DIY Diva

DIY Halloween Costume

The leaves are changing, the nights getting cooler and ghosts, goblins, Harry Potters, Thomas the Tank Engines and Hannah Montanas are preparing for a night filled with candy and fun. Halloween is upon us again and for many parents this means finding the perfect costume to suit their child's fantasies. This year, enjoy some extra time with your child by forgoing mass-produced costumes in favor of a little homemade ingenuity.

Halloween Horrors

Halloween is filled with both risks and rewards. Any parent can tick off concerns over flashlights, cars and candy checks. Yet the vinyl (or polyvinyl chloride) used in costumes is a threat of its own, releasing carcinogenic dioxin into the atmosphere during production. Additionally, shiny imitation leather accessories and other soft vinyl products usually contain phthalates, hormone disrupting chemicals that have been linked in animal studies to reproductive abnormalities and liver cancer. Creating your child's costume yourself will allow you to bypass the unknown element in premade costumes, by assuring quality and content you know you can trust.

Simple Solutions

Breathe new life into monochromatic basics using a little paint, a few pins and a lot of imagination. A quick check of any closet will often yield a black turtleneck and leggings, which can be quickly transformed into a vast array of classic Halloween costumes. For instance, yellow paint stripes around the trunk make a bumblebee (but remember to use least-toxic watercolor or tempera paints from companies such as Crayola or Prang). A cat or mouse can be created with an old black head band and glued-on ears cut from a discarded sweatshirt or some store-bought felt, while a short rope will serve as a tail.

Looking for something a little scarier for a Halloween party? Turn your child into a spider by stuffing black stockings and pinning them to her sides with safety pins. However, if your child is trick-or-treating at night, you'll want her to be more visible: a white turtleneck and leggings can become the basis for an angel, a Dalmatian, or a prisoner with a bit of paint or ink.

Don't forget to accessorize! What bumblebee or angel would be complete without a pair of wings? Wire coat hangers can be twisted into two lobes, covered with a pair of stockings and then fixed with safety pins to the back of a shirt for a flight-filled night. And no thief should be without a money bag easily fashioned from an old pillow case with dollar signs painted on it. Since safety is a must for young children out in the night, take a little time to dress up flashlights as well.

If your child is interested in wearing a mask, consider creating one from paper plates, papier mâché or construction paper. For ideas, designs and instructions check out books such as: Paper Mask Making by Michael Grater ($7.95, Dover Publications, 1984) and Making Masks by Renee Schwarz ($5.95, Kids Can Press, 2002).

Refashioned Recyclables

Whether you're wandering the racks of a favorite thrift store, or haunting your grandmother's closet, recycled fashions make fantastic costumes. Old communion, prom and wedding dresses are a quick and easy way to make you or your child the belle of the ball, a fairy princess...or perhaps the corpse bride. The army surplus store is also a great resource for military costumes and thrift shops can provide uniforms, scrubs and aprons for doctors and nurses. If something isn't quite your child's size, consider bringing the clothes to be tailored by a local seamstress or a crafty relative.

Don't worry if your child is yearning to be a favorite TV or movie character. These costumes can still be managed without buying premade. For instance, Harry Potter can be accomplished by pinning up a black graduation gown to suit your child's height. A simple striped scarf and a pair of fake glasses will complete the ensemble. For Captain Jack Sparrow, fray the edges of some second hand clothes with a pair of scissors for the sea-worn look. Finish it off with a scarf tied around the head, and your child will be ready to set sail.

And don't forget the recycling bin! Cardboard boxes fold into robots, trains or other wonders with a little help from scissors, paint, and glue or tape. As an example Thomas the Tank Engine can be created from one rectangular cardboard box, six paper plates, a cardboard tube (like the one that oatmeal is commonly found in) and an empty toilet paper roll. A little extra cardboard should be kept on hand, as well as paint and a picture of Thomas. First, cut a hole in the bottom of the box to fit your child. Paint the box blue, adding the details once dry. Next paint the paper plates black, these will be glued to the box as the engines wheels. The sides of the oatmeal tube should then be painted black, and the base of the tube can be painted with Thomas's smiling face. Glue this to the front of the blue box, and then finish it off by placing the toilet paper roll, painted black, atop Thomas's head to serve as a smoke stack. The box can then be fitted with rope straps or suspenders to keep it aloft.

Resources

If you're handy with a sewing machine, you'll find plenty of patterns for costumes at these web sites: McCalls patterns (www.mccallpattern.com), Simplicity (www.simplicity.com), and Butterick (www.butterick.com). These patterns can also be purchased at a local Joann Fabrics store (www.joann.com).

And for more Halloween products, see our Products A-Z.

© The Green Guide, 2008

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