It’s nearly Halloween—and whether you’re transforming into a mischievous monster, a zany zombie, or a whimsical witch, you can be “trick-or-treat-ready” in no time. With a dash of creativity and simple supplies, here are some ideas for spook-tacular looks that bring all the Halloween fun without the fright of a big price tag!
Children’s Costumes
No-sew Dinosaur
Supplies: hooded sweatshirt, white and colored duct tape, scissors, ruler
- First make the dinosaur teeth. Cut a 2-inch piece of white duct tape.
- Fold both top corners to the center to form a triangle at the top. Leave the sticky strip along the bottom.
- Press the exposed sticky strip to the inside edge of the hood.
- Repeat and place each triangle next to each other until the hood is filled.
- Next make the scales that go along the back. Cut a 5-inch piece of duct tape.
- Fold the tape in half, leaving a half inch at either end that still has the sticky strip exposed. Cut a triangle shape in the non-sticky part. (See the video for a visual.)
- Attach the triangle starting at the front center of the hood. Repeat in a straight line all the way down the back of the sweatshirt.
Bubble Bath
Supplies: white, clear and pink balloons, yellow duckie, white shirt and pants, white head band, rubber cement, safety pins
- Blow up the balloons in various sizes.
- Dress your child in the white shirt and pants.
- Pin the balloons in clusters onto the outfit. (Put the pin through the latex below the knot.)
- Pin some balloons to the headband.
- Use rubber cement to attach the yellow duckie anywhere that you’d like.
Spelling Bee
Supplies: black shirt and leggings, yellow and black duct tape, bubble wrap, giant fluffy black pipe cleaners, headband, letters (felt or bulletin board letters in a contrasting color work well)
- Apply lines of yellow duct tape in stripes on the shirt along the front. Then repeat along the back. (Pro tip: Really stretch the fabric out. There’s no stretch in the tape, and so if you go too narrow, it will be hard to get the shirt on and off.)
- Cut the bubble wrap in two long oval shapes. Lay them on top of each other and pinch them in the middle. Tape that middle with the black duct tape.
- Tape the wings to the back of the shirt.
- Attach two pipe cleaners to the headband to form antennae. Bend them at the top so they curl.
- For the final touch, affix the letters in random order all over the bee costume. You can even get creative and spell some words.
Teen/Adult Costumes
Bubble Tea
Supplies: black pom-poms, white felt, cardboard tube, solid color wrapping paper, a headband, a dress or long shirt you’ll be wearing, scissors and a hot glue gun
- Glue the pom-poms to the bottom of your dress/shirt in a random fashion.
- Cut strips of white felt and glue them along the bottom of the dress/shirt. This will help it to look more like a cup.
- Next make your straw. This will go on your head. Cover the cardboard tube in wrapping paper.
- Poke a hole through the bottom of the tube. Thread the headband through that hole.
- Hot glue the headband in place. Bobby pin it to your head.
Magic Eight Ball
Supplies: black t-shirt and black pants, white and black felt, light blue cardstock, white paint marker, hot glue, headband
- Cut out a large circle in white felt.
- Cut out the number 8 in black felt that will fill your circle.
- Glue the 8 to the white circle and then glue the circle to the center of your t-shirt.
- Cut a triangle in blue cardstock. Write on it with a white paint maker, “Ask again later.”
- Attach the cardstock to the headband. You will need to cut a strip of cardstock, fold it in half and glue one side down to the band and the other side to the triangle.
Going Batty
Supplies: black hoodie, black pants, an old black umbrella, pliers, wire cutters, safety pins, scissors, black electrical tape, black foam
- Open the umbrella fully. Carefully remove the central metal structure with pliers and wire cutters so you are left with the fabric canopy and metal spokes.
- Cut the umbrella fabric in half lengthwise, so you have two triangular wing shapes.
- Use safety pins to attach each wing to your hoodie, so that the cut edge runs along the underside of your arms. This will give you the bat wing effect when you lift them.
- Cut out ears from the black foam and attach them to the hood using electrical tape.
