Halloween Costume Ideas You Can Make Fast

You don’t have to be an expert seamstress to make a child’s Halloween costume. Using items around the house and/or purchased items, you can put together a very effective and fun costume. Here are some ideas.

Doctor

Nothing says “medical” like a white lab coat! For your child, use an adult’s button-down, collared shirt. Use a toy stethoscope, borrow one, or see if you can purchase a used one from a flea market. Use thin cardboard to make a band around the head with a large circle on the front. You can paint the circle silver to make it look official.

Scarecrow

Here’s another use for an oversized shirt. Use a big, plaid, flannel shirt and either ragged, cut-off jeans or overalls. (You can roll up the legs of the pants if you can’t cut them.) A straw hat of any style can be used. Glue straw wisps to the hat, cuffs of the sleeves, and edges of the pants. Stick straw in the pockets of the pants, overalls, and/or shirt. Big, heavy boots or shoes complete the outfit. If you have any black feathers available, you can glue those on the costume as well.

Cat

A simple one-color sweat suit can serve as the basis for a cat costume. You can also use a solid-color leotard. Coordinating gloves/mittens and socks are a fun addition, but are not necessary. Cut one leg out of a corresponding color of nylon stocking and stuff with poly-fill or other soft material. Use a safety pin to attach the tail. Eyebrow pencils make great whiskers, and red lipstick can be used for the nose.

For ears, you can attach cardboard cut-outs to a plain headband. With a little modification, this can be a dog costume, too – make the tail shorter and make floppy ears by attaching plain socks to a stretchy headband.

Butterfly

Any all-black outfit will do for the butterfly body – leotards would be perfect, but a dark shirt and pants would do fine, too. Use stretch pants if possible. Your child can decorate the wings herself – cut them out of poster board as one piece (not two separate wings) and, when the paint is dry, use adhesive Velcro to attach the wings to the clothing. Double-sided foam tape may also work to attach the wings. Antennae can be made with pipe cleaners attached to a headband.

Angel

Do the angel costume like the butterfly, using appropriate colors. Make a halo by wrapping wire (you could even use an old wire coat hanger) with Christmas tinsel and bending it into shape. Pipe cleaners could also be used.