Ideas for Making Your Own Halloween Costume

Maybe you are old enough to remember when making your own Halloween costume, or at least deciding what you wanted to be for Halloween, used to be half the fun of Halloween. It wasn't really the anticipation of that bag full of candy---it was putting on a costume and maybe a wig and some makeup, and walking around, pretending you were a comic book character, a Fairy Princess, or some hobgoblin (or a hobo...if you couldn't think of anything else, you could always be a hobo). If you are even a little older, you remember planning and plotting how to make your costume out of pieces of cardboard, swatches of material, paper towel tubes, and tinfoil. Come on, admit it---it was fun!

Get a little of that fun back---and make your own costume this year! And if you are too old to go Trick or Treating, then have a Halloween costume party just so that you can play dress up and be the Wicked Witch of the West (my personal favorite costume)!

Think Outside the Box!

Well, actually---maybe you should think inside the box...a cardboard box that is. Think about what comes in a cardboard box---and then be that for Halloween. Do you work in an office, shuffling paperwork all day? Then be a box of computer printer paper! Find a printer paper box to use an example. Buy a packing box that is wide enough to fit across your shoulders (and around your middle), cut a hole in the closed-end bottom for your head, and then decorate the box like the sample printer paper box. Wear a black T-shirt and black pants or black tights underneath. (Think U-Haul or places like that where you can buy oversize packing boxes.)

Maybe you are addicted to Honey-Nut Cheerios---then be a box of Cheerios! Zillions of things "come in a box" so let your imagination run wild!

Sturdy hunks of cardboard can be the basis for numerous types of costumes. Just keep two things in mind: Eventually, you are going to need to be able to sit down...and you will need to able to “visit the restroom.” Keep these thoughts in mind while you are crafting your costume!

Go to a Thrift Shop or Second-Hand Store

You've probably got at least one thrift store near-by, or maybe a Goodwill outlet. Wander through the aisles and check out the old clothing, shoes, coats, and other accessories. Be the Crazy Old Lady Who Lives Next Door and get really campy. Or be a Wacky Professor and be completely scatterbrained! Be The Oldest Punk Rocker Alive (or Grunge Rocker) and go for the safety pins and dog-collar look! Shop for clothing styles that are either really over the top or totally out of fashion. Think of any stereotyped character, and then find clothing and accessory items to suit that character.

Got a Sewing Machine?

If you are handy with needle, thread, patterns, and lengths of material, you can make real costumes. You can buy patterns that are costume-specific---or you can cobble together elements from several patterns to make costume items. Let's say you need a frock coat for a Rhett Butler (the 1800s) period costume. Find any man's jacket pattern that you can use for the "waist and up" portion of the jacket. On newspaper draw a "dove's tail" shape so that the blunt end of the "tail" is one-half the width of the back of the jacket. Allow for seam allowance, and cut two tails. When you cut out the jacket back, cut it off straight at the waistline. Sew on the "tails" and voila! You have a frock coat!

No matter what type of costume you want to make, if you can't find an exact pattern for that, just mentally break down the garment into segments. Now look for patterns that will offer you that type of segment---or make your own pattern. Remember, it's a costume, the measurements don't need to be exact!

Accessories Make the Costume!

Don't worry if you can't exactly come up with everything you need for "the perfect costume." Most costumes are just representations of the character you want to portray. You can get away with a little less costume and a little more accessorizing. Just be over the top! Wanna be The Crazy Lady Who Lives Next Door? Just wear clothing pieces that don't match, clash horribly (like plaids and florals) and then spray your hair some really awful orange, get outrageous dangling earrings, wear ten strands of fake pearl necklaces, two different shoes, and carry a dog leash with no dog on it, etc.

If you can't think of what kind of costume to create, do it backward---shop the thrift shops for accessories, and let them dictate what character you will create.

Get Some Mileage Out of Prom Gowns, Bridesmaid Dresses, and Wedding Gowns!

Here's your chance to finally use that bridesmaid dress for something other than the one day that you wore it! Wedding gowns make great Fairy Princess costumes---just add wings, a magic wand, and white wig, and glittery makeup! Be a Wallflower! Put on your Bridesmaid gown, and get a pair of old-fashioned gunky plastic rim glasses. Do you hair in a really bad hairstyle, spray on way too much hairspray, get a really tacky artificial flower that doesn't match your gown---and you are an instant Wallflower!

Now that you've got some ideas, let your imagination run free! Halloween used to be fun and can still be fun---even now that you are an adult! So enjoy it!

Jan K., The Proofer is a freelance copyeditor and proofreader. Visit Jan’s Portal (http://www.jansportal.com) for more information about Jan's free crafts, recipes, tutorials, other resource sites, and free content articles, as well as Jan’s freelance proofreading business services. Be sure to visit Mom's Break (http://www.momsbreak.com/) for free printable crafts and projects. © Copyright 2005 to present. All rights reserved.