team, a professional athlete is an easy costume to slap together! It doesn't require a ton of effort, especially if you already have a kid-size jersey. But either way, little sports fans will love dressing up as their favorite player!
Dragon
One of the most time-consuming DIY costumes I've made was when I decided to knit my son a dragon costume. Yes, there were tons of dragon costumes on the shelves at all the Halloween stores. But I'd recently taken up knitting and wanted to see if I could turn my subpar skills into something useful. Essentially, I knit a large square and sewed up the back to create the shape of a hood. Then I added a pair of green googly eyes and made a little flame out of colored paper and a Popsicle stick. It was hit!
Little Red Riding Hood
One year, my daughter dressed up as Little Red Riding Hood. We thrifted a cute basket for her to carry and a button-down blue dress. All she needed was the red hooded cape, which I knitted. Though it took a while, it didn't require a ton of skill on my end because (like the dragon hood) it was just one big rectangle.
Princess Bee (and Family)
One year, my daughter dressed as a princess bee. It was a fun take on the traditional bee costume. I joined her and dressed as the queen. Basically, we wore black and yellow stripes on our middles, black on our arms and legs, and tiaras. It was simple enough and totally adorable.
Munchkin From 'The Wizard of Oz'
One year, we had a Wizard of Oz theme in our family. My daughter was Dorothy, and my son was a munchkin. We found a brightly colored plaid shirt, some suspenders, and silly shoes. We also added some funny eyebrows to look just like the munchkins in the film.
A Broken Record
For adults who want to dress up but don't feel like putting in a ton of effort into their own costume, going with something funny but simple is always the way to do it. Once, I dressed as a broken record (you know, because I'm a mom and my kids don't listen to me). I broke an old record in half and slung it around my neck attached to a wire. To my delight, everyone got the joke!
