Fun And Unique Halloween Costume Ideas

When I was a kid, we couldn't always afford the store-bought costumes. To make up for it, I used to make my own costumes with cheap stuff like old cardboard boxes and construction paper. At least that way, I could be sure that no one else was going to be wearing the same costume! Your kids may not be thinking yet about what they want to dress up as, but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't have a few ideas up your sleeve. Here are some fun costumes that can be made at home.

• A Pizza. Cut a large circle from a flat piece of cardboard. The circle should be large enough to cover the child's chest. Cover it with yellow or white construction paper for the cheese. Use brown paper for the crust, and various colors for the toppings. If you want to conserve paper, you can simply draw the crust and toppings onto the 'pizza'. Poke a few small holes in the top of the pizza and loop some ribbon, yarn or some other string to make a 'hanger' to put around the child's neck.
• A Dollar Bill. Cut out a long, rectangular piece of cardboard. Cover it with green construction paper. The rectangle should be no bigger than to the child's waist. Draw the 'markings' with a marker, and attach a string to hang around the child's neck. The string should be long enough for the child to put his/her arms over the top of the costume easily. Use whatever picture you want as the 'president'. If you want to make it even funnier, use a picture of your child's favorite celebrity! I used Johnny Depp.
• A 'Jolly Roger'. In case you're not familiar with the term, a 'jolly Roger' is a pirate flag. Cut out a rectangular piece of cardboard. Cover it with black construction paper, and use chalk to draw the design. You can make the design as 'tough' or cute as you want it to be. If you don't want to use chalk, you can cut the pattern out of a white piece of paper. Hang around your child's neck with a string or ribbon. If you don't want to do a pirate flag, you could always use construction paper to make some other flag. You could use various cutouts of cartoon characters for decoration; I think The United States of Elmo would be cute!
• An Automatic Car Wash. Put the hair into ponytails all over the child's head and use blue and white 'spray-can' hair color. Pair it with a gray sweatsuit and perhaps stick some tassels of yarn.

I've worn all of these before, so I know they're doable. Making the costumes together can also be a great bonding experience between you and your child. Either way, it should be a lot of fun!

Happy Halloween!