Halloween Costume Ideas: Frugal Fright
As a child, I spent many a Hollow’s eve dressed as a mummy- all you need is a roll of toilet paper, about ten minutes, and Shazaam! Instant mummy for under a buck! I must have been a mummy at least 4 times as a kid. I suppose that in a pinch, you could hop into a public restroom and emerge as a mummy in super hero like fashion. Like when Clark Kent goes into a telephone booth and emerges as Superman, only with a bathroom and a mummy. If anyone witnesses this transformation, you can say that you’re the mummy of Clark Kent.
Another good one is an astronaut. What you’ll need: a motorcycle helmet, some extreme winter gear (moon boots, very thick zero degree winter pants) a backpack , a box, and some white spray paint. The hardest part is going to be putting the backpack inside the box, while still being able to use the straps. You can do away with the backpack if you’d like – just staple a length of tape or straps of some sort onto the box. You’re going to use the spray paint to paint everything white (except for the visor on the helmet and the bottom of the boots). If any of your supplies are already white, then you don’t have to paint them. All that’s left is to wait for the paint to dry,and dress up. The nice thing about this is that by the end of October, it’s usually pretty cold, so the heavy duty thermal gear will come in handy.
The second hand store is a great place to find Halloween costume fodder. A few costumes that can be made from second hand goods include witches, wizards, clowns, scarecrows, gypsies and genies. Nowadays, the second hand stores are aware that people like to get their halloween costumes from thrift stores, so they will often stock new merchandise for Halloween, such as makeup and masks. It truly makes it a great place for one stop Halloween shopping, and a virtual breeding ground for costume ideas as well.
Of course, you could opt to not dress up, and then tell people that you’re a serial killer- because they look just like everybody else… of course, that never seems to go over very well when I try it! A good alternative is to be a “cereal” killer! Get a bunch of those little “trial size” boxes of cereal, open the top, glue in fake knives, paint on some fake dripping blood. Adhere these to whatever you’d like, and presto! Instant cereal killer.
Speaking of boxes, they can be used to make a variety of creative costumes. You can use a box to dress up as a robot, dice, a refrigerator, a gift, a rubics cube, a lego block, a TV, a popcorn box, or any product that comes in a box.
Whatever you do, have fun with it, and be sure to add your own personal touch!
