Cheap Halloween Costumes

Archive for September, 2009

There are probably many homes on your block that have some great Halloween decorations that they put up each year. If you want to get in on this, you may find that the price tag to get what you want all at once is a bit high. You do not have to spend a fortune on everything if you have a little money to spend and then some time to work on how to make your own Halloween decorations. This is something that you can do on your own, or this can be a fun activity for your children to help you out with as Halloween approaches.

There are some items that you are going to want to get no matter what type of Halloween decorations you want to make. These are basics when you make your own Halloween decorations or any other type of craft for that matter. You want to get construction paper, glue and/or glue sticks, tape, markers, crayons, pencils, stickers of all types, scissors, paints, and lettering materials whether they be stencils, stickers, or plastic. You can add anything else you think you may want to this list or you can see what your children come up with when they look at what is available.

If you want something a bit more adult when you want to make your own Halloween decorations, you can go for things like wood and glass, and the paints you would need to cover them. At times, some paints can come off of glass or wood when exposed to the weather or when they are handled too much. You can also get some type of top coat that you can use to keep your items looking nice. You may also want to get waterproofing if you know something is going to be used outside and will have to endure weather like rain, snow, and wind.

In order to make your own Halloween decorations for inside the house, you have to think about what Halloween means to you. One of the best types of decorations are the ones that seem spooky but may not outright freak someone out. You can get all types of spider webs very cheaply but they will look great. You can put this wherever you want in your home and then make or buy spiders to add to the webs of your choice. Today, you can also find web that works outside and is resistant to all kinds of weather.

If you have trouble coming up with ideas to make your own Halloween decorations, you can always go out and buy what you need. Look online for great ideas, values, and fast shipping times. Things like orange outdoor lights are great, and you can get purple as well. You may find many things more cheaply if you buy more than one, so buy something in groups if you can use all of the items they offer. You can also find some great ideas for when you want to buy or make your own Halloween decorations by visiting you local craft store a month or so before the holiday.

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Halloween is just around the corner, and I am really excited. Halloween is definitely my favorite holiday- the combination of scary and spooky, candy and treats, and, of course, the costumes. However, most people see buying Halloween costumes as more of a chore, while I think it is one of my favorite purchases of the year. I love looking at costumes. However, if you are not like me, I can still help. Here are some of the best ways and places to buy Halloween costumes.

The key to buying Halloween costumes is to have a plan. Too many people go into stores without any sense of what they want to be. They spend their whole time looking at everything and have a difficult time choosing from the hundreds, if not thousands, of different options. Instead, take ten or fifteen minutes to think about what costume you wish you could buy. You still have the flexibility to choose something else when you go to the store.

Speaking of going to the store, that is not the only place to buy Halloween costumes. In fact, there are three main locations where you can buy Halloween costumes. The first is the worst place to buy Holloween costumes: any non-costume store. This includes your big box retailers as well as your chain convenience stores. The only reason people buy Halloween costumes from these places is that they forgot to do it. You can be better than that.

The next best place to buy Halloween costumes are the Halloween stores or costume stores. These are great for browsing, if you enjoy that sort of thing. Plus, you get a chance to look at two or three different variations on your costume in person. This is crucial for all you witches and pirates out there.

Finally, my favorite place to buy Halloween costumes is online. There are some disadvantages here; you have to have a specific game plan, browsing cannot be done. However, you are able to quickly and easily compare prices and save yourself the trouble of going to the cluttered and crowded stores.

However you decide to buy Holloween costumes, whether in a store, online, or as an after-thought, take some time to think it through before hand if you really want a costume you will enjoy. Halloween only comes once a year, so the time is definitely worth it.

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What could be more fun than dressing up in a group Halloween costumes with all your friends? Naturally the best way to show off a group Halloween costume would be at a parade or Halloween festival. But even making the rounds of a couple of parties in group Halloween costumes can be a great way to spend the holiday.

The first thing to think of for any type of group Halloween costumes would be your theme. What does your group of friends all have assessable to wear? If you all work in a hospital, wearing scrubs would be an easy idea. Splash them with some red food coloring and tell everyone that you all just got off work. That�s sure to raise a few eyebrows! You could also simply dress everyone in Hawaiian shirts and go as �Jimmy Buffet Parrot Heads.� Or maybe have everyone wearing tie-dyed shirts and going as �Grateful Dead Dead Heads.� Depending on how many people are in your group you could all wear puffy shirts and matching polyester pants and go as the �Partridge Family.� Those are just a few possible musical theme group Halloween costume ideas.

Other group Halloween costumes are wearing reflective work crew vests and have everyone carry around a trash bag and go as �community service road crew.� If you really want a challenge you can all wear prison jumpsuits, chain your ankles together and go as a �chain gain.� Or wear the same prisoner garb without the chains but splash some mud on and go as �escaped prison gang.� Keeping up the corrections theme, you could have a couple of your group dressed as prison guards to complete the effect.

