Last Minute DIY Halloween Costumes for the Whole Family
Halloween is only 5 days away! Do you have your child's costume ready? Of course, you could always go to the nearest big box store to pick one up, but I've found the cutest costumes are those that are handmade. Costumes don't have to be elaborate to be loved and these last minute DIY Halloween costumes for the whole family will come together quickly and easily.Toddlers:Duck/Gosling:
Eleanor loves the book Gossie so naturally it was an easy sell for her to go this route over a princess. At 2 she is just catching on to the magic of the holidays. The promise of free candy was all it took to get her excited about dressing up. But, since the weather is usually cold this time of year in Iowa, I wanted a costume that would be cute and warm (hence my issue with the princess dress). To make a DIY duck costume you will need the following items:
- Yellow hooded jacket or hooded sweatshirt (or use a white one and dye it yellow like I did)
- One piece of orange felt
- Yellow tutu (can be purchased or made. I made mine in about 30 minutes by tying tulle strips around an elastic crochet headband)
- Leggings (white, yellow, or orange)
- Bright red rain boots (we purchased ours from Zappos)
If you buy a tutu and items that are already yellow, the only DIY piece is to cut out a duck bill and hand sew it to the hood. I cut the felt rectangle into 4 quarters, stacked them together and cut out a rounded triangle for the bill. Then I hand stitched the stack together with a simple basting stitch using orange thread. Finally, I sewed the bill to the hood of the jacket with yellow thread.Other than the waiting time for the dye on the jacket and washing it, this costume took me about an hour to make, 2 tops if you count the time it took to purchase the various items. Older Kids:Mario and Luigi:
These costumes can come together very quickly depending on what items you have around your house. All you will need are overalls, red or green shirt, matching baseball cap and a felt mustache. See how Amy from the Maker Mama put these cute costumes together for her boys. Mummy:There are 2 ways to go here. First is the really last minute costume - the toilet paper mummy. You probably have everything you need for this costume at home already. Did you ever make toilet paper brides at a wedding shower in the late 90's/early 2000's? I can't be the only one that remembers that, right? Well, same concept here. Wrap your kid up in toilet paper and they're good to go. You can dress it up with makeup if you want, but it would be cute without that too.
To make a DIY mummy costume you will need the following items:
- Lots of toilet paper
- Halloween face makeup
This costume will not work if the weather's bad and it's raining. Something to keep in mind so keep an eye on the forecast.The second way to do this is with an old white bed sheet. Cut the sheet into strips and wrap away. You could beat up the strips by washing them so that they fray and "age" them by soaking in watered down coffee.Either way, cover shoes with old white athletic socks and you're good to go.Last minute Mom and Dad:I used to love dressing up for Halloween and still probably would, but my husband is really not on board. These two costumes could be put together really easily and you might even convince your husband to join in the fun.Rosie the Riveter:
Simply pair a chambray shirt with jeans. Add a red bandana to your hair and don red lipstick and you're set. Roll up your sleeves and get to work celebrating the fun.Max from Where the Wild Things Are:
Even easier than Rosie the Riveter, cut out a crown from yellow construction paper and attach it to a gray hooded sweatshirt. Easy peasy and he can ditch the crown if he feels silly in his costume later. Most of you probably have your children's costumes planned out and perhaps they've been ready for weeks, but for those of us that forget about these things until the week of, a few quick DIY costumes can be a lifesaver.