homemade halloween

Strongman Costume

Today we are continuing our Homemade Halloween series. This strongman suit complete with tattoos is really easy to make. This strongman was impressing everyone with his amazing feats. Find full instructions below and click here for our whole series.

Materials Needed: Red Tshirt, Wrapping Paper Cardboard Roll, Two Black Balloons, Elastic, Nylons, Sharpies, Moustache, and some stripey shorts (we got ours at American Apparel), black and white paint.
Step 1: For the tank top we modified a red tshirt to create a low cut tank top. You’ll need basic sewing skills for this.
Step 2: To make the barbells cut the wrapping paper roll to the right size and paint black. Blow up the balloons and paint numbers on them. Tie Elastic to one balloon and thread through the tube, then tie to other balloon so they are held tight by the elastic.
Step 3: Stretch out nylons over a piece of cardboard and draw tattoos all over, sew the pieces onto the red tank top.

Credits and our Talented Contributors:
All photography by Sarah Hebenstreit of Modern Kids Photography for Oh Happy Day
Art Directed by Jordan Ferney
Produced by Ashley Rose Kirschling
Styling by Milan Shimono Lee
“Homemade Halloween” Type by Angela Hardison

Classic Robot Costume

This costume was inspired by pictures of old vintage halloween pictures like this one. There is something so classic about a good robot. This robot costume is totally doable and took less than an hour with materials less than $15. The key to making this easy is finding the right sized boxes. All you have to do is cover in aluminum foil and you’re set. Click here for more photos and notes on how to make.

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Little Artists Costumes

Here are some quick costumes that could be pulled together last minute with an errand or two and from stuff you already have. We put together three classic artist costumes: Andy Warhol, Frida Kahlo, and Vincent Van Gogh for less than $15 each. These are usually the kind of costumes I end up doing when I’m super busy. I like them simple and classic. Click through here for more photos and all the details.

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Fluffy White Cloud Costume

Today we are sharing one of my favorite costumes, this sweet little cloud. This costume was really fun to make and would work amazing for an adult costume too. I love working with paper mache (it reminds me of making pinatas!) because you make something with structure out of flour, paper, and water. Plus it is fun to work with your hands and get a little messy. Find the tips below for making a cloud costume of your own.

Materials Needed: Flour and Water mixture (I like it the same thickness as pancake batter.), Balloons, Paper, Cotton batting or Polyester pillow stuffing, white leotard and tights, white felt.

Step 1: To make the cloud structure we followed this tutorial here. (I think their pillow stuffing looks more cloud-ey than batting, but use what you have.) Leave a generous hole at the bottom for the feet to come out, ours was kind of like a skirt.
Step 2: Cut a hole just big enough for the neck, but cut a slit so the head can slide through, then cut arm holes.
Step 3: Line the parts that will be touching the body like the top and around the neck and arm holes with white felt so the costume is comfortable. If you wanted to make the costume a little easier to wear, just make it a little smaller (like 5 balloons instead of 9 balloons)

Credits and our Talented Contributors:
Photography by Aubrey Trinnaman for Oh Happy Day
Art Directed by Jordan Ferney
Produced by Ashley Rose Kirschling
Crafting and Calligraphy by Julie Manwaring at Flourish & Whim
“Homemade Halloween” Type by Angela Hardison
Thanks to A for showing us her ballet skills!

Field of Flowers Costume

Happy Monday! I’m trying out a new way to work on posts starting today that will be more collaborative and I’m really excited about it. We’ve been working really hard on it and are still figuring out the details but I hope people love it as much as I have loved working on it. Since it’s officially October 1st we thought we should start out with a Homemade Halloween Costume Series. This Field of Flowers costume is ridiculously cute and sort of had us wishing we had an adult sized suit of our own. It was pretty affordable and easy to put together but it did involve getting fancy with a glue gun (don’t fear the glue gun!) See below for full instructions and our source for affordable flowers.

To Make a Field of Flowers Costume it is really very easy. Avoid craft stores when looking for fake flowers (their flowers are kind of pricey for this project) and head right to the dollar store where you get get huge bunches for $1.

Materials Needed: shirt, leggings, beanie, glue gun, and fake flowers.

Step 1: Remove fake flowers and leaves from stems.
Step 2:  Dab hot glue onto the back of the flower and attach to clothing. Put the best flowers on the front and on the hat since they will be seen the most.
Step 3: Continue gluing but leave a 2″ area empty around the top of the leggings so that the shirt will lay flat when on.
Step 4: Finish adding flowers then have the costume tried on to look for any bare spots to fill in. Et Voila! You’re done. The whole thing took us about two hours and was pretty easy.

Credits and our Talented Contributors:
Photography by Aubrey Trinnaman for Oh Happy Day
“Materials” photograph by Paul Ferney.
Art Directed by Jordan Ferney
Produced by Ashley Rose Kirschling
Crafting and Calligraphy by Julie Manwaring at Flourish & Whim
“Homemade Halloween” Type by Angela Hardison
Thanks to little E for modeling!