Another group Halloween costume would be to adapt what would be considered a traditional group for your friends. For instance you can all dress up in the same tight fitting pink ballerina outfits and go as the �Chorus of Swan Lake.� This could be especially fun for the male members of your troop! You can go retro by dressing up as �The Village People.� It would be easy to do a new version of the Mickey Mouse Club. You just need to have everyone get a pair of Mouse Ears and sweatshirt with their names printed across. These can be your real nicknames or you can get very creative.

The thing to keep in mind with group Halloween costumes is to have fun. This is usually a two part party: the first part is planning the group costume and the second is in the execution. Just be sure to take plenty of pictures!

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So you’ve done it. You’ve come up with the perfect halloween costume. You did all the sewing and the hemming, the coloring and the staining and the dying. Hell, you’ve even storyboarded it, sketched it and priced it out on three different websites.

But you’re not done.

The perfect halloween costume isn’t perfect, and the complete halloween costume isn’t complete, without the perfect halloween costume accessories. It’s like serving a drink without a garnish – it’s not the perfect drink if it doesn’t have that cherry or lemon slice. You need to find the right halloween costume accessories to complete your look.

Thankfully the internet has thousands upon thousands of stores, large and small, dedicated to helping you on your quest. Whether you want to go to a halloween specialty store like HalloweenStreet.com or a generic costume shop like PartyCity, or to your local store in the mall or even to a theater-specific costume shop, you have options a-plenty both in terms of walk-in stores or online shopping.

A good idea when looking for the perfect halloween costume accessories is to go online and learn a bit both about your costume and the holiday itself. Let’s say, for example, that you’ve decided to be a traditionalist and go as a “witch,” or even “sexy witch.” Of course you’re going to have your broomstick and pointy hat. But you’ll also want to have a wand, and maybe a cauldron or a black cat (live cat optional of course). But dig a little deeper and you’ll see that Halloween’s name comes from the term All Hallows� Eve, as it comes before All Hallows’ Day. A little more research and you’ll find that the orignal celebrants used to carve skeletons – to represent the dear departed – out of turnips and rutabaga as a means of showing their appreciation.

So if you want to take it to that level, you can go turnip shopping as a means of completeing your halloween costume. Sure, you might get some strange looks, but you’ll have a costume and, just as important, the type of halloween costume accessories, that capture the spirit of the holiday in the first place.

Of course it’s worth remembering the season as well. Here in America, symbols of autumn are particularly prevalent, with straw dollies, corn husks and pumpkins playing a large role in the celebrations. Other cultures have their own specific halloween costume accessories to offer as well, so it’s worth looking abroad for ideas to complete your costume.

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Going to a Halloween party with a date whether your are in a new relationship, a marriage or just friends there are plenty of great couple Halloween costumes ideas. What you need to consider is if you want to spend a lot of money for amazing rental costumes or spend a little for the homemade kind? Either way you�re sure to get plenty of attention by putting some of these couple Halloween costumes ideas to work this Halloween.

The first obvious couple Halloween costumes idea is to go as each other. If you�ve been together for some time and all of your friends know exactly what to expect from your sense of fashion style then it would be easy to switch roles and essentially wear what the other would wear. A wig and fake moustache where appropriate will seal the deal. If you don�t want to go as each other you can still switch genders for a lot of laughs. Having him dress as a classic peroxide blonde femme fatale and her dress as a tough gangster type is a fun costume idea for a couple.

Another couple Halloween costumes idea is to go through your closet for all of those outfits you were once happy to wear but are now embarrassed by. Perhaps there was a disco or hippy phase in your past that you can bring back to life. You could even go so far as to pull out the wedding dress and tuxedo to relive that special day. But don�t stop there. With some easily applied theatrical make-up you can go as zombie bride and groom. In fact, you can even go as zombie quarterback and zombie cheerleader. Every costume for couples goes great with zombie make-up.

If your budget allows, there are some sweet couple Halloween costumes ideas that involve professional looking outfits. You can explore your superhero side by pairing up the great comic book legends such as Superman and Lois Lane, Spiderman and Mary Jane, or Batman and Catwoman. There are also the classic literary couple Halloween costumes ideas such as Alice and the Mad Hatter, Romeo and Juliet, Scarlet and Rhett and the ever popular Adam and Eve.

No matter which couple Halloween costumes ideas you choose, make sure you both agree to the concept and that you take plenty of pictures. Who knows, maybe your Halloween costumes will make the perfect Christmas card!

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So you�ve gotten an invitation to a Halloween costume party and you�ve got no idea what to dress up as. Welcome to the club. Hundreds of people are faced with this same dilemma every year and still manage to rise to the occasion by creating a truly memorable and cheap Halloween costume.

The very definition of a cheap Halloween costume is one that isn�t going to cost a lot of money or cause a lot of stress. This could be a simple as going as yourself by wearing what you would wear on a typical night at home. �Who are you supposed to be?� you�ll be asked to which you can reply, �I�m me.� If you�re the type of guy who never dresses up then dusting off your suit and wearing that would be a great surprise. Or perhaps you�ve been a bridesmaid and were forced to wear a hideous dress. That would be a laughable and cheap Halloween costume provided the bride won�t be at the party!

