In all the years of raising kids I think I only bought actual Halloween costumes once or twice. I considered them a great waste of money. I sewed costumes once or twice, but usually I made them up from stuff I had around the house. The one I remember most clearly was when my guys (now both 6' tall and in college) were preschoolers and I hadn't come up with anything by Halloween. I grabbed two of my shirts, one red, one orange, put them on the boys, and stuffed them with pillows. Then I used green construction paper and cut out leaf shapes. They went trick or treating as a pumpkin and a tomato! They were pretty young or I probably would have heard lots of complaints with that one.
So for the contest, I want to hear about costumes you've made from stuff around the house. Just leave a comment (with a way to contact you, blog, Ravelry ID or whatever) about your Halloween costume past or present. To earn another entry, link to this post from your blog or site.
The prize will be a knitting bag (like one of my green bags) and three skeins of Red Heart Super Saver yarn. There's two skeins of Holly and Ivy varigated and one Ranch Red which matches the Holly and Ivy. If you don't knit or crochet, I can do fabric instead, I'm flexible!
Contest ends (when else?) October 31st
52 comments:
I once spray painted a cardboard box grey and used it as the major part of a Tin Man costume. I owned grey pants and a grey jacket already so I all I had to add next was a pointy cardboard hat and I was the Tin Man. I think I was in sixth grade when I did this one.
I went as a gypsy last year, in fact I had enough to dress me and my two girlfriends. Broomstick skirts, lots of scarfs and my calf high boots from highschool(20years ago)and all the jewelry I own.I've since donated everything but the jewelry to the Goodwill so someone this year can come up with a cheap costume.
I haven't dressed up for a long time, but one time as a kid I used a yellow sweatsuit and a construction paper cone to dress up as a pencil. My parents weren't enthusiastic about buying costumes.
ikkinlala AT yahoo DOT ca
When I was a freshman in college, I was the half-man/half-woman. I wore a skirt and blouse on one half, with curled hair & make-up. On the other half, overalls, workshirt, and a drawn-on beard. Pretty lame, but didn't cost a dime.
When I was in Nursing, didn't have the money from costumes so I gave my oldest my lab coat, stethoscope and pen light and she went as a doctor.
I remember putting on baggy clothing as a child and going as a hobo.
Kenyetta on Ravelry
i went through a box phase...one year i remember i painted myself as a box of crayola crayons. There were other years with boxes involved but i can't remember what i was! i do remember being a bag of jelly beans once. We filled clear large plastic bags (the kind that would wrap a new mattress)with multi colored balloons and then attached them to a large piece of cardboard decorated to look like the top of a candy bag, this had a face cut out for me. I wore tights and a leotard and hi tops. Loved it! Still our favorite holiday! At work i can't get away with too much more than my horns that barrette clip into my hair, would be hard to do pedicures otherwise!
We don't have Halloween where I come from, but we do have Carnival, which is basically the same in terms of fancy dress. One year, my father had done some woodwork around the house and we had some "rods" of wood lying around. So I rigged some as a clothes line (two vertical wooden bits, held in shape with wire) and hanged the contraption from my neck. I then put on an apron and pretended to be doing laundry (it won me 10th prize in the school contest!). The last Halloween I fancy dressed for, I had short hair, so I took out some black clothes and went as Trinity. And everybody recognised it, which was awesome.
one year money was really tight, so I dressed my daughters and myself (cause I just love to dress up) as punk rockers. I didn't have the money to buy hair color, so we used cool aid. Umm that was a very bad idea as we were stuck with that color or colors in our hair until it washed out. we used tons of hair spray to hold our hair up, (this was the 80's), for clothes we just took old ratty clothes, ripped tights, and such. we even used safety pins for earrings. my girls loved it. we did have a lot of fun that year. even with the hair color boo boo.
LOL! I was a big geek in highschool (ok, still am) and worked the local Renaissance fair. Halloween was easy. I just dressed for work.
I think my favorite costume was the Gypsy outfit I cobbled together out of my regular wardrobe once when I had to work at a Halloween wedding!
My mom always made my brother and I costumes every year. Mom was pretty crafty and creative. My favorite for myself was Carmen Miranda, fake boobs and fruit hat included.
As for my brother, my mom made him into a tv. He was about 5 years old, so a small brown box with a hole cut out for his head, and on the sides for his arms.
