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Children’s Halloween Costumes

by Phil Sikes

Homemade children’s Halloween costumes can be fun to make if your children help, but you have to consider the cost and time you put into it if the children are not participating and learning how to do it with you. Sometimes it can be more economical to save your time and buy a ready made costume at the prices now available in the shops.

One way to ensure you do not spend excessive time on making a costume from the raw material on up, is to start with old clothes from the family closet or a thrift shop. That way, most of your effort goes into the fun part your children enjoy being part of - making the accessories and getting made up for the part.

Think about one simple example of a child’s costume: a scarecrow. More than likely, you can find an old pair of slightly ripped jeans, an old shirt, and a big straw hat that can serve as the key parts of the outfit. Then, add pieces of straw to the cuffs of the pants and the shirt, as well as to the bottom of the hat.

The details could include a bird sitting on the scarecrow’s hat and some creative face painting. The idea is to create a unique and interesting look.

A basic pirate costume could be made from little more than an old shirt and cut down old jeans, with a bandana around the head. Your main effort would go into setting up the accessories such as a broad belt and sword, an eye patch, face painting and artificial tattoos.

A basic low cost outfit of stretch pants and a long sleeved turtle top is another way to get the starting foundation for a costume. A black outfit like this needs only a black cape and a witch’s hat and you have the beginnings of a witch’s costume.

Other colors could become animal costumes with the addition of a tail, ears, mittens and some face paint. Some costume shops have partial costumes such as faces, noses, tails and ears available to add these features to your basic costume.

For a tiger, for example, some black fabric paint on a yellow outfit could be used to create stripes. A little stuffing under a yellow outfit and you have the beginnings of a plump Winnie The Pooh.

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