Your mission, should you choose to accept it: design and create costumes for each member of your family, in less than a week, spending no more than $20 total. Mission Impossible? Nah!
I love Halloween and I love coming up with fun family-themed costumes, but I don’t like spending money. Even buying the inexpensive costumes from a big retail store, you can easily spend upwards of $50. Maybe you’re super busy this year, and a quick trip to Target is more your speed. Or your daughter reallllllly wants to be Elsa. Again. But, if you’re feeling adventurous and crafty, come along with me down the road less traveled. Here are some quick tips on how to go DIY this year and do it on the cheap!
- Start with a fun theme. Pickle Pants loves all things frilly and sparkly, so I thought I would attempt to turn her into an illuminated jellyfish with brightly colored shimmery tentacles. Not only did I have everything needed except the clear plastic umbrella, this costume was SUPER easy to put together. I used her costume as my inspiration and came up with some easy ocean-y costumes for the rest of us.
One jellyfish, one reluctant octopus, one snoozing shark and two deep sea divers, one of whom is clearly looking at the wrong camera! Clear umbrella – $7, shimmery rope for our “oxygen tubes” – $4, fiber fill for octopus stuffing – $4. Total cost – $15. Mission accomplished!
- Consider what materials and supplies you already have. I am a fabric hoarder and always have gobs of fabric lying around. This year, I had an especially large supply of some super soft jersey knit and some fun sequined fabric, thanks to a family friend who shares his samples with my mom and me. But that’s just my situation. Perhaps you recently moved and have several cardboard boxes on hand…robot family? Or maybe your kids happen to own overalls and yellow shirts…minions! Work with what you have to keep your costs down.
- Borrow stuff! Jason and I needed some snorkels and masks to finish off our diver costumes. We don’t have a pool and we don’t live near any large bodies of water. So rather than buy something we wouldn’t use, I asked our next door neighbors (who do have a pool) if we could borrow some and they happily obliged.
- Factor in your skills. If sewing stresses you out, don’t choose to sew five complicated costumes for your family on Halloween eve. Pick a plan that is achievable given your skill set, and give yourself enough time to complete it. I don’t know about yours, but my sewing machine can smell fear and anxiety and likes to add to my misery with a tangled bobbin here and a tension issue there whenever I’m on a tight deadline.
- Put your perfectionism in time out. It’s a Halloween costume, not a wedding dress. It is absolutely acceptable to have things safety pinned and duct taped together if that’s what it takes. Your kids won’t care and you won’t cry when they spill Kool-Aid on it the next day!
Now, just for fun, let’s take a walk down memory lane and reminisce on Halloween costumes past…
Flintstones, meet the Flintstones. These costumes were so incredibly easy. I bought a thrift store queen sized white sheet for $2 to make my dress. The most expensive element was my $10 wig.
Piñata Pickle Pants with her buddy dressed as Boo from Monsters, Inc. (her mommy made hers too!). I loved this costume, but oh! the hot glue burns!! Total cost – $8 for felt and glue sticks. And I have no idea what face my firstborn is making here.
The pièce de résistance. Last year Half Pint was a cow and it was awesome. Whenever I’m having a bad day, I just pull this picture up and all is right with the world again. Thrift store onesie – $2, bottle nipples – $3. Everything else I already had!
Oh me, the girls faces…comedy and tragedy! Pickle Pants’ costume was created from items already in her wardrobe plus a quick kerchief made from a scrap of flannel.
I hope these simple and inexpensive DIY costumes inspire you to create your own one-of-a-kind costume creations!
