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Boy Costumes Ethnic costumes General Group costume Halloween Costumes Halloween Costumes for Men Refashioning

Three Amigos Kids Halloween Costume

Image by Brookie Photography
Image by Brookie Photography

Not only is this a great group costume, but isn’t this a great image? Just so stinkin’ cute.  This is from my friend who made these costumes for her son and his cousins.  These costumes are easy to make from black sweats.  The hardest part may be waiting for the silver glitter glue to dry so that you can flip the sweats to decorate another area. I dare my three girls to pull this off when they are all teenagers.  With a mustache, of course.

Three Amigos Costume Recipe

Ingredients:

Black sweat bottoms

Black zip up hoodie, or crew neck sweatshirt

LOTS of silver glitter glue

White shirt

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Couples costume Dresses General Hair Halloween Costumes Halloween Costumes for Women Makeup Movies Period Costume Refashioning Shoes Tutorials

The Roaring 20’s: Great Gatsby Costumes and Flapper Costumes for Women

This page is for all you who need a costume for a Great Gatsby, Flapper, or Roaring 20’s event.  You will see a brief overview of 1920’s costume ideas along with links to 1920’s fashion images and tutorials for hair, makeup, and 1920’s clothing.

When assembling a costume, I always consider 6 magic ingredients to make sure you look put together:

  • Hair
  • Clothing
  • Makeup
  • Shoes
  • Accessories
  • Props

Here’s the breakdown for each of these 6 magic ingredients in a women’s 1920’s costume:

Hair: Bobbed or cropped to fit under the close fitting cloche hats, waved

Link to 1920’s hair styles

20’s Inspired Fashion 

Clothing: Straight-line chemise style, sleeveless, dropped waist or no waist at all, hemlines near the knee to make dancing the new dances like the Charleston easier, straight bodices with flattened chests.  Sashes, bows, lace, beads, artificial flowers, feathers, and fringe adorned the dresses. If you would like a bit more coverage, wear a cap sleeve layering tee or wide-strap tank camisole and bike shorts, spankies, or leggings underneath the dress, although that will alter the look some.

blue flapper dress
Click image to view in Amazon
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Halloween Costumes

Pirates Say Happy Halloween!

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Hope you had a fun and safe Halloween for 2013! The Costume Resource will continue to be your year round family friendly costume site including Halloween costumes, costumes related to Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years Eve, costumes for community and school theater productions, Book Week, historical reenactments and  more.  Click here to LIKE The Costume Resource on Facebook so you can see what’s new!

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General Halloween Costumes Props

Props With Kids Halloween Costumes Look Good But Don’t Last

It’s official.  Most props used with Halloween costumes end up getting passed on to Mom.  It wasn’t even five minutes before we arrived at the Fall Carnival at our church when my astronaut daughter promptly gave me her not-so-cheap-but-awesome astronaut helmet complaining that it was pressing down on her shoulders.  She also dumped off her cool homemade jet pack that I had just spent about 45 minutes making this afternoon, saying it wouldn’t stay up on her shoulders.  Sure the props and accessories looked great, but in the end, most kids are all about ease and comfort.  Don’t spend too much time, money or stress on props to go with a Halloween costume. They look great in pictures, but may end up getting left by the wayside…IMG_2578

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Couples costume Family Costumes General Girl costumes Halloween Costumes Makeup Tutorials

Last Minute Homemade Halloween Costume: Skeleton Shirt and Skeleton Makeup Tutorial

The countdown to Halloween is on!  Hopefully your costumes are ready to go, or maybe they’ve even been worn already to Halloween parties over the weekend.  It seems like there are some years my kids are wearing costumes for nearly a week leading up to Halloween.

We used to attend a big family Halloween party that my brother and his family hosted the weekend before Halloween, complete with a haunted house set up in the garage.  It was LEGIT. Sadly they moved to the East coast, so no more fun family Halloween party.

We often attend a big Halloween carnival hosted at a local community center, but this year it conflicts with the Fall Carnival at our church, so we’ll attend the church party where my teenager gets to handout candy and host carnival games for the kids as they trick-or-treat among the classrooms and do a cupcake walk. Meanwhile the adults chat over a chili dinner and everyone goes home happy.

So far this year, one of my kids wore a unicorn costume to Buddy Day at karate last Friday, went to an informal Halloween party at a friend’s house as a hippie, and another daughter went as the Cat-in-the-Hat to her acting class.  These are not even their “REAL” Halloween costumes.

I digress.

In case you don’t have a costume ready and need something quick, here are two tutorials that show different methods of cutting up a t-shirt to look like a skeleton.  This would be fun to do for an individual, a couple, or a family.

The first shows a more precise method with a template, and the second video shows a much easier way.  I would cut the shirt using the freehand method from the second video, but print out the template from the first to visualize the cuts so there’s not as many as the second shirt.  It looks cool, but not as realistic as the first.  Watch them both and see which one you like. Pair up these easy-peasy skeleton shirts with black jeans and skeleton makeup. Quick, stylish, done.  This is the kind of costume every teenager wants.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MFrkYPaqj4

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General Halloween Costumes Refashioning Trick or Treat Bags

Personalized Homemade Halloween Trick-or-Treat Bags

When you put so much thought and effort into a Halloween costume, why stop when you get to the trick-or-treat bag?  I always try to customize a treat bag or container that coordinates with the costume.

