Simple DIY Halloween Costume Ideas

Now that October is here, it is time to start prepping for Halloween! Most of the time, I’m crafty because I’m too cheap to pay full price for something. Even though I love dressing up for Halloween, I hate the costs of a really flimsy costume. Since I was in high school, I’ve put together several halloween costumes, and I’ll share my list of simple halloween costume ideas.

Halloween Costume Tips

• Simple is good. Some of the best costumes are super easy to put together and take very little effort. 
• Have several ideas. If one doesn’t work out, you can transition to something else. Failure is not an option.
• Collaborate with friends to make a group costume or to find missing supplies.

Simple DIY Halloween Costume Ideas

Harry Potter

For this costume, I used my graduation robes, a borrowed tie, the Harry Potter 3D glasses that I got at the final film, and a little make up for a scar. Didn’t pay a penny.

Taco Bell Sauce Packet

Who doesn’t love the quotes on Taco Bell packets? I took an old red shirt and had an artistic friend outline the Taco Bell font on the shirt (because I’m crafty, not artistic). Then, I painted in the lines and printed out a Taco Bell quote for my shirt. At the end of the day, I was a little off-centered, but I got tons of compliments on this one. If you want your costume to have more of a packet shape, you can repurpose an orange or red pillowcase too.

Starbucks Frappuccino

As all my friends can tell you, I’m a coffee girl with 60+ collection of Starbucks mugs. For this costume, take a brown dress for the coffee, a white scarf for the whipped cream, a print out of the
Starbucks logo, and a paper towel tube covered in green construction paper for the straw.

 

Princess Costume Ideas

Princess costumes don’t have to be elaborate to be successful.

• Belle from Beauty and the Beast- You don’t have to go formal to be a princess. Blue dress, white apron, pony tail, and a book as a prop.
• Snow White- Yellow skirt, blue sweater, red bow for your hair, and an apple.
• Sleeping Beauty- Super simple if you have an old prom dress collecting dust in your closet. Wear a formal gown (preferably pink or blue), use a throw blanket as a shawl, and a sleep eye mask.

Group Halloween Costume Ideas

Three blind mice

With two other friends, wear all grey with sun glasses. You can make paper or felt ears and attach them to a headband. Cut strips of some grey cloth for a tail and locate a cane.

Emotions from Inside Out

If you couldn’t tell from all my counseling posts on emotions, I love Inside Out! Even though I haven’t done this one yet, I’m already planning that one day it will happen! Because it is color coordinated, this one is a super easy group halloween costume. You may need to pick up a bottle of the $3 temporary hair dye that Walmart sells every year.

• Joy-yellow dress, blue hair
• Sadness- grey sweater, dark blue jeans, blue hair
• Anger-brown slacks, white button down, red hair
• Fear-brown slacks, purple button down, sweater vest, purple hair
• Disgust-green dress, purple ribbon around neck, green hair

Recycling Garbage Truck and Recycling Bin

For a few years, I babysat this kid, and we became best buds. D loves learning anything he can about garbage trucks and recycling, and he was insistent one year that he wanted to be a garbage truck. Excuse me, a recycling garbage truck. When his mom took him to the Halloween store, there were no recycling garbage truck costumes. Although she tried to convince him that he could be all sorts of superheroes, he wasn’t buying into the craze. In the end, I made him a costume. Since I was joining him for trick-or-treating, I made myself a recycling bin.

To start, I located a copy paper box from work and used my external hard drive box to make the base of the truck. The hard drive box worked great because it also gave him a place to put his candy. Then, I used green construction paper and green duct tape around the box and printed a white recycling triangle onto sticker paper. Next, I created a face on the smaller box with white paint and a sharpie and cut out a space for his body in the bigger box. Finally, the hardest part, I made straps out of duct tape, so it would stay on him for the night.

For the recycling bin, I located a larger box, wrapped the whole thing in blue duct tape, and printed a larger recycling triangle on the front.

Cops and Robbers

Again, my best bud and I had coordinating costumes in 2015. I took black pants, a striped shirt, and a conference bag that I marked up with a sharpie. Because my little friend already had a dress up police costume, he wore that. However, you can easily wear navy pants and a navy polo or button down shirt, and a police officer kit from the dollar store….for an adult or kids costume.

Disney Princess

Although I already mentioned Princess costumes as an individual costume, they can also be done as a group. Just make sure you coordinate, and you don’t have two sleeping beauties at your Halloween party.

Have any other simple DIY Halloween costume ideas? Share below in the comments!