Do-It-Yourself Halloween Costumes

Do your kids know what they want to be for Halloween this year? Mine have been talking about what to wear for Halloween pretty much since last Halloween.  So far I have one Batman, one princess, and one undecided. The first two are pretty easily found in the store, but I suspect the undecided is going to end up wanting something more, shall we say, original? If you, too, have kids that are in search of unique costumes that can’t be found in any store, here are a few creative ideas for costumes that you can make at home:

• Smarty-Pants. Here’s an easy one; all you need is a hot glue gun and a bunch of rolls of Smartie candies. Use a dark colored pair of pants, and hot glue rolls of Smarties up and down the legs. Next, glue individual Smarties to an inexpensive hat or hair band. Wear these with a bright colored shirt and sneakers and you’re good to go.
• Book Worm. Find a green pair of pants and a green long sleeved shirt, or, if you don’t have clothes in these colors, you can always dye an old shirt and pair of pants. Using hot glue, attach dust jackets from books or magazine covers to the sleeves of the shirts and legs of the jeans. Top off with a pair of fake glasses and a graduation cap, and your bookworm will be ready for trick-or-treating.
• Static Electricity. Choose a solid colored outfit and use safety pins to attach a few small pieces of clothing, like baby clothes, underwear, or mismatched socks to the shirt and pants. (This is a good time to use those socks that come out of the dryer missing their partners.) Use hair gel to arrange your little one’s hair in a spiky style, and give him a small laundry basket to hold.
• Spaghetti and Meatballs. Start with a red and white checkered tablecloth. Cut a hole in the middle of it so that your child can wear it like a poncho. Next, cut white or yellow yarn into spaghetti length pieces, and glue them in a spaghetti-like arrangement on a sturdy paper plate. After that, paint several small Styrofoam balls brown, and glue them in with the spaghetti arrangement, then mix up brown and red paint for a spaghetti sauce-like color and drip that over the spaghetti. Save a little of this mix, and smear it on the side of a pot that’s small enough for your child to use as a hat. Glue the plate onto the tablecloth, and glue some strands of yarn to the pot. You can use these to look like more spaghetti, but leave a piece on each side to tie under your child’s chin to help keep the pot in place.

A little creativity can go a long way in planning a cool Halloween costume. With a good idea and the right materials, your child will have the most creative costume on the block. What do your kids want to be for Halloween?