No-Sew Halloween Costume Ideas for Kids and Grown-Ups

A Little Help with Halloween

Need some help with Halloween this year? Looking for costumes that don’t cost too much, aren’t generic party store fare but don’t require a talented seamstress either? Well, here are some creative ideas for homemade Halloween costumes you can put together with a little ingenuity and only a little, if any, cash.

Ideas for Babies:

Small Superhero: Dress baby in a solid color onesie or bodysuit with tights. Then head to the local craft or fabric store for an iron-on decal or letter and a piece of matching fabric for a cape. Simply use safety pins to secure the cape and head out for trick-or-treating with your super small-hero.

It’s a Costume, Charlie Brown: Have an adorably bald baby? Dress him up in a yellow t-shirt and brown pants. Cut out Charlie Brown’s famous zig zag stripe out of black felt and attach it to the shirt with fabric glue and for the finishing touch, use washable black eyeliner to give baby a swirly strand of hair just like Snoopy’s sidekick. A nice touch would be a Snoopy stuffed animal to carry along if you have one.

Pea in a Pod: Here’s an idea that includes parents and baby. Parents, dress as farmers using everyday clothes (checkered shirts, overalls, straw hats….) and put the baby in a green onesie with a matching hat and wrapped tightly in a “pea” green blanket. Growing a little “pea in a pod” is an adorable way to go.

Ideas for Kids

Jelly Bean Bag: Dress your child in a matching solid color shirt and pants (or bodysuit and tights). Then pin small balloons of a variety of colors to the front of his/her shirt in a circular pattern. Cover with cellophane and “tie” up the bag of balloons with a big ribbon at your child’s neck.

Aspiring Artist: Use a simple smock (or dad’s old white T-shirt and splatter with some paint). Top off with a beret and a drawn on “French” mustache for European flair. Then simply cut out an artist’s handheld pallet from cardboard, decorate with circles of paint and carry a paintbrush as the final accessory.

Be the Basket: For an older child, take an old plastic laundry basket and cut a hole out of the bottom big enough to slide up around the child’s waist. Fill the basket around the child with clothes and top off with a “hat” made of a crumpled t-shirt and you have a “dirty laundry” costume!

Ideas for Everyone

Fast Fortune Teller: A trip to a second-hand or vintage clothing store will yield a quirky, colorful caftan which could quickly turn into a fortune-teller’s costume with the addition of lots of flashy costume jewelry, over-the-top make up and a scarf wrapped around your head like a turban.

Playful Pirate: From your own closet or a second-hand shop, put together a white ruffled shirt, black vest, baggy black pants and knee-high boots. Top off with an eye patch cut from black cloth and raid the toy chest for accessories to complete a “pirate outfit.”

Couples Costume: For a couple (or brother and sister), coordinate to go as Wednesday and Pugsley Addams from The Addams Family fame. Women, choose a plain black sheath dress over a white collared shirt, braid your hair in pigtails and dust your face with white powder for a ghoulish look. The key accessory is a doll with the head removed to replicate Wednesday’s “Marie Antoinette” toy. Men, wear a striped t-shirt, shorts and dot your face with “freckles” to look like Wednesday’s happy-go-lucky brother, Pugsley.