4 Quick Ways to Create a Last-Minute Halloween Costume

?>

It's the million-dollar question every October: what are you going to be for Halloween?

All October posts are part of the Countdown to Halloween!

Even as an adult, dressing up in a costume or two is my favorite part of celebrating October 31. There’s something fun and freeing about becoming someone – or something – else for an evening and one of the many reasons I love Halloween so much.

But what happens when you’re completely stumped for a killer costume idea?

You run down my list in today’s blog post! (Thank you to Brittney J. in the Spooky Little Book Club for asking the question that sparked this post.)

If you’re having trouble coming up with a costume idea you love, I hope one of these will spark a bit of inspiration.

 

4 Ways to Come Up with a Last-Minute Halloween Costume

 

1. Become one of your favorite pop culture characters

What TV shows, movies or books are you digging right now? Pick your favorite and become one of those characters!

These days I’m obsessed with two Netflix series – “Stranger Things” and “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” – and I’m becoming characters from both this October. Above is a sneak peek of my take on Sabrina.

 

How I pulled items out of my closet to create my own take on Rita Skeeter from the Harry Potter series + my secret for creating costumes in your closet.

2. Take a spin through your closet

Seriously – costumes pulled from my closet are my favorite! Plus, they’re affordable and quick. Back in 2012, I put together a Rita Skeeter costume I pulled from items I already had in my closet, and it remains one of my favorites I’ve created myself. See the full Rita look here.

 

3. Create a costume from $20 at your local thrift store

Amanda L., one of my Treats Not Tricks subscribers, suggested this idea: grab $20, head to your local thrift store or Goodwill, set a time limit of 30 minutes and see what costume you can pull together! This would be especially fun to do with a group of friends – maybe even as a micro party.

Also, how great is Mel’s Cruella de Vil she created entirely through thrift store finds for my villain-themed party in 2017?

 

4. Recreate a costume from childhood

When I was 9 or 10, I decided I was going to dress up as a black bat for Halloween. I made a bat ear headband, a batwing cape and pulled together black clothing from my closet. Then on Halloween night, everyone proceeded to tell me what an adorable black CAT I was. SO disappointing…

So I recreated that simple bat costume two years ago for my niece’s Halloween-themed birthday party with much better results. If you have a favorite costume from childhood, consider recreating it! See my full black bat costume here.

 

 

Now then…what are you going to be for Halloween?

I hope this post has given you a bit of inspiration if you’ve been stumped for ideas. If you’re looking for more ideas, be sure to check out the costume archives or my Halloween Costume Ideas board on Pinterest.

As for my costume this year? Well…you’ll just have to wait until the week of Halloween to see it.

 

Happy haunting,

 

 

Miranda | Spooky Little Halloween

Miranda is the Houston-based writer, blogger, and Halloween lover behind Spooky Little Halloween, the blog celebrating October 31st all year long. Her favorite Halloween things include pumpkin guts, chocolate bars in her trick-or-treat pail, real haunted houses (including the one she lives in!), and historic cemeteries.

4 Comments

  1. Reply

    Richard

    October 14, 2019

    Cool ideas!

    My favorite Cheap & Quick costume: A pile of laundry.

    In my college days, I grabbed a bunch of old and beat up clothing I didn’t really care for anymore. I wore an old shirt and jeans, and then with a handful of safety pins, attached all that old stuff.

    Worked rather well, I think.

    (The Countdown to Halloween sent me!)

    • Reply

      Miranda | Spooky Little Halloween

      October 15, 2019

      Ha – I absolutely love that idea, Richard. Thanks for sharing, and I’m thrilled you found me via the Countdown to Halloween. :)

  2. Reply

    Kristen

    October 15, 2019

    Hey Miranda,

    I just love your ideas for putting together costumes. My go-to each year is thrifting, you never know what you’re going to find! This year I’m repurposing a glitzy bridesmaid’s dress. Just adding a pair of long satin opera gloves I found at my local Goodwill to complete the look for an Ocean’s 11 themed casino party.

    Halloween Hack: Stores like Goodwill and Stuff etc. great because they will have printouts in the dressing rooms with a few costume examples that you can make from basic clothing and a few of their Halloween accessories.

    Thank you for this post, its great seeing an imaginative list of ideas rather than yet another unoriginal budget breaking last-minute costume idea that I usually see this time of year.

    • Reply

      Miranda | Spooky Little Halloween

      October 15, 2019

      I love that you go the thrifting route, Kristen. I feel like that makes things SO much more creative and SO much more rewarding. :)

LEAVE A COMMENT

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

RELATED POSTS