Thirfty and Fun Halloween Costumes

Halloween is second only to Christmas when it comes to holiday excitement. How can you not be super pumped for free candy and the chance to dress up as your favorite super hero, movie character, scary being or inanimate object? But the season can get spendy too. Beyond purchasing several pounds of candy—you need to put together a costume for the kiddos too! Here are some fast and fun costume ideas to get your creativity jump-started for all the Halloween Hoopla ahead!

Cardboard boxes can inspire a bunch of fun costume idea! For example, dress your child up as their favorite boxed candy. My nephew once hit the streets dressed up like a box of Nerds. What about creating a robot with some tin foil, paint and a couple nuts and bolts from a home improvement store? How about a cell-phone with the text message “trick-or-Treat” on the screen, or a colorful tower of Legos or building blocks that your child can slip inside? By enlisting a little paint, tin foil, peel and stick letters and ingenuity you can rock the box!

Fabric and bed sheets are super simple to transform. Go a little crazy and tie dye an old sheet from a thrift store—then create a colorful ghost costume. The tie dye might be a smidgen messy—but it’s a fun activity for kids! All you need to do is purchase some Rit dye available at Target, Walmart or a craft store. If you go with 3-4 colors of dye you can get ‘er done for about $9.00-12.00 dollars.

Pajama project–If you live in a chilly climate, sew a quick tail on a toasty pair of footie pajamas and then pop a headband on with ears. Paint your child’s face and voila’! You’re done! My mother once pulled this off when it was too cold for my older sister to wear her planned fairy princess costume and it worked like a charm.

Speaking of princesses, thrift stores often have old prom dresses that work perfectly to make your kid feel like royalty. Simply trim the skirt with scissors and re-fashion the top by trimming excess fabric and hot gluing it to fit. Crown are easy to find at craft stores and your kids will enjoy bejeweling them with packs of peel and stick gems and gluing on sequins.

Hot glue—it’s magic. Use it to alter costumes and to make a sturdy bond. The adhesive works on a variety of materials (obviously plastic is out) and it lets you skip sewing. Be sure that you monitor the glue gun closely if you are making your costume with the kids—the glue can burn little fingers!

Babies in bloom! What about transforming your little one into a flower bouquet? Just reinvent an old tee-shirt by scoring some cheap dollar store silk flowers and them applying the flowers all over the shirt with the hot glue. Top it off with a pair of pants to be “stems” and you’re good to go!

Make up a monster! Create a gnarly look by painting a dollar store clay mask on your child’s face. It will crack and flake and look creepy and cool—best of all you can just pop them in the tub at the end of the night and the mask is easily washed off—unlike make-up that can stain their skin. The rest is super easy too—take old clothes and shred them and dye them a wonky color. Rit offers a variety of colors and it’s easy to do in a bucket or wash machine.

There you have it. This is just a start to get your imagination in gear. Once you have that costume crafted—show it off to us at Kids Quest! There will be awesome activities to choose from throughout October to celebrate the spookiest time of the year!