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Community Corner

Homemade Halloween Costumes

Trick-or-treat falls on a Monday this year so there are still three weekends to make a spooky, silly, pretty, clever costume.

We spent hours one October making this dinosaur costume from Family Fun. It was worth it -- it took second place in the Collegeville Halloween parade! More importantly, it was a fun project for my then-kindergartener and I to do together. If you are thinking about tackling a homemade costume this year, there are many options available for all skill levels. Besides the great ideas on Family Fun's site, consider a few of these:

  • A few years ago I made a skeleton costume using a template like this. Black sweatpants and a black shirt are all that is needed for the base. I picked up some white contact paper and traced the skeleton bones on it. Peel the bones, place them on the pants and shirt and a skeleton is born.
  • Rather than a plain old ghost, go for Out-On-the-Town Ghost. Start with an old sheet and cut out traditional eye and mouth holes. Then, jazz it up by painting on lipstick, eyelashes, earrings, and a necklace. The male ghost may require a beard or mustache, glasses and a hat.
  • Rolls of gauze make a perfect mummy. Wrap up legs, arms and torso in the gauze and use a little white face paint to complete the look.
  • A knight's helmet and chest plate from the dollar store was the foundation for last year's knight costume. We used gold paper clips to make "chain mail," which was taped along the bottom of the chest plate. Add a homemade or store-bought sword.
  • One year my daughter was a Christmas present. We took a big box, cut a hole in the bottom, arm holes on the sides and one hole on the top. We wrapped the box in Christmas paper and affixed a big bow on her head.
  • A cat costume is easy to make. Cut off one leg from an old pair of tights and stuff it with fiberfill pillow stuffing. Pin it to the back of a pair of black pants. Take a black head band and attach two black triangles to the top (use felt or fabric) for ears. Use eyeliner or an eyebrow pencil to paint whiskers on the face.

We've got 18 days till Halloween. Do you have a fun do-it-yourself costume idea to share?

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