Couple Costumes
Mario and Luigi
Supplies: Overalls (or pants and suspenders), red and green shirts, red and green hats, black felt and elastic for mustaches (or eyeliner to draw your own), white gloves, yellow and white paper, red and green markers, tape, hot glue, hole punch
- To make the signature “M” and “L” for the hats, cut out circles and draw the letters (L in green and M in red).
- Tape the L to the green hat and the M to the red hat.
- Cut out two circles to form the “buttons” at the top of the overalls. Attach with tape.
- Cut out two identical mustache shapes for each person in black felt.
- Cut a piece of elastic and place at each side of the mustache shapes in between them. Hot glue to secure.
Pencil and Notebook
Supplies: (For pencil) old cone-shaped party hat, tan and yellow card stock, black marker, glue stick, elastic, scissors, yellow dress/outfit, silver socks, pink shoes (For notebook) white t-shirt, red and blue fabric markers, yardstick
- Glue the tan card stock over the party hat.
- Cut a strip of the yellow card stock. Then cut a scalloped pattern along the top.
- Glue the yellow card stock along the bottom of the hat.
- Use the black marker to color the top tip so it looks like pencil lead.
- If needed, add the elastic to the party hat.
- For the notebook, use a yardstick to draw a vertical red line from the shoulder to the bottom of the t-shirt along the left side.
- Then use the yardstick as a guide to draw horizontal blue lines about 1-2 inches apart.
- Pair the white shirt with jeans.
Sushi and Soy Sauce
Supplies: pillow, orange pillowcase, white dress/outfit, green and black tulle, green shower loofah, green spray paint, foam batting, white fabric marker, hot glue, plastic headband, black outfit, black apron, printout of soy sauce logo, red beanie
- Spray paint the foam batting green. When dry, cut it into long strips. These will be your cucumber sticks.
- Put the pillowcase on the pillow. Use fabric marker to draw diagonal lines to mimic a piece of raw salmon.
- Glue the loofah to the plastic headband. This is the wasabi. You can add some smaller cucumber sticks too if you’d like.
- To assemble, wear the white dress/outfit. (You are the rice.) Attach the pillow to your back using the tulle. Tie it off to the side.
- Tuck in some of the longer cucumber pieces.
- For the soy sauce costume, affix the logo to the front of the apron.
- Wear all black, the apron, and a red beanie for your cap.
Pet Costumes
Watch Dog
Supplies: plain t-shirt that fits your dog, peel-and-stick felt, printed watch faces, hot glue, black marker
- Cut felt into strips to resemble a watch band.
- Hot glue watch faces to the middle of the bands.
- Stick the watch bands onto the t-shirt. Space them so that the faces don’t overlap.
- Add black dots for the holes in the band.
Groovy Hippie
Supplies: child’s size tie-dyed t-shirt that will fit your dog, craft foam, hot glue, beads, round rim sunglasses, elastic
- Cut out a peace sign in craft foam.
- Hot glue it to the beads to create a necklace.
- Dress your dog in the t-shirt. Tie it off with a knot in the side for a better fit and to ensure that your dog can go to the bathroom.
- Place the peace sign beads around your dog’s neck. Adjust so it’s not too tight or too loose.
- If your dog will tolerate it, finish the outfit off with a pair of sunglasses. Secure them with elastic tied to each side.
Rocket Dog
Supplies: 2 empty one-liter soda bottles, silver spray paint, yellow, orange and red tissue paper, silver duct tape, image of the NASA logo
- Paint the bottles silver and allow to dry. (Pro tip: Hang the bottles by clip hangers on a low tree branch for easy painting.)
- Duct tape the bottles together at the middle.
- Create streams of tissue paper flames that come out of the openings. Duct tape to secure the flames.
- Add the NASA logo or another outer space image of your choice.
- Attach the rocket launchers to your dog’s harness using the duct tape.
Happy Halloween from all of us at California Casualty!
This article is furnished by California Casualty, providing auto and home insurance to educators, law enforcement officers, firefighters, and nurses. Get a quote at 1.866.704.8614 or www.calcas.com.
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