What happened to the Halloween of yesterday? Gone are the good old days when there was no such thing as Halloween City. When you look at any given Halloween parade, store-bought costumes are the new norm. Sure, they are easy and readily available, but why are they so EXPENSIVE!?! Thousands of dollars of over-priced, mass-produced cheapness marching around the school gym. Probably some of these costumes get passed down to siblings or thrown in a dress-up bin, but most have seen their day by the time trunk-or-treating, parading, and trick-or-treating are over.
So let’s take back Halloween this year! Let’s plan ahead and save some money in the process. How? Well, by making your child’s Halloween costume of course! Wait! Don’t close out this post just yet! Did you know that you don’t have to be uber-crafty to make a Pinterest-worthy Halloween costume? And, not only will those costumes be made with love, but the process will also allow you to spend some bonding time working side-by-side with your child.
So, let’s get semi-crafty and crush Halloween this year with these six cheap and easy tips to DIY your child’s Halloween costume:
1. Involve Your Child in the Process
Sit down with your child and make a list of possible ideas. Play off your child’s interests. Get creative! Your list could include animals, fictional characters, community helpers, and famous or historical figures. There is the cutest picture of a toddler dressed as a Costco sample lady floating around the internet, so the possibilities are endless!
2. Search for Inspiration
Use your generated list and log on to Pinterest for inspiration. Crafty moms will have your back. Chances are if you can think of it, they’ve made it!
3. Use What You Have
Depending on what idea you choose to go with, you may already have items lying around the house that you can use. It’s important to do this step after you have generated a list. You may find in your search around the house that one idea will be easier (or cheaper!) to execute than others. Here are some common household items that are great for DIY costumes:
- Amazon boxes for sandwich board costumes
- Two liter bottles to craft into a jet pack or oxygen tank
- Jeans, button down shirts, or solid color clothes to serve as the base of the costume
- Headbands or hats that can be embellished
- Halloween costumes from years past that can be taken apart and repurposed
4. Mask Up and Hit the Thrift Stores
Thrift stores are a gold mine for items that can be put to good use in a DIY Halloween costume. Solid color shirts and pants, overalls, and shoes can put the finishing touch on the cutest of costumes. Below are some links to some great thrift stores in and around the Detroit area:
- East Side: Second Glance Resale
- West Side: Once Upon a Child
- Down River: Children’s Orchard
- North Oakland County: Salvation Army
- Woodward Corridor: Regeneration
5. Get Crafty with No-Sew Embellishments
You don’t have to be a seamstress to create an awesome DIY Halloween costume. In fact, you don’t even need to know how to sew! Here are some ideas on how you can get semi-crafty to embellish your child’s DIY costume:
- Duct Tape
It’s been proven time and time again that you can do virtually anything with duck tape! And now with all of the fun colors and sizes it comes in, it’s a great material for aspiring DIY-ers! Use it to make a bow tie or suspenders or cover a piece of cardboard that will be a prop for the costume– the possibilities are endless! - Tulle and Elastic
What little girl’s costume doesn’t look cuter with a tutu? You can easily make any color tutu you would need with a strip of elastic and some tulle. Just cut the tulle in strips of a desired length and tie around the elastic. Then tie the elastic around your child’s waist and “ta-da!,” you just became supermom in your daughter’s eyes! - Felt and Fabric Glue
This right here is a well-kept secret, so listen carefully…felt is super cheap, and it doesn’t fray! You can buy it in 8×10 sheets of any color at your local craft store. It cuts easily, and you can use fabric glue to add details to your solid base costume.
6. Accent with Accessories
If your child is like mine, they may be drawn to the bells and whistles in the Halloween aisle at Target that is so very hard to avoid. So compromise is the name of the game. Add an accessory to their costume that they will love but won’t break the bank.