Painted on nobs and screen with the CBS eye, glued a remote and a bowl of popcorn to the top. And on his head a headband, with those glitter balls attached to springs, that stood straight up. It was the 80's. He hated it but it looked so cute!
Hi, When I was young, my mom and older sister made me a wonderful
"Rosebud" costume out of crepe paper. I even had a stem hat! Please enter
me in your delightful Halloween drawing. Many thanks.....Cindi
jchoppes[at]hotmail[dot]com
I'm pretty lame these days. I used to make my girls matching costumes. Then I got LAZY. My black graduation gown has been a graduate (shock) and the main part of an Hermoine costume. We've done mis-matched/ripped clothes rockers, winter coats over regular clothes, big sparkly sun glasses and gone as a movie star avoiding paparazzi.....(I told you, lame-o)....they've used dh's old button down shirts and ties and gone as guys. This year I spent a whopping 10 bucks on two grass skirts, add bathing suits, and you got it...hula girls. (and tights and a winter coat, and, and and) Then we've got flippers and goggles......you get the picture. It's amazing what you can do with a few household items, some make up and colored hairspray (which used to make ANYTHING the PERFECT costume around here)
My mom always made my brother and my's costumes (she sews) and my favorite one she made was a mouse. I was probably around 5 years old or so and had a fixation on rodents (I still love them, actually). My favorite costume ever, though, was one that I made. I was Eve (as in Adam and Eve). I covered a bikini top and a pair of short cloth shorts in fake leaves, had my hair down and wavy, and even had fake vines climbing up the bikini straps.
I can't sew it all, but I've come up with some easy costumes. My girls dance, so we always have dance costumes. I've taken one & put wings on it for fairy. Another was used for a doll, it was cute though, my dd in pigtails, big rosy cheeks & mary janes. Then of course baby out of regular sleeper pajamas & then I had leopard sleepers, my daughter put on cat ears & tails.
I haven't done this, but farmer is super easy with a plaid shirt & overalls!
The thrift store, craigslist & freecycle is a great place to get costumes or parts of costumes.
This year, my youngest is being an angel. I had some wings & halo from a christmas photo shoot, white top, handmade white tutu & then some white bottoms.
I once used a cardboard box and cut out 2 sides to look like a pumpkin, painted them orange, then painted my daughter's face to look like a pumpkin face.
Posted a pic on my blog with one constume where I wore a sppoky tee shirt and some lace over my head. I was a "veiled threat". There's a lot of creative folks posting here!
I was planning on a Halloween get together for all the grandkids when my 7 year old grandson challenged me to dress up something for Halloween. I didn't know what to do but went out and bought Mickey/Minnie Mouse pattern. Bought all the supplies on one Sunday afternoon and waited until Thursday when I realized Halloween would be on Saturday so I stayed home (called in sick), worked my butt off sewing the whole costumes non-stop til about 3 am to finish it. My husband and I managed to surprise our 7 year old grandson with our Mickey/Minnie Mouse and he thought someone from Disney World came to the house!! We had a ball! I will never forget that night!
I was planning on a Halloween get together for all the grandkids when my 7 year old grandson challenged me to dress up something for Halloween. I didn't know what to do but went out and bought Mickey/Minnie Mouse pattern. Bought all the supplies on one Sunday afternoon and waited until Thursday when I realized Halloween would be on Saturday so I stayed home (called in sick), worked my butt off sewing the whole costumes non-stop til about 3 am to finish it. My husband and I managed to surprise our 7 year old grandson with our Mickey/Minnie Mouse and he thought someone from Disney World came to the house!! We had a ball! I will never forget that night!
When I was pregnant with my oldest I decided at the very last minute that I did want to dress up, so I blew up a bunch of purple balloons I had and taped them all over me then painted my face with some makeup and tada, I was a bunch of grapes!
Okay, I kind of cheated since I bought the head at a yard sale... but I have built a unicorn suit. The head was 25 cents at a yard sale and is a hat that fits over your head like a hat with your face where the neck is. I crocheted a unicorn tail and a thread saraphina shawl for wings... used a pair of white sweats and white turtle neck and crocheted fingerless mittens in black and wear black bare feet sandals that I made out of yarn for my feet (It is central texas and warm clear through to thanksgiving). I wear it for halloween and for ren fest every year!
awellsdba@gmail.com
I can't tell you how many years I went as a "baby". I would wear pj's, take a stuffed animal or doll of somesort, and a blanket. I would also sometimes draw a tear and/or freckles with eyeliner. Thanks for the cool contest.
