For me, the scariest part of Halloween is the costume time crunch. Tick, tick, tick. It's getting closer and closer. The pressure is mounting. What will the kids be for Halloween?
13 Pumpkin Avenue is a good place to jumpstart your creative juices. More than fifty homemade costumes are illustrated and described, but many of the ideas need some filling in. Best bets are the wacky costumes such as Grapes in a Bag (cut two holes in the bottom of a clear trash bag, step into it, and then fill it purple balloons) or Tea Bag (made with white fabric and dried leaves.) There's also a page of ideas for trick-or-treaters in wheelchairs (drape an orange trash bag over you and the chair to become a pumpkin) and a recipe for homemade makeup.
Fabriclink offers fourteen ideas for easy homemade costumes via an e-mail auto-responder. To get your copy, click on the tombstone, and fill in your e-mail address. Some of the ideas are tired (a ghost in a white sheet) but others include great tips such as using baby powder to turn your hair white. If you are crafty, there are some gorgeous but elaborate ideas on the Velcro and Rit Dye pages. If little kids with animal ears make you melt (aren't they the cutest?), take a look at the Velcro hood design for puppies and bunnies.
Family.com's costumes are not only wickedly easy, but also outrageously original. Whether you decide to create fairy wings from queen-size pantyhose stretched over nine-gauge aluminum or to glue large felt mouse ears onto a grey hooded sweatshirt, each of these fourteen ideas seem to strike just the right balance between effort and result. For a page of even easier ideas, follow the very last link to Last-Minute Costumes. For their creativity and practicality, Family.com wins my Pick of the Day accolade.
My favorite costumes are those assembled from our closets, with a minimum of sewing and gluing. As a working mom, I'm very frugal with my time. So these ideas using black outfits, sweatsuits, and household odds-and-ends are right up my alley. Best clicks are Costume Ideas from Their Closet (don't overlook your kids' super hero pajamas) and Kids' Costumes from Adult Clothing (how about stuff from the seventies?)
How is Halloween face makeup better than a mask? Let me count the ways. Makeup is safer because masks block vision. Makeup is more comfortable, because masks itch and scratch. Makeup is more original, because you won't see another you anywhere. And makeup is more fun because you can make it yourself with these three recipes for blood, bruises and paintable face colors. To ease the time crunch on Halloween, the blood and face makeup can be made ahead and stored in the refrigerator.
The following links are either new discoveries or sites that didn't make it into my newspaper column because of space constraints. Enjoy!
Create Your Own Costume at GoodwillHalloween Costumes That Won't Scare Your Budget | Homemade Halloween Costumes |
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