5 Homemade Halloween Costumes For Kids

Beautiful Butterfly

Butterflies are lovely to look at, but it is even more beautiful when your child decides to become one for Halloween. Here are some tips on how to make a homemade butterfly costume.

Before you begin this project, you may wish to take a trip to the library and check out the books on butterflies. Let your child choose one she particularly likes and follow the color scheme when making the costume.

Purchase sheer fabric in the color your child has chosen. Find fabric that has spots or designs which closely resemble a butterfly. Then cut the fabric in half. Since the body of the butterfly tends to be black, your child can wear a black turtleneck or body suit and leotards. Sew each piece of fabric down the back of the leotard and take the other ends and sew each piece to the sleeve of the turtleneck or body suit. When your child lifts her arms, the wings will show their brilliant color.

Use black eye-liner to place dots on the child’s face. Use pipe cleaners to make the antennae by taking long strips of construction paper and wrapping it around your child’s head to ensure a good fit. Attach the pipe cleaners to the construction paper with staples, then place cotton balls at the tip of each of the pipe cleaners. You can color the cotton balls with whatever color is dominant in the butterfly.

Another creative idea is to dress your child up in a warm solid color outfit, especially if it’s a cold Halloween day. Perhaps one that is similar to a jogging suit and has a stripe down the side of the pant legs. Make the wings by using cardboard to trace the design. Cut it out and then paint the wings a color that closely matches the outfit. Add glimmer or stickers to the wings as well. You can attach the wings by taking ribbon of the same color and wrapping it around the center part of the wings (where it curves inward), and then around the child. In this way, it won’t fall off the back.

Funny Clown

“Be a clown, be a clown, all the world loves a clown.” Just singing that song puts you in a happy mood, right? One of the most fun costumes to make at home for Halloween is the clown costume. It can be as wild and as imaginative as ever. Here are some suggestions.

Let your imagination run wild. Start with a white, red, or black sweat suit. Then go to town painting all different colors and shapes on it, from polka dots to triangles. With some make-up you can paint your child’s face in any way you wish. Draw triangles around the eyes, paint the nose red or find a red nose in a craft store, and use red lipstick to make a happy smile on the face of your child. If you can find an inexpensive clown wig, that would be great as well.

Another idea is to wear a menagerie of different clothing. Find an oversized shirt with loud stripes, plaid pants, and red suspenders. Add a funky oversized jacket, and you‘re good to go. For the shoes, you can find large-sized shoes that your child can fit into with his or her own shoes on.

If your child wishes to wear a hat, you can use a plain party hat and spray paint it with different colors and add polka dots to it or glimmer as well.

Here’s a tip: Add one or two balloons inside the jacket, and when your child goes trick or treating and someone asks for a trick, you child can open up the jacket and the balloons will pop out!

Oh, don’t forget the big bowtie! You can make it out of different color satin fabrics. Add a ruffled fabric to wear around the neck and you have the makings of the best clown in your neighborhood.

Not So Scary Ghost

Nothing exemplifies Halloween more than a ghost costume. It is probably the easiest to make and can be as simple or complex as you wish. Let’s take a look at two ideas for a ghost costume for Halloween.

Traditionally, one would cut out two holes in a white sheet, for the eyes, color the outer circle of the eyes black, and just wear it as is. However, this Casper the Friendly Ghost type costume would be a bit of a problem if the sheet fell off and the child couldn’t see where he or she was going. So, here is a suggestion.

Take a white sheet and cut a large enough hole so it can fit over the child’s head. Ensure that the bottom of the sheet is short enough so the child doesn’t trip over it. Since October is a cool month, wearing white pants and a white turtleneck top would be recommended. Oh, don’t forget white shoes or sneakers. Now that the costume itself is ready to go, here comes the fun part.

Use a non-chemical white powder makeup to paint the face. Use black make up and make a complete circle carefully around the eyes. The hair is next. There are two ways you can go with this. You can either purchase a white wig, or you can spray the hair with white spray. Voila! This ghost is a winner!