One year my daughter wanted to go as a rock star. I drew and cut out a guitar out of cardboard, got one of my 'vintage' (read 80's style tshirt, leggings and large belt) outfits (dont' ask me why I kept it) and then dyed her hair red, purple, yellow and green (using koolaid - took a while to come out after but it was good!) She was so excited and she got rave reviews. My youngest daughter was dressed up as a cow for her first halloween, white sweatshirt with black marker dots, a rubber glove blown up and colored pink, and white sweatpants with black dots. She was so cute at 3 months that if she wasn't so young, I think that she would have reaped so much candy!!!
I had 2 round red pillows that i duct taped them together on the sides (one pillow on the front of my daughter and one on her back....taped on the sides). She wore a black sweatsuit. I took a black permanent marker and put an "M" on each pillow. She was an M&M ! :)
chevybelair1 {@} juno {dot} com
Hi
DH and I went as Mickey and Minnie Mouse one year with a group of our friends. My Dad helped make the heads for us to wear. We shaped wire in the shape of the mouse heads and then put glued pieces of newspaper over the wire and then I painted the heads/faces. They even had the big mouse ears. We dressed in red vests, black pants, similar shirt and blouse. We won the prize from the group putting on the Hallowe'en party - I think it was $75.00. We had a blast and no one knew who we were until we took of the mouse heads. What a blast from the past.
My son went once as a house. we took an old cardboard box, cut windows and doors in it, made straps to hang it on his shoulders and away he went. he would put out his hand through the door for the treat...
Daughter went as a bag of Jelly Beans. Plastic dry cleaner bag with baloons in it, wrote Jelly beans in black marker on the bag.
Other son went as a trash can ome year, complete with garbage hanging out the top. used cardboard to make it.
One year I went as Pipi Longstocking. I took one of my mom's old (and UGLY) dresses, shortened it and sewed some really colorful patches on. I took 2 different colored pair of leggings, stuffed one leg into the other and stitched them together on the waist. I used neon orange hairspray and colored my hair. I made braids around a wire with 2 silk scarves (also neon orange) It was a blast - specially, since I got on the bus that way, since I was wearing that costume to work.
Deb, when Chrissy was very small, I took a white pillowcase, and cut a " head hole" and armholes out. I put her little green beach pail on her head( which did not stay too well in the wind)put " C-R-E-S-T" down the front, and she went as a tube of toothpaste... Worked great ( considering I was working nights back then and it was all my brain could come up with!) Sure was easy and cute.
This year my son is going as a construction worker...He has the hard hat and tools, also a pair of carpenter pants, and a flannel shirt....all I has to do is take a little material and make him a tool belt of sorts...we went to the Downtown Stores trick or treat day today, and he wore his costume and everyone loved it...he even got his picture taken for the local newpaper....can't wait to see my little man in there...
My daughter on halloween is going as a bunch of grapes, took a green pillow case and am going to put purple ballons all over it, and crocheted her a little brown hat with vines coming off it...
