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Cheap Costumes to Make at Home

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October 15, 2023 · Karen · Leave a Comment

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Making a Halloween costume doesn’t have to cost a lot of money, in fact it could cost nothing at all with a little creativity and borrowing. Check out my list of cheap costumes to make at home and let me know what else I should add to my list!

Free Costumes To Make At Home

Cardboard Box Costumes

Large cardboard boxes make great Halloween costumes. Save your Amazon boxes, ask your neighbors to save their large boxes or stop by stores and ask for free boxes.

Turn a large box into a refrigerator costume. Add a black handle and some food packaging from your recycle bin for authentic detail! Other simple cardboard box costume ideas include a birthday present, a juice box, LEGO brick and robot. As long as you have paint or other basic craft supplies at home, you can make those costumes for free.

I have a whole set of Disney Planes costumes made from cardboard boxes: Dusty Crophopper, El Chupacabra, Dipper and Blade Ranger. I used a lot of duct tape which you might not have on hand but paint could also work making these costumes free or very cheap as well.

Sheet Costumes

An old white sheet can be transformed into a variety of costumes starting with the classic ghost costume or toga costume. Cut the sheet into strips to make a mummy costume.

Primary colored sheets can be used to make ghost costumes from PacMan. Turn a turquoise or green sheet into a toga for a Statue of Liberty costume. Create a torch from tissue paper and a cardboard tube.

Trick or Treat Bag Costume - Easy Last minute costume idea

Pillowcase Costumes

Pillowcases make excellent costume bases for little kids. Just cut a head and arm holes and slip it over their head. You could also cut open the top and add straps with ribbon or duct tape. Then paint it for a wide variety of costume options including Olaf, a ghost, a pumpkin, or crayon. This trick or treat candy bag costume is a very easy last minute Halloween costume idea.

Cheap Costumes To Make At Home

Sweatshirt Hoodie Costumes

Sweatshirt hoodies make a great costume base and you might have one hanging in your closet. Otherwise check out thrift stores for an inexpensive hoodie to make your costume.

I have a quite a few hoodie costume tutorials for you: Fox in Socks Costume, Fortnite Doggo Costume, Olaf Costume, Lorax Costume, Baymax Costume, Hiro Hamada Costume, Puppy Dog Pals Costume, Hank the Octopus, and Charlie Brown. If you Google ‘hoodie costumes’ you can find a lot of other ideas including a dinosaur hoodie, unicorn hoodie and baby shark hoodies.

T-shirt Costumes

A solid color t-shirt is often a great base for a costume as well. Choose your costume based on a t-shirt you already own. Add a few inexpensive or DIY accessories and you have a cool costume. A few costume tutorials you can use are the Beagle Boys costume, Monsters Inc costumes, Batman and Robin costumes, cat burglar costume,

Cheap Costumes For Halloween

Sometimes a cheap Halloween costume is easy to pull together based on a few specific clothing items. Again choosing a costume based on what you already own or can borrow can save you a lot of money. Check out these easy occupation costume ideas below.

Target Employee Costume

A Target employee typically wears a red shirt and khakis. Add a name badge and carry a Target bag and you are done. We made a simple name badge online and printed it on sticker paper.

Jake from State Farm Costume

Jake from State Farm also wears a red shirt and khakis. Add a logo to the shirt and a headset and you are set.

UPS Driver Costume

A dark brown shirt and pants or short, plus a brown hat is what UPS drivers wear. Print the logo on sticker paper for the shirt and hat. Carry around a small stack of empty boxes for authenticity.

Flo from Progressive Costume

A white polo and white pants are the base of a Flo costume. Add some badges or buttons using sticker paper or iron-on vinyl. A blue headband and white apron are bonus accessories for a Flo costume.

Mayhem from Allstate Costume

Wear a suit and tie, add some bandaids and bruises and you can be Mayhem from Allstate. Bonus points if you have a pink headband and pink dumbbell.

Do you have any free or cheap costume ideas I can add to my list?

Costumes

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Hi! I’m Karen.

I'm a mom to two boys, Arizona native, and travel lover. Desert Chica is my place to share a peek into our life and the easy and inexpensive costumes, crafts and desserts I like to make. “If I can do it, anyone can!” Learn more about me here.

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