30+ DIY Halloween Costume Ideas

I'm a fashionista with training in fashion buying and design. I have a good eye for creative looks and enjoy sharing them with others.

There's no need to spend a lot of money on a Halloween costume! Make your own this year with these 30 awesome ideas. Dress yourself and your kids up in fun DIY Halloween costumes you can make with everyday household items.

1. The Morton Salt Girl

This is so cute and easy for you or your little girl. Simply don a yellow coat and yellow pumps and add a dash of salt for best results.

2. Alfred Hitchcock: "The Birds"

Pop on a light green suit or 1950s style dress and add some fake birds and drops of blood on your face to pull off this wacky look.

3. Easy Werewolf Costume

Use a brown sweatshirt to recreate this look for boys or girls. This idea is particularly good if you don't want them wearing a mask, since you can just paint their face with face paint. Remember: It's all about the eyebrows.

4. Pop Art Makeup

Look like you just stepped put of a comic book with this awesome idea. You'll need a round paint brush, which you can get from a craft store, and some face paint.

5. Butterfly Woman (Effie From "The Hunger Games")

Lady Gaga has nothing on this one! Purchase faux butterflies at the craft store and glue them onto the base dress with a glue gun or plain craft glue. Don't be afraid to go crazy with the fake eyelashes for this costume.

6. Deer Makeup

You'll need black, white, and brown eyeliner, a bronzer, and a beige lip liner with a nude lip gloss on top. Mac white chroma cake can be used around the eye area. You can have fun pretending to be a deer in headlights.

7. Minnie Mouse

Mouse ears are so simple to make out of cardboard and attach to a hairband. To complete the look, wear a cute red skirt with a black top and funky sneakers.

8. Ninja Turtle Girls

Could there be a better excuse for prancing around in a green tu-tu and eating pizza? Cowabunga!

9. Ursula or Little Mermaid

Have fun with tulle, shells, and makeup to make you or your little one look like a pretty mermaid.

10. Holly Golightly

A great costume for moms and daughters: Don a black dress, sunglasses, and some bling—voila!

11. DIY Zombie Pinup Girl

Cover yourself in green body paint and set your hair in vintage rollers to look as pretty as a zombie!

12. Twin Incredibles

Red stockings and black shorts work a treat for this look. You can simply cut the emblem out of paper and tape it onto a red turtleneck. Top it off with fur lined boots to keep warm while trick-or-treating.

13. Scary Skeleton Makeup

Black and white face paint with long fake black talons make this a great costume for Halloween parties. It takes a little time and skill, but it's so worth it!

14. Poker Player

Dress up a funky headpiece with cards and paint your face to match. It would also work well for an Alice in Wonderland-themed party.

15. DIY Creepy Doll Costume

Make sure to use plenty of brown eyeshadow to achieve that sunken eye look to make this look even creepier. The white pencil under the eyes makes them look bigger (and creepier) from a distance.

16. Cheshire Cat

Wear pink and purple-striped pantyhose or leggings with purple shorts for this one, and if you buy an extra pair of pantyhose you can fill one leg and tie the other around your waist to make the 'tail.'

17. Winnie the Pooh Babes

Winnie-the-Pooh, Piglet, and Tigger: An adorable group costume for three friends or sisters. Look for pink or orange leggings and tops in the same color.

18. DIY Cookie Monster Dress

A little blue dress looks sweet for this with cookies made from felt tacked on. A little baby could pull this off with a blue romper suit.

19. Tearful Clown

If you fancy yourself as a bit of a mime artist, this is a great one for you. A bit of black tulle gathered on elastic as a collar and some clever face paint makes this a great costume for all you last-minute-Lauras.

20. Unemployed Kid

Your kid will just love his beard painted with chocolate body paint (let's hope he doesn't lick it all off). The cardboard sign pulls the whole look together.

21. "Up" Costume

Get some PVC pipes and joints and place tennis balls at either end for the "walker." Attach balloons for the 'zimmer frame.' As an extra measure, dad could dress up as a boy scout (or a goofy dog)!

