Yes, I know Halloween is not an Indian festival but hey the world is shrinking and I know that many schools including my daughter’s are celebrating Halloween. Well, if US and UK can celebrate Diwali then I am sure we can get in on the Halloween spirit too. In India though we are not big on the Halloween customs like trick or treating, decorating our homes as haunted houses and dressing our kids like Zombies. But all parents are on lookout for easy costumes for kids or as we like to call it in India, Fancy dress ideas for kids.
Fancy dress competitions are an occupational hazard of parenting and whether you like it or not your kids will take part in loads of them through the school years. I hate to waste money on buying or even renting the costumes and usually try to make the costumes from what is either already available at home or from stuff that is not very costly.
So, I thought I will scour the internet and bring for you 10 easy, homemade and frugal Halloween costumes for kids. When I say easy, I literally mean it. These are costumes that don’t require you to be super crafty, buy tons of material or have a whole week to prepare. These are Halloween costumes that you can easily put together at your home with just a few supplies and only a few hours at hand. The best part about these costume ideas are that you can use them for Halloween or save them to use for the next fancy dress competition in your child’s school.
10 Easy Homemade Halloween Costumes
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Skeleton Costume
Think Halloween and the first thing that comes to your mind are Skeletons and this particular skeleton is easy to make and not creepy at all. Although the tutorial at Instructables uses Freezer Paper to stencil, I think if you have a steady hand you can easily make the bone structure with fabric paint. Just get plain black t-shirt, black leggings and white fabric paint and you have a cutesy skeleton at your hand.
From
Jellyfish Costume
Shruthi from ArtsyCraftsyMom is a genius and this jellyfish costume just proves it. She used an umbrella, white t-shirt, white pants and lots of bubble wrap. The white streamers hanging down just give the whole ocean feeling to this costume. I think it is a great aquatic fancy dress idea.
From
Mummy Costume
Mummies are not my favorite character but this adorable mummy you would want to keep at home forever. Kim from the thecelebrationshoppe blog created this awesome costume from white pajama, white shirt and lots of strips of cheap white fabric and of course glue.
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Pirate Costume
Johnny Depp made pirates cool and this pirate costume will do the same for your kid. Simran from Simzcorner created this costume for her som entirely at home using stuff which was already available to her. She tucked the pants inside the socks to create a polo pants look and used black marker to create the mole and mustache. A bandana and eye patch completed the whole pirate look.
From Red Ted Art
If mummies and skeletons are around can witches be far behind? I love tutu skirts and that is what you need for this dress. Just dress the child in a black tshirt and tutu skirt with black leggings, make a paper hat and hand her a broom for the whole witch vibe.
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LadyBird Costume
Tulika for ObsessiveMom has some awesome costumes she has made for her kids but this ladybird costume is what caught my eye the most. Tulika made this for her daughter using a red frock on which she stitched black spots. Wings and a red hairband completed the look.
From
Harry Potter Costume
Thanks to the book and movie series we have scores of potter fans here in India too and this harry potter costume will definitely be a hit with them. Tracey from Chaospatrol made these for her sons using fabric which she stitched as gowns, used maroon and white mufflers and painted the white portion into mustard, spray painted some two sticks to black and used a pair of old spectacles without glasses. Voila there you have, two mini-potters.
Watermelon/Fruit Costume
I made this for show and tell of fruits at my daughter’s school. She wanted to be a watermelon so I took two pieces of cardboard cut them in watermelon slice shape, made a neck hole and taped them together at the neckline. Then I simply painted it in red and green colors with black seeds. You can recreate any fruit like mango, apple or even strawberry using the same technique.
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Bee Costume
This one is a little elaborate costume since it involves stitching black felt over a yellow tee but I will tell you a shortcut. Use black fabric paint for making the stripes. Make two holes in a black headband and use yellow and black pipe cleaners to create the antennae. Top it all off with two colored foam balls.
From
Sheep Costume
Ishrath from Wanderingmist made this sheep costume using white t-shirt, shorts, black stockings, a skull cap and lots to cotton balls. She stitched the cotton balls onto the t-shirt and all around the skull cap. She used the black stockings as hands and legs and stitched two pieces of black cloth on the skull cap as ears. Isn’t that a cute sheep!
So here they are the 10 easy, homemade Halloween costumes or fancy dress ideas for your kids, whichever suits you best. If you would like to share a costume that you have made or a dress up you created for your child then share it in the comments below or on our Facebook page