The second ghost costume can be made directly from the movie “A Christmas Carol.” How about dressing up as Marley? Using the same items as the first costume, the only difference is you will need a ball and chain to wrap around the costume.

You make a chain one using different colored pieces of construction paper. Cut the paper into strips, then take each strip and staple the ends together. Take another strip and put one end through the first and staple. If you decided to make the ball to go with the chain, you can take lots of newspaper and scrunch it up into a ball and spray paint it black. You can attach it to the chain with a piece of wire.

One more thing, instead of making the child’s hair completely white, you can use a shower cap with holes it in, and spray it white. This way, it will look a bit more authentic. Remember, Marley’s hair wasn’t all white. Also, Marley wasn’t too well kept, so you can make some holes in the white sheet and add a little black spray on the bottom as well.

Little Old Lady/Man

You know what’s so great about dressing up for Halloween? You can be just about anyone you want to be. Dressing up as a little old lady or little old man are no exceptions. These costumes are so easy to make. You just need the help of your parents to accessorize the look.

To dress up as a little old lady, one can utilize an old house dress, a pair of heavy knee-hi stockings, a white wig, glasses, sneakers, a really old-fashioned pocket book, and bobby pins.

Shorten the house dress to fit just below the knee. Then put on the knee-hi stockings and roll them down a bit. Sneakers or old shoes would be fine. If you can find a white wig, it would be perfect. If not, you can make the child’s hair gray using flour. The pocket book is perfect for show. The bobby pins are wonderful as you can make pin curls on your child’s head. If you have an old hat, add that to the mix as well. Finally, the eye glasses and voila, a little old lady has been made.

To dress up as a little old man, use dark pants, a dress shirt, vest, and a jacket. You’ll need a hat as well as a cane. Use flour on the hair for the graying effect. Brown shoes would be appropriate, as well as brown or black socks, depending upon the color of the suit. If you happen to have a pocket watch, you can add that accessory as well.

If you wish to add some additional accessories, you can always have the little old lady push a wagon – the kind used for grocery shopping. You may also want to have the little old man carry a newspaper under his arm as well.

Have fun creating these costumes. You certainly have enough to work with. Look at pictures of your parents or their parents. Perhaps you may want to dress up your kids in a different period such as the 30s or 40s. Either way, your entire family will have a great time.

Mummy-Mummy

Making a mummy costume for Halloween can be hilarious. However, if you want it to truly be a unique and authentic mummy costume, here are some ideas you can try.

There are several ways you can make the costume. Using strips from a white sheet and wrapping the mummy with them is one idea. You can adhere them using white medical tape. Leave the eyes, nose, and mouth uncovered, but use a light brown powder to cover the areas of skin exposed. You can use eyeliner to add under the eyes, like the Egyptians.

Another method you can use is to have your child wear a white body suit and leotards. Then add the strips of a white sheet and hold them in place with the medical tape. But if you want to add authenticity, you can cut the strips from the sheet the night before and soak them in brewed tea. This will give the entire mummy look an aged appearance. In addition, you may want to fray some of the strips so that the mummy will look quite old as well.

In addition, if you have ever seen any of the Discovery Channel programs on recent mummy finds in Egypt, you will notice that while most of the mummies are covered, there are portions of their bodies which are exposed. Well, you can take some brown magic marker and outline a few ribs, or the upper and bottom row of teeth. In addition, you can use black magic marker to give the appearance that certain body parts are missing, giving the illusion there are holes in the body.

Mummies have been around for thousands of years, and making a homemade mummy costume can be as unique and authentic to the real mummies found today. The main thing is to have a great time creating it.

Recommended:

Would you like to quickly make creative Halloween costumes that you and your children will be proud of -- for a fraction of the price of store-bought? Susanne Myers has co-authored a book to show you how -- no sewing involved. Visit ILoveHalloweenCostumes.com to learn more.