Here is a spooky fact: according to U.S. News, American’s are expected to spend $80 on Halloween costumes and over $8 billion total on costumes, candy, and decorations. It’s tempting to grab a cookie-cutter $100 costume, but Halloween doesn’t have to come with a monstrous price tag that’ll make you want to scream.
Here’s Three Steps on How to Make a DIY Halloween Costume
Step 1.) Research
Brainstorm on different costume ideas. Think through your favorite Disney characters, classic movies, famous people, or things. Get creative and literally be anything you want from Superman to a Spy or even a random item like a fruit. Spend some time searching online for costume ideas and look through pictures to start figuring out what you want to dress up as.
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Step 2.) Think: O.P.C. as in “Other People’s Closet”
The bulk of your costume can be completely free. Once you have a couple ideas of what you want to be look through your closet and other people’s closet. Aim for finding the base of your costume from clothes you already have. You may be drawing a blank, but here are examples of two DIY costumes that I’ve put together practically for free.
After looking at pictures online for the Cat in the Hat, I knew I was going to be a black cat with the token tall hat. I ended up finding a black shirt in my closet and I borrowed black shorts. My parents had an old tall hat that I glued on red and white fabric and made a bowtie.
Cowabunga dude, another great costume! If you can’t find the starting point of your costume at home you can go to Goodwill and get a low cost item that you can even wear again like this green dress. I then bought red and brown fabric to make my turtle shell from a flowerpot holder.
Step 3.) Accessorize
It’s fun to go all out for Halloween and accessories are the difference between a good costume and a great one. Before you buy some bling that you’ll probably never use again, the best way to jazz up your costume is to first fix your hair or makeup to go along with the costume.
Here with a comb and a lot of hairspray I had totally 80ies hair. YouTube is a great resource to find video’s on how to get a style or look. Also look through jewelry that you already have and use pieces from previous costumes. Then for the final touches, you might need to break-down and go to a costume store to buy small add-ons like face paint, or other gadgets.
This year buyer beware; Halloween costumes are overpriced. Don’t get tricked into throwing your money away on something you’ll wear just once. Make a DIY Halloween costume.
