Easy to Make Costumes

With money being tight and costumes needing to be made, the best course of action is to create them yourself with some simple, easy to make costumes.

Easy Costume Ideas

When setting out to create easy to make costumes, you have to keep in mind the materials you will use. You don’t want to spend a lot of time or too much money on something you need done today. You do have several choices on materials that you may have sitting in your home right now:

• Fabric: Nearly any fabric will do. You could use old white t-shirts or pants. You can also hit up the local Wal-Mart fabric section where you can get fabric for $1.00 a yard and up.
• Cardboard: A very durable material that can be bent, painted, glued and cut and still maintain its integrity.
• Scrap metal: Pieces of scrap metal can add futuristic elements to any costume. You can paint it, bend it and age it. Use black paint then wipe it off after several minutes to create the look of aged metal for costumes from Judge Dredd to Logan’s Run.
• Plastic: Probably the hardest thing to use to make costumes out of, it's still useful. You can paint it, bend it with heat, make larger pieces easily and if you have any skill with injection molding, you can create a wide array of pieces.

Regardless of the materials you use the most important aspect of making a costume is having an idea.

Making a ghost costume is probably the easiest thing you can do for Halloween or any party where a costume is needed. To make the costume simple, just take an old white bed sheet, drape it over your body and cut out eye holes. You now have your simple ghost. There are variations that you can do to the classic ghost to make it look like something more:

• Add blue jeans, shorten the sheet, carry a chef knife and add a pair of glasses and you’ve just become Michael Myers from the original Halloween just before he slaughtered to young lovers. Add some blood is you like to be the after shot. Finish the costume off with a pair of work boots.
• Wear a pair of khaki pants and a blue/white flannel shirt, white slip on sneakers and glasses. You’ve just become Adam from Beetlejuice post death when he and Barbara were trying to scare Deelia.

If you would like to dress as a ghost but don’t want to wear a sheet, try buying a really old, outdated gray suit. Lay it flat on the ground and spray adhesive all over it then wait for 5 minutes for it to get tacky. Sprinkle baby powder over the suit then shake off the excess. What you are left with is a ghostly gray and white suit and all you need to do is wear face paint to match. Carry a briefcase and you’re an accountant. Do it to Victorian clothing, add some chains and you’re Marley from A Christmas Carol.

This is a unique costume idea that will certainly get a few looks and giggles. In order to pull this off you will need:

1. Cardboard, large sheets (large cardboard boxes with the seams ripped open will work)
2. Orange paint
3. White paint
4. Duct tape
5. Super glue
6. Box cutter
7. Permanent marker
8. Friend

Place the cardboard flat on the floor and draw a square large enough to cover your entire torso plus 5-inches top and bottom. Repeat this step, adding 10 inches to the sides. Place them on top of each other with the larger one on the bottom. Center the parts and fold the sides up. Use the tape and glue to assemble the pieces together then cut out arm and face holes. Once you have your life-sized cereal box ready, it’s time to paint it orange. Check out your local store to see how General Mills has the Wheaties box designed and match the design elements.

Dawn a pair of short shorts, white sport socks, sneakers and a headband.

Zombie costumes are the easiest costumes to make and probably one of the cheapest. You will need:

• Old suit
• Dirt
• Graveyard moss
• Fake blood
• Scissors
• White grease paint
• Green grease paint

Distress the suit first by ripping it and adding holes, then roll it around in the dirt. You can glue or stuff the moss in the holes or wherever you like. Add some fake blood and you’re almost set. Paint yourself up with white grease paint, then wipe it off and add green highlights. Fianally, mess up your hair!

With some creativity and original thought, costumes can be easy and affordable to make.

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