22. DIY Bat Girl and Robin

Buy elastic and tulle in black and green from your local craft store to make the skirts and wear black and red tops. The masks can be made or painted on with face paint.

23. DIY Cute Shark Costume

Grey onesies are easy to find for kids and work perfectly as the base for shark suits. Make fins from cardboard to complete the look.

24. Little Girl as Old Woman

Make sure the skirt isn't too long, as you don't want her to trip!

25. Zombie Makeup

You'll want to use a foundation with yellow tones to get the base of this look right. Black lipstick can be purchased in most drugstores and black face paint works great for the smudged look around the eyes.

26. DIY Velma Costume

A pleated red skirt with an orange turtleneck may not make the greatest fashion statement, but it looks great as a Velma costume. Don't forget the glasses!

27. Ventriloquist Doll Makeup

This also works really well as a couples costume, or might give him the perfect excuse not to dress up (as he is the 'puppeteer')!

28. Sugar Skull Makeup

Such a beautiful and colorful way to celebrate Halloween. You'll need . . .

• black liquid and pencil eyeliner
• eyeshadow brush/blush brush
• black and white eyeshadow
• white Halloween makeup or white shimmer powder
• mascara (black or brown)
• bright eyeshadows (any color will do, I used gold and teal)
• large stand mirror
• plastic jewels or sequins for embellishment

29. DIY Dead Couple Costume

Get as creative as you like with this one—you could even buy a fake skeleton and stick the 'bones' onto your suits.

30. Funny Pregnancy Costume

Pregnant ladies! Have fun while it lasts! Disguise your bump by attaching doll's arms and legs to make it look like baby is trying to escape.

31. Mermaidman and Barnacle Boy

This is a great costume for teen girls—think brightly-colored shirts and leggings!

32. Thing 1 and Thing 2

Great for best friends and simple to put together. Simply don a red tee shirt and pair it with a blue tutu.

If you love these ideas, please share around!

Comments

Certified Noob on October 27, 2015:

The unemployed kid is funny.

Please include a a poll .

Nikki from Worcester, MA on October 24, 2015:

I love the sugar skull makeup idea , now I know what I can do with all my leftover glittery beads from the witch hat I made !

Tete Buriasco on October 22, 2015:

Thank you for the very good ideas!

Joe Sellers on October 14, 2015:

Great Idea I just wish my kids would go for it instead of having to spend a lot of money on something they will only where once.

Angela Mesquita on October 10, 2015:

The beautiful halloween costumes.

Linda Robinson from Cicero, New York on October 09, 2015:

Good Morning Ezzly what a fantastic interesting hub at a time when saving money is on nearly everyone's mind but still so original and very creative, just love this hub, and I will be sharing to help others as well, terrific ideas and costumes. Happy following you and to meet you. Linda

Melody on September 26, 2015:

Haha, mermaid man and barnicle boy! :)

Adri on September 25, 2015:

The girls in the last picture have the Spongebob Squarepants superheroes Mermaidman and Barnacle Boy outfits :)

Stellla on September 04, 2015:

i would like to be the doll however I wanted to see the full costume :/

ezzly (author) on February 20, 2015:

Thanks Deborah Diane , ha I love the birds too :)

Deborah-Diane from Orange County, California on February 19, 2015:

Incredible Halloween ideas ... or perfect for lots of other types of costume parties, too. I love the costume from "The Birds." So clever.

ezzly (author) on September 22, 2014:

Ha ha very true ! Happy Halloween to you too!

Mackenzie Sage Wright on September 22, 2014:

Great ideas, and great tips-- that baby 'let me out' shirt is just a wee bit unsettling though, lol. Happy Halloween.

ezzly (author) on September 20, 2014:

Love it! Thrift stores rock! I made cat in the hat costumes by refashioning leprechaun hats I had , just covered them with red and whit fabric :)

Mike from Harrisburg Pa on September 20, 2014:

Definitely more fun. They can be less expensive and last longer than store bought ones. Especially when parts are found around home and are destined for the trash or thrift store. My hippie costume has lasted about 4 years even though I also use the jeans for work/weekend wear.