Listen, we’ve all been there. It’s Halloween weekend, and you realize your kids have nothing to wear. We try our best as parents, we really do. But when it comes to the holidays, things get a little crazy. And that’s when
we find ourselves in those moments where, suddenly, it’s Sunday night, and your kiddo is supposed to be in a costume for school on Monday morning. In a fit of panic, we turn the house upside down trying to uncover
items to throw an outfit together, and all we come up with is a pair of Fiskars scissors, some scotch tape and possibly a few tears.
That’s where we come in. We put together a list of cute, creative and easy-to-make children’s costumes that will serve as life savers in that final hour.
We’ll start with some basic, go-to Halloween costumes that are timeless and, most importantly, always on theme for the spooky season.
–Witch: All you need is a witch’s hat, a broom, a black dress and some long green socks. If you don’t have a hat, you can easily make one out of black construction paper.
–Mummy: Grab some old sheets and tear them into strips. Wrap them around your kid and fasten. Bam.
–Vampire: A little brown eyeshadow, some face powder, red lipstick and black clothing and you’ve got yourself a Dracula. You can also find fake blood at the store at a super cheap price.
–Pirate: If you don’t have an eye patch, you can draw one on with some eyeliner or black face paint. Throw on a striped shirt and a floppy black hat if you’ve got it.
–Scarecrow: Plaid shirt, jeans, pair of boots, floppy hat, corn husks or hay and black eyeliner. Done.
–Cat: One of the classic Halloween costumes, all this ensemble needs is an all-black outfit, black face paint or eyeliner and, if you’ve got it, a cat-eared headband.
Here are a few costumes that aren’t quite as typical for Halloween but still very easy to make at the last-minute. And more importantly, super fun to wear.
–Minion: Grab some goggles, a yellow shirt or hoodie, blue overalls and black gloves, and you’re all set.
–Superman: Kids love wearing pajamas, so find those Superman PJs and wear your kiddo’s nicest picture day shirt over it (preferably a white one). Leave the top unbuttoned so you can see the big S. If you’ve got some glasses to wear with it, fake or not, that would be cool too!
–Hershey Kiss: Make a hat out of tinfoil, grab some string to tie it around their head and make your own Hersey logo to glue on it. If you’ve got a silver dress, awesome. If you don’t, you can make a dress out of the tinfoil!
–Aerobics Instructor: A leotard, some tights, a pair of socks cut into leg warmers, and they are good to go. Big hair with lots of hairspray is a plus.
–Hippie: A tie-dyed shirt paired with some sunglasses, jeans (bell bottoms if you have them) and a bandana/hair band and your kiddo is ready to jam.
–Spider: Use that leftover faux webbing and wrap it all around (it stretches nicely so a little can go a long way). Toss in a few plastic spiders and you’ve got it made.
–Emoji: Using just posterboard and some yellow, black or brown paint, depending on which emoji you want to emulate, you can paint your own. You can either tape the emoji to the shirt or loop it over the shoulders with string.
–Ballerina: That old leotard and tutu you held onto can go to good use on Halloween.
–Lifeguard: A red bathing suit, sunglasses, whistle and even a red jacket for when it gets cold can make the perfect lifeguard costume. Use some packing tape to create the cross on the front of the suit.
