A great starting point for do-it-yourself Halloween costumes is your own closet, or a second-hand store, adding a dose of craft materials. For even greater ease, you can make costumes out of things you already have around the house. Most of these can be made in a few days, but if you have more time, feel free to make them even more creative. Avoiding a store-bought costume definitely will make you stand out from the rest of the trick-or-treaters or partiers.
Kids
Look to classic kids' books and movies for costumes more original than whatever toy is popular this year in stores. A Robin Hood costume can be made from brown tights or long underwear, a green T-shirt belted with a leather belt, and some homemade accessories like a green felt hat, a stick-and-string bow, and a paper-towel-tube quiver. Or, create a princess or fairy costume out of a fancy nightgown, play ballet shoes, gold braid or glittery ribbons, chiffon or lace scarfs, and spray-painted metallic headpieces. A fireman, gypsy, knight, angel, pirate, clown, cat or dog costume also can be made from DIY materials at home.
Adults
Thrift-store clothes, or old clothes from the back of your closet, can easily be turned into DIY hippie, hobo, gypsy, tourist, cowboy, ghost, nerd or the classic mummy or ghost costumes. But if you want something more original, try using some household or craft items to make your own Halloween costume. A Hershey's Kiss costume is easy to make with wire coat hangers, tin foil, duct tape and a toilet paper or tissue paper flag. A blue T-shirt, white button-down shirt, plain business suit, thick black glasses and hair gel make perhaps the easiest man's costume, transforming you into Clark Kent within the hour. For extra effort, print or find a Superman logo to attach to the T-shirt. Another DIY Halloween costume idea: Buy a cheap pack of round balloons, cut arm and leg holes in a clear plastic garbage bag, blow up the balloons, put them in the bag, tie it at your neck, and you're a bag of jelly beans. If you have a clear plastic umbrella at home, the addition of shiny streamers, beads, fabric, ribbons or even bubble wrap cut into strips will make a quick and cute jellyfish costume with minimal effort.
Babies and Pets
Babies and pets can be the most fun to dress up for Halloween. Easy ideas to make a costume for them abound; just remember to keep babies warm enough, and make sure the pet can still do its business without ruining its costume. A baby can easily become a tiny "jailbird" with a white onesie or black-and-white-striped pajamas, or a ghost by sewing on black eyes and a mouth to a white bunting bag. A white sweatsuit and hat can become an easy cat or cow costume by cutting spots out of brown or black felt, stitching them on, and attaching felt ears to the hat. Just add yarn for a tail. Babies can also become darling ladybugs with a black leotard and tights, a red fabric circle with black felt spots, and pipe-cleaner antennae. For pets, a dog can become a flower, with felt petals attached to its collar and a flower-petal hat, or a lion with a felt mane and tail. You also can make a superhero costume with mask and cape, or a hula dancer with a silk flower necklace and green fabric strips for a skirt. Other pets are often not as obliging as dogs when it comes to wearing costumes, but cats may allow you to give them a ruffled clown collar, or a witch's black hat and cape.
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