There are those moms who go all the way out for Halloween costumes. We’re talking total originality along with complete preparation, resulting in costumes that can blow up a social media algorithm with tons of likes and little hearts.
That’s not me.
Don’t get me wrong, I have a creative side and I love making things. I just don’t do Halloween costumes. If you’re that mom, I commend you all the way and I can’t wait to see the social post. But, this is for the mom who whose child has changed his or her mind a billion times or for the mom who waited until the last minute to get a costume. This is also for the mom who just doesn’t have the energy.
Buying a Halloween costume doesn’t have to be exhausting and it doesn’t have to include a total meltdown… from the parent or the child. And it doesn’t need to be expensive because we all know it may only see one wearing for less than a day.
1. Search the closet
Go ahead an look in your child’s closet or even your own. Is there a princess dress that hasn’t been worn lately or a an athletic outfit that can be quickly turned into a night out trick-or-treating? Perhaps your kids picked up a hat from some festival and it’s just doing nothing.
My kids picked up a firefighter hat from a National Night Out event. Take the hat, a red or black jacket and pants combo with some yellow duct tape and you’ve got a quick firefighter outfit. If your kids are involved in any sort of extra curricular activity that outfit can easily turn into a costume! Think: ballerina, gymnast, baseball player, soccer player, etc.
Don’t forget your closet too! This works better with older kids and teens but it can fun to go through mom and dad’s closet or even grandma and grandpa’s closets!
2. Be a ghost
This one is as simple and as easy as it gets. A plain white sheet with two holes for the eyes and *bam* you’ve got a ghost.
3. Be a crayon
If you’ve got multiple kids, buy each kid a sweatshirt and pants combo of a different color and then print off an iron on sign that says “Crayola” or “crayon” for the front. If you want to go a step above, make a pointy hat for the tip of the crayon by using a party hat the same color as the kids crayon costume. If you have a girl, a tutu in the costume’s color just adds a bit of pizzazz.
4. Thing 1 and Thing 2
This one is for the mom of twins. It’s a popular one but one that is ever so cute. Have your twins be Thing 1 and Thing 2 from the Dr. Seuss’ Cat in the Hat books. All you need are a couple of red shirts, blue pants or blue skirts/tutus and an iron-on or sign that says Thing 1 and Thing 2.
5. Mario and Luigi
This is another mom of twins hack or for any mom who has two kids. With Super Mario Bros. having been revamped, Mario and gang have been pretty popular. If you have more than two kids you can add on another member of the gang — Princess Peach, Toad, Donkey Kong, Yoshi and Bowser. These should be available at any box store or online. If your kids are just going as Mario and Luigi, a couple of overalls with red and green shirts are simple and relatively inexpensive to buy. Add a red hat and a green hat and a ‘M’ iron-on and ‘L” iron-on to finish it off.
6. Salt and Pepper
Have one child wear a white shirt/pants or dress and the other wear a black shirt/pants or dress. Then, have one don a “S” and the other with a “P.” Kids will think it’s funny, grandparents will think it’s adorable, and millennial parents will think about the former hip-hop group.
7. Just go to big box store or shop the thrift store
Don’t overthink it and just find something that works. It’s Halloween. Just have fun and try not to stress over it!
