Homemade Halloween Costumes are Cool

Make Your Own Halloween Costume

My favorite holiday is coming up again and maybe it is your favorite holiday as well. Halloween is the ultimate holiday in my book; the combination of treats, spookiness, fun, costumes, and games make it a great time for everyone.

But a great time for everyone can sometimes (and often does) cost a lot of money. Some of your friends will be dressed as Cyndi Lauper or maybe even the president. But, not you! If you decide to design your own homemade Halloween costume, you can save a bundle. But many people don't want to or are not able to make their own costumes.

That makes sense; it's a lot of work and takes certain abilities that you might not have. Except, it's never been easier to make your own outfit. Here are some tips and tricks.

The first thing to consider in homemade Halloween costumes is to consider what you have. That means rummaging deep into your old closet, preferably into stuff in storage. You do not really want to manipulate your everyday clothes.

We are talking about shirts and dresses that are one day away from donating to Salvation Army. What sort of inspirations can you draw? Do you have a blazer or jacket that was awfully close to reminding people of a bellhop or cruise ship captain? A couple of embellishments, maybe weird looking contact lenses and you can make your own Halloween costume! And, how cheap is this?

Okay, maybe you do not have rooms and rooms of old clothing; you keep things, use them, and then donate them. Okay. Where do you donate these items to?

Secondhand stores and organizations like Salvation Army! All of sudden, you have entire stores where spending $7 might mean your entire dress up attire. Sure, this isn't necessarily a homemade Halloween costume, per se. But this is another way to think outside the box and save some cash.

Finally, for the really creative, homemade Halloween costumes only need a simple addition or prop. A case in point: my friend made a costume a few years ago when she went as sushi. She wore a white sweat suit with a pink T-shirt and a green backpack.

She carried with her two two-by-fours. As she stood there, she looked... strange. But when she curled up into a ball on the floor and held those two-by-fours out into the air... she WAS sushi. How can you add a simple prop or create a pose that creates an entirely different look?

If you want to make your own Halloween costumes, but you can't sew, you will have to sacrifice convenience and easy solutions. Homemade solutions aren't impossible, but you can save some money and have a truly unique Halloween costume this year. Now, off to the ball!