Like most holidays, Halloween has become more commercialized every year, and can very quickly become extremely expensive, if you let it. Not only can it get expensive, it can bring out some serious cases of “the gimmies,” which is when kids stroll down the aisles of stores asking parents to buy them everything. A great way to get around this is to encourage creative homemade costumes.
Lumberjack
This costume can be relatively easily made from items found in your home. For the outfit, pair jeans with a flannel shirt and a fitted knit hat, and throw in suspenders and boots if you have them. Make an ax out of an old paper towel roll and cut up cardboard, such as from a cereal box. Using a makeup pencil, draw small lines on their face until you create the illusion of a beard. Don’t forget to teach them to yell “Timber!” when they are out and about.
Lego Block
Cut head and arm holes out of a cardboard box that your child fits into. Glue on six old individual applesauce containers in the same pattern as a Lego block, but make sure to wash them thoroughly before attaching. Spray paint it whatever color your child wants it to be, and wear the same color long-sleeve shirt and pants underneath to pull the costume together.
Cookie Monster
Tie a piece of elastic around your child’s waist, and then attach multiple strips of blue tulle until you have achieved the desired thickness of tutu. Cut out eyes and a mouth out of felt, and attach to a blue shirt. Cut out light brown felt circles and then attach smaller dark brown or black felt circles to make cookies, and then attach these all over the tutu, as well as blue tights. Attach one to a headband, as well, to finish the look.
Minecraft Creeper
Start with a green hoodie and find at least four different colors of green in felt sheets. Cut these into 2″ by 2″ squares, and then attach in a random pattern all over the hoodie. Repeat this process with a pair of green pants. Using the makeup of the same colors of green, draw random squares on any exposed skin.
Superheroes
When your child has chosen which superhero they want to emulate, pick up a basic cotton long-sleeved shirt and matching sweatpants in the base color of that superhero. Using the right colors, cut out the superhero logo in felt and attach it to their shirt by either hot glue gun or needle and thread. If your superhero has a cape in their costume (or if your child just wants a cape—because accuracy is not the most crucial point of making Halloween costumes for children), cutting a semi-circle in a yard of fabric and attaching velcro at the ends is a quick and easy way to make a cape. For the final touch, make a mask using felt and ribbon.
