Easy DIY Halloween Costume Ideas + a giveway!
Halloween is by far my favorite holiday. Always has been. When I was younger, it was all about the candy. I LOVE halloween candy (i’m looking at you candy corn!) As I got older, it became all about the costume. Are we doing a group theme? Spooky, Scary, Sexy, or Funny? Over the years I covered all those categories. I’ve gone as Daphne from Scooby Doo with all my friends dressed as the rest of the cast. A pirate’s wench with Ramesh as my Pirate (This was our first Halloween together). Octomom with 8 babies hanging off me and so many more:
This is my first Halloween in Sweden and I’m trying to cobble together a costume in a week! Usually I like to give myself 6-8 weeks, decide on a theme, and send out actual invitations. This year I’m a bit more fly by the seat of my pants, but I’m SO excited. AND…. to help get you in Halloween spirit (pun intended) , I’m giving away 4 Halloween illustrations. That’s right, 4 lucky people will get to pick a print from my Halloween collection here.
** Giveaway **
To be entered to win, you must do the following:
Be a subscriber to my newsletter - you can sign up here if you aren’t already
Comment on this post
For extra entries, comment on my Instagram post.
I’ll be drawing the winner on Wednesday, October 19. The illustration will be mailed to you. US residents only please.
Read on for some ideas I was toying around with that can be pulled together with minimal purchases.
Characters from Wes Anderson Films
Many of these can be created with clothes from your closet or find easily at vintage/second hand stores. In fact, the vintage store below our apartment had the perfect coat for Margot Tenenbaum in it’s window the other day!
Margot Tenenbaum - Faux Fur coat, polo shirt dress, loafers, heavy coal lined eyes, barrett holding hair back and gloves
Mrs. Fox - makeup like a fox (youtube had a lot of tutorials) or you could get a fox mask, yellow dress, and fur gloves.
Juilette from The French Dispatch - plaid mini skirt, tights, boots and a leather jacket. If you’ve got a ski helmet, bike helmet, or scooter helmet use that, find some googles to go with it and you’re ready to go.
Suzy from Moonrise Kingdom - short collared dress in neutral tones, , knee high socks, wicker bag or suitcase and don’t forget binoculars.
Agatha from the Grand Budapest Hotel - peach or tan dress and waist apron, add a birthmark to your face with makeup, maybe a bit of flour dusting as well, you could even add a box of pastries with Mendels on the box.
Alice in Wonderland
I’ve already been the cheshire cat, but the other costumes are so much fun because as you can interpret them how you want - just add a few accessories.
White Rabbit - rabbit ears and a large clock - maybe the fun printed tights. I love sneakers because he’s always late and in a hurry
Mad Hatter - pull together a colorful outfit - the more mismatched, the better. Add a crazy wig and top hat and carry around a tea cup.
Alice - I love a striped tight, but white would work too. White apron, and a light blue dress, even a light denim dress would work. Add headband (and blonde wig if needed) .
The Queen - a cape, funky tights, a flared skirt, and crazy wig. Add a crown and heart tshirt, maybe even a sceptre. You could even make a large queen of hearts card out of tagboard/cardboard and carry it around.
Bride of Frankenstein, Lily Munster, Wednesday Addams
I love these characters!
Wednesday - A black dress, tights, and braids. You can add the collar and white buttons if needed. You can even accessorize with an octopus or hand (and call it Thing). Don’t forget to use make up to make yourself really pale.
The Bride of Frankenstein - The hair is key! If you can’t find a wig, you can tease your hair up and use TONS of hairspray to hold it. Then spray white stripes with hair color spray. Use bandages wrapped around your arms, white gown or even sheets draped on you if in a pinch for the dress. For make up, mix up a light green/white base and make sure to make your eyes dark and have a bold red lip.
Lily Munster - Grab a black wig and spray white stripes in it, Color your skin with makeup so you have that green tint. As for the cloths, anything goth will do, but if you can find a lavender dress, all the better.
The Wizard of Oz
And finally, the Wizard of OZ characters.
The Scarecrow- Grab some hay to add to your shoes, shirt, and hair. The rest you can improvise with denim and natural colored clothing. You could even use a burlap bag and belt it like a dress with hay coming out of it.
Dorothy - the red shoes are key and any red shoe will do, but I love converse high tops! Braid your hair (or get a wig) and find a blue skirt and white tshirt or blue dress with white arpon. Don’t forget a basket with stuffed dog in it.
Tin Woman- Get creative with this one! Anything sparkly silver or sequin would be perfect -dress or pants. If you wear a dress, pin a red heart on your chest. Otherwise wear a tshirt with a red heart on it or simply draw one with marker (obviously make sure it’s a shirt you don’t mind drawing on). For the tin hat, use a large, metal funnel and turn it upside down.
Cowardly Lion - Pull together different shades of brown for the clothes and Uggs work great for the shoes, but any brown boot/shoe will do. Bonus if you have a fur vest or jacket you can throw on. Add an ears headband and a tail, some make up to your face for the nose and whiskers and you’re off.
And there you have it! Seventeen(!) easy to pull together costumes. I hope that helped inspire you to dress up and not stress about it. What other ideas do you have? Who are you dressing as? Let me know in the comments! And good luck winning an illustration!