Among the other cheap Halloween costumes is your perennial sheet-over-the-head-ghost. You can opt for the classic white sheet ghost but think outside of the box. A purple sheet could mean you�re Prince�s ghost. A floral printed sheet could mean you�re a flamboyant ghost. You can be an eco-friendly ghost with a green sheet or ghost of your childhood past with a superhero printed sheet. Of course you can use that same sheet theme and with a little readjustment use it as a toga. Anybody remember toga parties? How many sheets were ruined for those?!

Another cheap Halloween costume idea is to raid the closet of your spouse. Finding whatever bizarre, odd looking or just plain silly shirt or dress they have tucked away can be just the ticket for creating your own cheap Halloween costume.

You can also use a black t-shirt as a blank canvas to create a cheap Halloween costume. Try hot gluing empty plastic bottles to the shirt and go as your recycle bin. Or duct tape your newspapers for the same affect. You could put an empty moving box over your head and go as an empty moving box. Are you sensing the pattern here?

One of the most successful and cheap Halloween costume ideas could be literally waiting until the very last minute then grabbing whatever you can slap on and go as �last minute slap on costume.� Sure the folks with the expensive rentals might win the big costume contest but who is going to have more fun? The person who has to pay big bucks for a costume and return it the next day or the person who just has to toss their cheap Halloween costume into the garbage?

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My favorite holiday is coming up again and maybe it is your favorite holiday as well. Halloween is the ultimate holiday in my book; the combination of treats, spookiness, fun, costumes, and games make it a great time for everyone. But a great time for everyone can sometimes (and often does) cost a lot of money. If you can make your own Halloween costume, you can save a bundle. But many people don’t want to or are not able to make their own Halloween costume. That makes sense; it’s a lot of work and takes certain abilities that you might not have. Except, it’s never been easier to make your own Halloween costume. Here are some tips and tricks.

The easiest way to make your own Halloween costume is to consider what you have. That means rummaging deep into your old closet, preferably into stuff in storage. You do not really want to manipulate your everyday clothes. We are talking about shirts and dresses that are one day away from donating to Salvation Army. What sort of inspirations can you draw? Do you have a blazer or jacket that was awfully close to reminding people of a bellhop or cruise ship captain? A couple of embellishments, and you can make your own Halloween costume!

Ok, maybe you do not have rooms and rooms of old clothing; you keep things, use them, and then donate them. Ok. Where do you donate these items to? Secondhand stores and organizations like Salvation Army! All of sudden, you have entire stores where spending $7 might mean your entire Halloween costume. Sure, this isn’t how to “make your own” Halloween costume, per se. But this is another way to think outside the box and save some cash.

Finally, for the really creative, you can make your own Halloween costume with a simple addition or prop. A case in point: my friend made a costume a few years ago when she went as sushi. She wore a white sweatsuit with a pink t-shirt and a green backpack. She carried with her two two-by-fours. As she stood there, she looked… strange. But when she curled up into a ball on the floor and held those two-by-fours out into the air… she WAS sushi. How can you add a simple prop or create a pose that creates an entirely different look?

If you want to make your own Halloween costume, but you can’t sew, you will have to sacrifice convenience and easy solutions. Making your own costume isn’t impossible, but you can save some money and have a truly unique Halloween costume this year.

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If you�ve seen pictures or YouTube videos of a recent Halloween parade in Hollywood or New York City then you know that some folks go all out dressing up. These aren�t cheap Halloween costumes by any stretch of the imagination. In fact not only do some folks spend upwards of several hundred dollars for their outfits but the more industrious types also spend several months creating and crafting their costumes. If you have the budget, you can certainly compete in that league but there is nothing wrong with perfectly executed cheap Halloween costumes.

The classic stand-by idea for cheap Halloween costumes is the white sheet with two holes cut out for eyes: instant ghost. Of course you can create many variations on the cheap Halloween costumes idea. Instead of a white sheet, you could cut holes in a bright floral print and goes a more �flamboyant� ghost. You can accessorize your ghost outfit with belts, hats and wigs. And if you stick with the white sheet, you can make a statement by writing out a slogan or plastering your sheet with bumper stickers and go as the ghost of your last car.

Another cheap Halloween costumes idea is to simply slip on a sports jersey and cap and go as a fan. You could add to the costume by finding all those ballpark souvenirs you once bought like the big foam finger or pennant. And there is nothing wrong with going as a super fan by painting your face with the colors of your favorite team. Of course you would never do that in real life but for cheap Halloween costumes anything goes!

A trip to your local thrift or Goodwill store can provide an abundance of cheap Halloween costumes. While it is true that a lot of the donations for these stores are by people giving away clothes that no longer fit them there are just as many people giving away clothes because they are downright hideous! This means you�ll able to get an inexpensive version of a disco outfit or some other tacky ensemble. You could also merely mix and match outrageous prints and go as a runway fashion model. Have you seen some of those outfits?

No matter which outfit you pull together, the fact that it�s one of the cheap Halloween costumes, should be a badge of honor. Imagine coming up with something fun and clever then to be able to say it only cost you 8 bucks! You�ll be the hit of the party or parade for sure!

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