HOT COSTUMES FOR 2009!
From perennial favorites to cutting-edge newcomers, we have the Halloween costumes that can make your trick-or-treater a star. Each is easy to make from items you have at home and/or can pick up for cheap at local store or thrift shop. We’ve provided a materials list, how-to instructions, and character descriptions. Plus, we’ve priced each one to give you a variety of options when selecting a costume with your child. Have a happy, safe, affordable Halloween!
Watch our Halloween fashion show on CBS’s The Early Show!
Bonus: Check out our Halloween Collection of crafts, books, safety tips, and more.
Where the Wild Things Are—Max
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Materials: Oversized white sweatpants and hooded sweatshirt, oversized white gloves, slipper socks or big oversized wool socks, felt, buttons, “fur” tail
The Character: Spike Jonze’s retelling of the classic children’s book has sparked a renewed interest in the story—making Max one of this year’s most in-demand costumes.
Share the Story: You can find Where the Wild Things Are by visiting the Scholastic Store online!
The How-To: Add a pair of large pointed ears to the hooded sweatshirt by cutting them out of white felt and attaching them to the hood by either sewing them on or attaching them with a glue gun. Add felt claws—big ones—to the oversized white gloves by cutting out the claw shapes and gluing these to the ends of the fingers. (Try doubling the felt and gluing it together in a pointed shape for added dimension.) Do the same thing with the slipper socks or socks Don’t be shy, make these claws large. Find some oversized buttons and sew them or glue them on to the front of the sweatshirt to complete the “pajama” look, or glue on cut-out cardboard buttons if you can’t locate the real thing. (Hint: Cut off old buttons from coats no longer used.) Add a tail to the back of the costume by using an old boa, a piece of fake fur from a fabric store, or an old collar from a thrift shop coat. Pin, glue, or sew this on to either the back of the sweatshirt or the pants.
COST: $30 or less—The Wild Thing plush can be purchased at The Scholastic Store for an additional cost.
$ 5 hat from Old Navy
$ 5 boa
$ 10 sweatsuit from Walmart
$ 10 art supplies
Princess and the Frog—Princess Tiana
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Materials: Princess Tiana dress (available at costume and discount stores nationwide), star wand, jewels, ribbons, tiara
The Character: Disney’s newest princess doesn’t hit theaters until December, but Princess Tiana is already one of this year’s most popular Halloween costumes. If you can’t make a princess dress at home, you can find one wherever costumes are sold. Target carries the classic green petal dress with vines. It’s the prop—a stuffed frog—that really makes this costume work.
The How-To: Individualize the look by making or buying your own wand, or do as we did—purchase a basic star wand, and glue on jewels, sparkles, and ribbons to make the costume your own masterpiece. Pick out a tiara from the costume or party store—there are many different kinds.
Princess Tiana has her hair swept up in a bun, so do this with your daughter’s hair (Hint: Turn her head upside down and pull all the hair upwards, securing it with a clip or pins). Add rhinestone barrettes or bobby pins for some added glamour. You can add a petticoat or slip if you have one around, to fill out the dress and give it an extra layer or two. Since the dress is sleeveless, and late October can be cold, we gave Princess Tiana a cover for her shoulders. Either a little cape or a pretty sweater will keep her warm. We gave our princess a pair of long, elegant white gloves, too, which will keep her warm and in character. Add tights and a pair of ballerina flats—you can decorate these by gluing on a colorful buckle or jewels or even flowers with a glue gun. Pick out your favorite stuffed frog, and the Princess and her companion are complete.
COST: $38—tights, ballet slippers, shawl, and petticoat from your closet. Stuffed frog from home.
$24 dress
$5 tiara and wand set
$5 gloves
$4 assorted jewels and ribbons
iPhone and iPod Shuffle
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Materials: black shirts and pants, 4 pieces of foam core (2 for for each costume), duct tape, aluminum foil, ribbons, colored paper or paint, black cap and gloves (optional)
The Character: The perfect parent and child costume for the techies in your family. These costumes are sure to turn heads, and they’re easy to make at home.
The How-To: For the iPhone costume, wear a black shirt and pants and black sneakers or shoes. To make the iPhone itself, get two large pieces of foam core from the art supply store—they sell this in various sizes so you’ll want pieces big enough to cover you from the chest to above your knee. Get one in black, and the other in silver—the front and back. Trim these by cutting with a razor knife to the size you want. You can edge them with duct tape or aluminum foil to create the silver border. For the Apple logo on the back, enlarge the design by blowing up a paper copy on a Xerox machine, and cut this out in aluminum foil. For the face of the iPhone, you can either replicate the apps options by enlarging these with color Xeroxes at any Staples or Kinkos, or choose another screen you want—say, your photo—and enlarge that, cut it out, and glue it onto the foam core. You can do this with any app or function you choose. Add straps made out of duct tape: Cut two pieces for shoulder straps, tape them together, then staple or tape them on the inside of the foam core so you don’t see the edges. You can attach ribbons to the inside of the boards at waist height if the boards need to be held together there. Add a black cap and some black gloves if you like.For the iPod, get two pieces of foam core from the art store. They may have these in colors; if so, you can choose a color. Otherwise you can glue paper to the board or paint it. Cut the boards to the right size for you. Add a cut-out circle from colored paper and add the arrows and “menu” with marker or cut out letters. Add an enlarged image of your choice for the screen. Make shoulder straps from duct tape and ribbon ties at the waist if you need them (like the iPod), and you’re all set to go!
