Boo, ladies! It’s that time of year again. Time to scrounge around the house, take a quick trip to Michael’s or Target, gather the duct-tape and scissors, and put that creative genius to work for some DIY Halloween Costumes that will make trick or treaters squirm! If you’re a mom, you’ve no doubt heard about twelve different Halloween costume ideas from your tots, ranging from one of X-Men heroes to a pangolin, or some wild animal you had to Google.
If you’re a woman, you’ve probably been going over the five fun-but-not-ridiculous adult costumes for women in your head, after eliminating the hundreds of slutty/sexy costumes that either objectify women or further some form of sociocultural genocide or bias against a group. Other than the many struggles to be politically correct, warm, cute, and witty, the other trick Halloween brings is on your wallet. Most adult costumes are at least $30, and worse if you’ve been hoodwinked into doing a couple’s themed costume. But, there are plenty of ways to save money this holiday (so that you can buy more candy…and have enough leftover to eat it yourself all the way till Christmas).
The best way to pinch pennies this Halloween, other than giving your neighbor’s children last year’s leftovers, is to make a DIY costume from household items! In fact, you can use a lot of your waste and recyclables to make original, 3-D, eco-conscious costumes that will wow everyone and make you feel like a green queen! Here are our favorites —
1. Cutout Paper Doll
Remember the books we poured over as young girls, cutting out fabulous outfits to pin onto the slim paper shoulders of hand-drawn models? Become one of those ladies by making yourself a cardboard top that ties on with some glued on some scrap fabrics, like scarves or an old pillowcase to make yourself a model…and an easy to remove dress.
2. Jellyfish
One of the prettiest costumes around, this involves taking a laundry basket or giant hat and tying about a dozen sheet strips or scarves around its circumference, hanging at different lengths. Choose blues or purple scarves, iridescent ribbons scraps from the past holidays, and even bubble wrap to make this costume. For a more convenient/adulting costume, make an umbrella your jelly for a costume you can put on or put away with ease. Snazz this up with some removable LED lights as well.
3. Chiquita Banana
Don’t let the kids go hungry and please all the parents by providing a healthier snack option. Wrap your child in a yellow onesie and some old scarves and make a fruit bowl hat for them. Take a lightweight wicker basket, toss in some apples, bananas, pears, and grapes, and tie it to their head. If your kids won’t eat the fruit, perhaps turn the costume into a gift basket by wrapping the fruit in cellophane and tying it with a ribbon! If the basket is too much dedication, try an old plastic headband.
4. Bag of Groceries
Wrap your child in brown paper, stick some handles at the top, and then literally dig through your (clean-ish) garbage for empty brownie boxes, chip bags, candy wrappers, egg cartons, and so on. Glue them to the top of the costume or tape them underneath your child’s shirt. You can amp up this costume up by drawing some logos on the brown paper of local grocery stores or slogans to raise awareness about using paper bags over plastic.
5. Zombie Bride
Time to pull out all those unused sanitary napkins and old pads, ladies! Make your dream wedding dress with these adhesive, fluffy fabric replacements! Tape them onto a slip underneath instead of your body or sew tampons together for a seamless look. To really really scare the kids (or any man friend in your life), you can use red nail polish, paint, ketchup, tomato sauce, and beets to simulate the look of blood.
6. Tetris Puzzle Piece
Great for those who have tons of boxes lying around and the less creatively inclined, this involves literally taping and painting boxes and gluing them together at right angles. Color each box a different color, use at least three colors, and have at least five boxes to make this look ‘real.’ Black or silver duct tape on the box edges will make these look more 3-D.
7. Octopus
Upcycle those K-cups from all your morning coffees by gluing them on to eight sweatshirt sleeves in two rows of about ten. Hints: find the six extra sweatshirt sleeves to sew onto your hoodie at flea markets or use big grey socks. Fill them with newspaper as a cheap stuffing or smaller socks! If you don’t have enough coffee cups, you can cut ping pong balls in half, use the bottom of egg cartons, paper bathroom cups, or cotton balls.
Whatever costume you choose, we urge you to substitute recyclables in wherever you can, to minimize waste on this night of frivolity and fun! Stay safe, stay fierce and go green, not just with your favorite organic tampons, but you’re halloween costume too!