My daughter is going to be Cruella de Vil this year, so this post is going to show you how easy it is to personalize a simple $2 purse from the thrift store with a few trims I already had on hand to make a fancy, fun, and flashy treat bag that will enhance her Cruella costume.  This is the purse I started with.

Cruellapurse

 

I cut a 2″ wide strip of dalmatian print fabric that was about 6″ longer than the length of the area where I was going to put it.  This extra length allows for gathers. This was leftover fabric from the dalmatian print ruffle I added to the bottom of her dress to extend it to her ankles.

 photo 1 copy 3

I used hot glue to first secure each end of the fabric where I wanted it to start and stop.  I put a drop of glue in the middle to glue the fabric down.  Then I ran a strip of glue

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General Girl costumes Halloween Costumes Refashioning Shoes

Refashioning Shoes Into Spectator Shoes

 

My daughter is going to be Cruella de Vil for Halloween this year.  She found some cool shoes at  Savers, one of my favorite local thrift stores.  She is young, but loves to wear high heels, so this chunky heel is a bit easier to walk in for her.   I refashioned these 30s style oxfords into the spectator shoes she has always wanted! So simple and easy, you just need hot glue, fabric, and trim. This is a fun way to add a pattern or color into your Halloween costume and even some bling, depending on the trim you choose.  Cruella de Vil needs dalmatian print, right?

Cruellashoes

1.  Position the edge of the fabric 1/4″ away from the opening of the shoe ( I knew I would be adding trim, so I needed just a bit of allowance), and then down to past the bottom of the shoe on the side.  It’s fine to be too long on the side because will trim it later. Start on one side of the shoe with a bit of hot glue, then move across the toe of the shoe adding hot glue along the top edge, under the fabric to secure it, until you get to the other side of the shoe at the bottom edge.  Cut around the bottom edge to trim away the excess fabric, being careful to leave some allowance.  You can trim any additional extra away as you get ready to secure the bottom edge.

photo 2

2. Unfortunately, I didn’t take pics for the next few steps.  Sorry!  After I cut away most of the excess fabric,

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Boy Costumes Cosplay General Group costume

Minecraft is Going to Be Hot for Boys Halloween Costumes

minecraft head
Click on image to purchase from Amazon

I have all girls, so my mind isn’t geared to think of costumes for boys as much, so I am always looking out for good boy costume ideas.   I was at my daughter’s karate studio for their Halloween party today and saw a boy in this green hoodie, holding the sword, and wearing Minecraft Creeper mask.  He looked like a cool cube.  You can try to make the mask and sword from cardboard and a careful paint job, but you know how kids are– sometimes you just gotta splurge to get the real thing.  Check the shipping date on Amazon or sign up for 2-day shipping with Amazon Prime.

My costuming philosophy is all about being able to reuse something you purchase as part of the Halloween costume. You know these items will be worn and played with long after Halloween, so it is a worthwhile investment in a Halloween costume!

minecraft hoodie
Click on image to purchase from Amazon
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Couples costume General Halloween Costumes Halloween Costumes for Men Halloween Costumes for Women

10 Couples Halloween Costume Ideas That are Classy and Cool #CollegeAge

These are classy, clean, and creative costumes that you are going to want to take a look at.  I was trolling around Pinterest checking out Halloween costumes for couples and ran across this very cool post for “10 Vintage Inspired Couples Costumes.”   Most are for male/female couples, but there’s also an idea for 2 girl friends.  You could easily compose many of these costumes from clothing in your own closet and a trip to the thrift store or your grandma’s closet.  I totally see college age kids pulling these looks off and looking good doing it.

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Boy Costumes Couples costume Ethnic costumes Family Costumes General Girl costumes Group costume Hair Halloween Costumes Halloween Costumes for Men Makeup Theater Tutorials

How to Make a Toga Using a Bed Sheet or Curtains: A Quick Homemade Halloween Costume for Couples

A friend messaged me asking for some ideas on a toga costume for her and her new fiance. (Congrats Lauren!)

Yes, you can make a toga using a bed sheet or curtains, if they aren’t too thick. It needs to be a fabric that is lightweight like sheets, and will drape nicely. Start with a twin sheet to see how it fits, but it depends on your size and height.  You may need to experiment with the sheet size for the best results.  Fold it in half if necessary. Use safety pins to secure.  The three videos below show different methods for tying the toga, both for men and women.

Clothing: Consider what you will wear underneath the toga in case of a wardrobe malfunction or if you simply want a little more coverage.  Items that fit snug like a tank top, tube top, layering tee, bike shorts or spankies work the best so that the toga isn’t disturbed by bulky or baggy fabric underneath.

Accessories: Find gold trim or ribbon at Walmart or a craft & fabric store to form a belt for the toga. It gives a better shape to the toga by pulling it in a bit at the waist for both men and women.  Sandals or flip flops complement this look along with gold jewelry.  And don’t forget something for the hair such as gold trim wrapped around the head as the first video shows, a golden floral wreath shown in the second video, or a green leaf wreath worn by the male in the last video.

Makeup: If you really want to look like you didn’t just throw on a sheet at the last minute, then follow the second video for some tips on a makeup design to go with the toga.  This will really finish off the look and your costume will look  intentional and stylized.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4hWqIW–rQ