basilwendy (at) Yahoo (dot) com
Once when I was younger. I had come up with some thing to dress my sister. And what My Mom and I had done was we took a old pair of paints and a shirt of my Dad's and some patches pined the patches to the paints and stuff the pillows in the shirt and the paints to make her look heavy. A mustache and glasses and dress my sister up as a old hobo. She had a hat on and a tree branch with a handkerchief with her food in it, tied to the branch. It turned out of good she won the contest for that year. We had a blast. Linda
catlady1@frontiernet.net
Hi Deb.. for my halloween costume one year , I dug out an old pair of hubby's jeans,,, and a really worn out flannel shirt he had outgrown... I made a mask with a paper sack.. cut holes in it for the eyes, nose and mouth... then I mashed it down some on top and put a really old dress hat that was my father in laws... which was so dirty and dusty from sitting in spare room... and a pair of hubbys old work boots ... the kids that came to the door for trick or treating .. about had a fit over me being dressed like this to hand out treats.. it was fun and we sure did have a lot of laughs... was one we never have forgotten.. Nancy from Indiana
One year when I was about 10 or 12 I think, one of my last years to trick or treat, I took a big box and painted it white, then painted "corn flakes" and the rooster on it. I cut out holes on the side for my arms. Then I took a long belt from a bathrobe and put it around my "waist" and in it I put a large plastic knife, a stuffed stick of dynamite and a toy gun. I got a lot of strange looks but when people asked what I was, they always laughed. What was I? A "cereal killer". ;o)
Ok Deb, this is going to make you giggle! Last Halloween season, I was a bit strapped for money, so I decided to make a couple of wild costumes for my granddaughter and I - I had some Red Satin material from a previous project, so I went to the dollar store, bought her some white gloves, white tights, and a white turtle neck shirt and made a "blousy romper-stuffed it, put a big white M on it, and she became hot red M&M! My costume was black turtleneck, black pants, a clear clothing bag - I fashioned it around my body, and got a bunch of different color socks, stuffed them, filled the bag and I was a big bag of jellybeans! LOL The only thing I had to purchase was the gloves and tights! I'm working on this years - so far she'll be "fairy witch" - I'll be a wizard - I have only had to purchase 2 wigs! PattiJo
My favorite Halloween costume that I made for my daughter was her spider costume... I used and old black sweatshirt. I attached 3 legs to each side (stuffed and wired with shaped coathanger). I attached each leg to each other so when she raised her arm all 4 of her legs raised together on each side... She wore that costume for all her parties and trick or treating and in 2 parades the following year!!!!! I guess she liked it!!!LOL...
One year my son went as a black cat. I made ears and attached them to a headband. Used a grease pencil to give him whiskers. He wore an oversized black hooded sweatheart. I sewed a black tail and pinned it to the back of the hoodie. He then wore black pants.
katya_de_leon@yahoo.com
I once crocheted a pumpkin in worsted weight yarn as a table decoration. It was so big I just set it aside for a few years then granddaughter needed a halloween costume. I remembered the pumpkin, opened up a couple of slits for armholes, then expanded the top and bottom for head and legs. With a green felt hat from a prior costume four grandchildren have been halloween pumpkins.
When my son was young, I put him in a box and put wrapping paper on the box. He was a gift! I still hear about that one from him now.
My daughter came home and wanted to be the queen of hearts, I had saved a red satin waterbed sheet set, made the dress, and used a coffee can and 2 heart candy boxes for the hat. While trick or treating we went to the home of the drama teacher of our high school, needless to say they used the costume the next year in their play. I don't throw anything way now LOL>
One year when I was strapped for time, I took the dress & pantaloons off a larg Raggedy Ann doll and dressed my daughter in it! I used red tape to make the striped stockings, painted her face like "Ann" and made her a "curly cue" wig using red yarn and an old baby bonnet. This was adorable! I took her downtown to visit friends working downtown and the photographer next door pulled us off the sidewalk and insisted upon taking her picture! Needless to say, they all loaded her down with candy and treats, and I got free photos!!
One year we dressed my niece in her red snowsuit, put red cardboard pointed ears, horns and tail on it. and she was a little devil. My sister and her hubby dressed up as a pumpkin and a scarecrow for a Halloween party.
We used wire coat hangers to make a round cage shape for the pumpkin, then covered it with orange crepe paper. Made a little hat with orange crepe paper and then attached little green crepe paper leaves. She had green tights and green slippers and a green long sleeve Turtle neck sweater. And she painted her nails green.
BIL wore his oldest clothes and we sewed on lots of lengths of yarn in various shades of yellow, orange and offwhite for the straw. Also made him a wig with the yarn and put yarn pieces on an old hat. They won first prize.
I work in special ed and once made a costume for a little girl out of purple plastic table cloth. I used a sweat shirt for a base and made grapes out of table cloth and sewed them on till she was a big grape cluster. made hat out of felt pipe cleaners (colored ones)and crepe paper tendrils. This year i have crocheted a pumpkin hat for each and leaves for neck to go over pumpkin colored tee shirt. the wioo also wear tennis shoes. I have a long list but these are the 2 I am sending in. Pat
For our nieces and nephews, we had a few good handmade ones over the years...