COST: $25—or less! for both looks. You probably have duct tape and construction paper at home.
$ 20 foam core
$ 5 ribbon
Astronaut/Alien
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Materials: Astronaut: costume available from online discount retailer, work gloves, American flag (optional)
Alien: brightly colored tights or stretch pants, fitted turtleneck or long-sleeved shirt, overskirt, sweater or short jacket, belt, buttons, jewels, aluminum foil, cardboard, glue-backed foam, gloves, pipe cleaners, ski cap, fuzzy balls, boots, squirt gun (optional)
The Characters: The year 2009 marked the 40th anniversary of the moon landing, and space-themed costumes are still as popular as ever! These make great costumes for a brother/sister duo.
The How-To: Astronaut: We purchased our astronaut costume from Costume Supercenter online, which gave us a far cheaper price than going through a regular costume store. We added some of Daddy’s work gloves and a big watch to complete the look.
COST: $39—costume
Alien: Our alien costume consists of a pair of tights or stretch pants in a bright color—green is traditional, but any bright color will do—and a fitted turtleneck or long-sleeved shirt to match. We added a frilly short pink overskirt (available at Walmart). You can layer this with either a sweater or a short jacket for a military look—and a big wide “power pack” belt from Mom’s closet. We’ve decorated the belt with glued-on buttons and jewels to make it look like it’s from another world. You can also cover the belt with aluminum foil for a metallic look. Glue foil-covered cardboard discs or other star or galaxy shapes to the jacket Metallic glue-backed foam (sold at craft stores) is great for this: Cut out the shapes, stick them on, and that’s it. Glue balls, buttons, and pipe cleaners to the long gloves for the alien hands. Make antennae out of pipe cleaners (we got the metallic bright-colored kind and glued metallic fuzzy balls to them) and glue them onto the ski cap with a glue gun. Grab a fun-shaped squirt gun from your closet or a novelty shop and decorate it with lightning bolts, or paint it to look like a ray gun. Add a pair of boots, which ideally are nice and pointy—if they’re not, you can cut out pieces of felt shaped around the foot to make boot covers and tie or glue these onto the top of the boot to make them look like they have a pointy toe.
COST: $30 or less—the other materials you can get from your closet.
$ 20 boots (but can be reused for fall/winter)
$ 5 skirt
$ 5 art supplies
Twilight—Bella and Alice
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Materials: Bella: jeans, sweater, jacket, sneakers, wig (optional), glitter, eyeliner/shadow
Alice: wig, jeans, dressy top, stylish jewelry, jacket, ballerina flats, white makeup, glitter, eyeliner, fangs (optional)
The Characters: Twilight is incredibly popular with teens right now (the next film in the series, New Moon, hits theaters this Thanksgiving), and these costumes are very simple, comfortable, and age-appropriate. This is the perfect best-friends look for a Halloween party!
• Share the Story: You can share Twilight with your tween or teen by visiting the Scholastic Store online.
• The How-To: Bella is a typical teenage girl and Alice appears to be one, so the basic costume look is going to be simple—jeans and casual wear, which your teens probably have in their closet already.
Bella is an average girl who doesn’t place much emphasis on fashion; she’s in jeans, a sweater (or a sweater over layers), and a casual jacket or coat. She’s got long brown hair; if your daughter doesn’t, she can use a wig. She wears sneakers. Her overall look is almost tomboyish, so the simpler the better—no girly outfits for her. Her skin is very pale and we’ve hinted at her involvement with the Cullen “family” by adding glitter to her pale skin and eyeliner/shadow around her eyes.
COST: $0. You can use your own makeup to make her face paler, and everything she’s wearing can likely be found in her/your closet.
Alice is a very fashionable girl with a modern haircut—spiky hair—so we’ve given her a wig and gelled it to spike it up. She wears jeans, a baby doll dress (or any kind of stylish top), and jewelry—a necklace and earrings. Add a stylish jacket and ballerina flats to complete the ensemble. Her skin is very pale and glitters in the sunlight so we’ve used makeup to achieve this effect, with a touch of red lipstick and dark eyeliner around her eyes. You can add little fangs for a real vampire look.
COST: $25 or less—for the wig, glitter makeup, choker, and fangs. Alice is more sophisticated, so her outfit can be found in Mom’s (and likely her own) closet.
$15 wig
$5 choker
$2 makeup
$3 fangs
