DIY Halloween costumes

Ideas for the last-minute & creative types

It's that time of year again! The time when people start to panic about Halloween costumes. I've rounded up some of my favorite ideas from years past — some fit for a group, others perfect for flying solo. So if you're still figuring out your costume and don't want to dress as a sexy nun (no really), just raid your closet, get a little crafty, and consider these ideas.


Robin Hood and his Merry Men

We decided to wear a color palette of browns, forest green, and cream. We knew that any of the following would work: tunics, vests, peasant tops, and leather — and we pooled our resources to make each girl's outfit work. To accessorize, we put feathers in our hair (instead of making or buying hats) and shared a cheap set of bows and arrows (purchased at a party store). In a tribute to "rob the rich to feed the poor," we filled little canvas bags (from the craft or dollar store) with coin-shaped chocolates wrapped in gold foil and passed them out to people throughout the evening.


Cindy Lou Who

I love Christmas so much that I even found a way to celebrate it on Halloween! I used the water bottle hair trick to get a 'do fit for Whoville, then raided my (and a friend's) closet for anything blatantly red, green, and festive. I wore a green skater dress, red tights, and red satin flats. For accessories: a bulbous red necklace and the must-have hair. To keep Cindy Lou's 'do in place, I had to wrap the base, top it off with a bow, and hairspray the hell out of it — but it worked like magic! I've never gotten so many compliments from strangers. Ever.  


Natural disasters 

Here's one for the creative, crafty types — especially if you and your gal pals are a force to be reckoned with. We each picked a natural disaster: earthquake, typhoon, tornado, and forest fire. There was a lot of felt, foil, construction paper, and chicken wire involved — and it was fun. I turned a blue dress into a globe, cutting continents out of green felt. I then poured flour into a pair of knee-high stockings, tied each in a knot, and clapped the flour-stuffed stockings together to create earth quake dust and rubble. Oh, and I did a lot of random shaking. Our typhoon counted on the scrapbook aisle for paper waves and sea-themed stickers. Our tornado wrapped herself in plastic, wrapping up toy cars and animals along the way. And our forest fire rocked leafy, smoky hair and plenty of ragged clothes with scorch marks. On our backs: hazard and warning signs on caution-orange felt.


The four seasons 

It ended up being just three seasons (summer sadly had to bail), but we still had fun with it. We each looked in our own closets to see what color palette we could most easily achieve. I went for Spring, wearing a pastel slip, floral tights, and pink shoes. But what really made my costume: the hair. I've got quite a collection of floral bobby pins, clips, and headbands — so I literally wore all of them at once. The butterfly clipped to my dress strap was a craft store find. Our Fall girl pinned fake leaves in her hair and wore a rust-colored dress with boots (again, the hair makes it). And our Winter wore white with sparkling faux branches in her hair, topped with a dusting of glitter — a total snow queen. If summer had been with us, she would have been a bronze goddess, wearing gold and looking fabulous.

See what you can do with a solid idea, what's in your closet, and a trip to the craft store? And I didn't even mention how, in college, my friends and I went as The Evolution of Britney Spears...

Mickey Mouse Club, Baby One More Time, Toxic, Cracked out with a baby & K-Fed.

Now that's just genius, right? Have a Happy Halloween!