Large plastic bag full of balloons for a bag of Jelllybeans
Big cardboard box and 6 plastic cups -- paint whatever color you wish (we did red) to make a lego piece! Really cute.
We have friends this year that are making a wii costume for thier son out of a box and a plastic bowl or two and some white foam.
What a fun contest!
We are turning my 10 year old into a goth mummy by taking fabric, cutting it into strips, sewing it onto a white t-shirt and shorts. The luck was we had fabric that looks just like mummy wrap so it will look authentic too. This is the first time my family has really made a costume and so far it's looking great.
Back when our daughter was a sophomore at NYU (yes college) her sorority volunteered with a local preschool. On Halloween they took the class on a "parade". She needed a costume. At nearly 6' tall, off the rack was not an option. So from 250 miles away I made her a Pooh costume from left over knit fabric from her highschool lacrosse team (chicken fat yellow) as they affectionately called it. It was complete with hood, ears, feet and mitts. Added a storebought red tshirt and there went the largest Pooh in town! Been teaching for 9 years now and it still comes out for Halloween. New bigger audience these days.
*LOL* Well, I've never done the whole stuffing shirts thing, but, my daughter has this tendency to wait until the last minute to spring things on me...Like last year, the fact that her history assignment also doubled as a Halloween project. I had to help her come up with an "Egyptian" costume to match the report she was doing on Queen Cleopatra in less than 12 hours! My eyes nearly crossed until I remembered I had some "natural" linen cotton fabric, some mardi gra type beads, some copper tubing, a broken silver link belt, some fringy trim and lots of little rubber bands...The end result was a robe like tunic tacked up the sides with the beads and silver belt tacked to the neckline to form the "Collar", then I took the copper tubing and my jewelry anvil and hammer and made cuff bracelets, and the staff and crook. Unfortunately, I did not have time to really do her hair up in the tiny braids, but did have some jewelry of mine that made a very pretty circlet crown. The whole thing took me about 4 hours to cobble together, and while my daughter was 13 at the time, she knew better than to complain as she doubled as the dressmaker's dummy, as she's the one who waited until the last minute to tell me it would be part of her grade! She got an A and stern notice from me that next time, she needed to give me far more advance notice about that sort of thing! *LOL*
When my son was just a toddler I cut holes in a white bed sheet (for his eyes - think I went around them with a black marker) and he went as a ghost. His best friend, who was 6 months younger than he, went as a ghost too. It was so cold that year they both had to wear their winter coats underneath with the hoods up. LOL We were both very young families on very tight budgets. Not very creative but the boys had lots of fun!
sandy_swaney [@]yahoo[dot]com
I was a box of popcorn. I had a box lying around the house and painted it red/white stripes. Then in red letters I wrote "POPCORN" diagonal on the front. At the top, I hot glued some popped popcorn (was hard not to eat it instead). I wore the box over jeans and a white t-shirt.
Last year I was a beatnik - very easy, and I got tons of compliments! I dressed in a black turtleneck and long black skirt, a black leather beret, round frame dark lens sunglasses, and a long silver necklace with a geometric pendant.
A couple of years ago, my then 11-year-old daughter wanted to dress as a waitress. She wore a light-blue gingham full skirt with a white apron over it, a simple white t-shirt and a short sleeve button down shirt over it with a home-made name tag attached. I made a serving tray for her from a round pizza tray and taped to the top: plastic fork/knife/spoon wrapped in a paper napkin, plastic cup, and a paper plate with two (wrapped) fortune cookies attached to that.
Growing up the easiest last minute costumes my friends and I would come up with were babies, but the best was the costume for my brother. He was a robot with spray painted boxes for his body, legs, and feet. For arms he had the tubing for ventilation, it was priceless.
Well for me when I was younger (came from the time when parents didn't believe in buying costumes), I was a hobo. My mom gave me some of my dad's jeans & a flannel shirt and we stuffed the shirt with a pillow. Then for my face, we spread vasoleum and used coffee grounds for a 5:00 shadow. I can't imagine doing that today! LOL
A few years ago I dressed up as my husband - jeans, flannel shirt, tool belt and tools (he worked in construction at the time) and a baseball cap. I even drew a mustache with mascara :). This year I'm going to borrow his bib overalls and another flannel shirt, stitch some "hay" (tan yarn) onto them and go as a scarecrow.
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