I absolutely love Halloween. Coming up with fun costumes is my favorite part so I decided to share some of my favorite ideas with all of you. Below you’ll find the five inexpensive Halloween costume ideas for women, couples and either men or women as well as what you’ll need to make the costumes. I’ve also included a few recipes for making your own fake blood at home. The photos offered are for reference purposes only and are not actual Halloween costumes. Enjoy!

Women

Image Credit: Halloween Express

05: Lindsay Lohan

Cliché and a bit overdone, dressing up like Lindsay Lohan is a classic. You’ll need handcuffs, a black strap you can tie around your ankle, a revealing black dress, a bit of cardboard, jewelry (from a discount store in case you lose it) flour and a small handbag. Color the cardboard black and put a little red sticker on it – the brighter the red the better. Make the cardboard into a box and attach it to the black strap. Put the black strap around your ankle. You now have a S.C.R.A.M. bracelet. Put some of the flour on your black dress and a little on your nose. Stuff the handbag with jewelry from the discount store leaving a necklace or two hanging out. I love Lindsay and all, but this is a great costume. Just don’t expect to be the only one at the party that thought of it.

04: Horror Movie Victim

Because we all know only the virgins survive in a horror movie, if you’re going to dress as a horror movie victim, you’ll need to go trashy with it. Super short denim cutoffs are a great idea paired with a bikini top or a low cut, form fitting tank top. Smear eyeliner down your cheeks like you’ve been crying and top it off with fake blood (recipes below). For added effect, find a prop knife and fasten it to your stomach to make it look like you have a knife sticking out of you. You can probably find a knife that will serve the purpose anywhere Halloween costumes are sold.

03: Bridesmaid the Day after the Wedding

This one is a lot of fun. If you don’t have a hideous bridesmaid/prom dress, you can likely pick up something appropriately ugly at a thrift store. Make it look as haggard as possible – spill grape juice on it to look like wine and whatnot. Smear eyeliner around your eyes and lipstick around your lips. Write a phone number on your arm. Wear your hair in an up-do like you would wear it for a wedding, but mess it up. Basically, you want to look as disheveled as possible. Costs barely anything but it will definitely get you a lot of comments.

02: Stephen King’s Carrie

All you need for this one is smeared mascara or eyeliner, a prom dress and a whole lot of fake blood. There are a lot of different ways to make fake blood, but since you’ll need to make a lot, I would recommend using the “Cheapskate” fake blood recipe (shown at the end of this article). Put on your prom dress, smear your make up and load on the fake red stuff. This one is definitely a crowd pleaser.

01: Paper Doll

All you really need for this one is a slip, a big piece of cardboard (poster board will work but might be a little too flimsy) and enough confidence to show a lot of skin. Cut the cardboard out in the shape of a dress leaving rectangular ‘tabs’ at the shoulders and hips. You can decorate your dress however you like. Use thread or fishing line to attach the dress around you securely by puncturing holes through the cardboard dress and tying the thread or line around you. Easy, fast and unique.

Unisex

05: Witch Doctor

Although it isn’t the most creative costume of the lot, it is fun and materials should be extremely easy to find. You’ll be able to find items for a witch costume at any store that sells Halloween costumes and items for a doctor costume should be just as easy to locate. Combine items from both costumes together to create your witch doctor ensemble. I would recommend going with the witch’s hat, fake warts and green face paint for the witch and a doctor’s jacket, rubber gloves and a stethoscope for the doctor.

04: Gum under a table.

All you need for this one is a cardboard box and pink clothes. Cut the box down so the bottom stays intact but the corners form ‘legs’. You’ve just made your table. Put that on your head, wear the pink clothes and you’re all set. For a little added fun, tape or clue Styrofoam cups and plates to the top of the box along with plastic utensils. I love this costume because it’s easy, fun and doesn’t cost a whole lot to make.

03: Picnic

This is another easy and inexpensive Halloween costume idea that’s also a lot of fun. All you need is a red checkered blanket or table cloth, a few paper plates and cups, plastic utensils and fake ants. Attach the plates, cups, utensils and ants to the blanket and you’re ready to go. I’d recommend tying them in place but you can glue them in place if you prefer. For a little added fun, tie a basket on your head with ribbon.

02: Groceries

This is a fun little idea you can do in a few different ways. If you have a large cardboard box and don’t mind walking around in, well, a large cardboard box all night, you can make a grocery cart, load it with empty cereal boxes, milk cartons (washed out of course), cans, plastic fruit and egg cartons and top it off by putting a large cereal box on your head with a hole cut out of the front making it look like your face is on the cereal box. You can also choose to go the less uncomfortable route and use a smaller box. Cut the bottom out of the box, wrap it in brown paper, put an empty cereal box or two inside and use the headpiece made out of the cereal box mentioned above to top it all off.

01: Backwards Person

You’re going to need a black scarf for this one. While it can work for their a man or a woman, it looks best if you’re dressed up as a woman as you can tie the scarf over your head to hide your face. Your face will be concealed but you’ll still be able to see. Put a mask on the back of your head andyou’re your hair up. From there, you’re just going to put your clothes on backwards. I would suggest going with a dress or a low cut shirt. You can wear a bra backwards and stuff it with material that is close to your natural skin tone to mimic cleavage. You’ll get a great reaction with this costume as it will look like you’re walking backwards all night. Just make sure you try out your costume in different light levels so you’re sure you can see through the scarf.

Couples

05: Delivery Man and His Package (not sexual, I swear)

The delivery man (or woman should you choose) dresses in shorts, a button up shirt and carries a clipboard. To make the package costume, you need a large cardboard box, brown or white paper and a pen. Cut arm holes out of the sides of the box. Cut a neck hole out of the bottom of the box. Wrap the box in the paper and write a ‘to’ and ‘from’ address on the box. Make sure you cut the neck hole out of the bottom of the box so your legs can stick out of the top.

04: Siamese Twins

This one is best for couples that don’t mind spending most of their evening side by side. There are two ways to do this one. You can either share one large sweater or jacket, putting one of your arms in one arm hole and your other arm around your partner’s waist while he does the same with the opposite arm and the opposite arm hole. This one is easier to make, obviously but much harder to get through the evening in. You can instead use two sweaters, cut one of the arms off of each (the right off one and the left off the other) and attach the two sweaters using Velcro. This way, you can separate easily if you need the washroom but can reattach the costume just as easily. It looks best if you can find similar style sweaters to use.

03: The Corpse and the Widow

This one is morbid but it’s unique, easy to make and absolutely perfect for Halloween. For the corpse, you’ll need white face paint, a nice suit and plastic flowers. For the widow you’ll need a black dress, a black veil and a tissue (or box of tissue). If you really want to go all out, you can made a coffin using cardboard that the corpse can wear.

02: Dexter and his victim.

For Dexter, you’ll need a casual shirt and pants, a long apron and a fake knife. For his victim, you’ll need a strapless slip (or a bikini if you’re confident enough), a little fake blood or dark red lip pencil and a whole lot of plastic wrap. Wrap the plastic wrap around your body from your armpits to mid-thigh allowing a little bit of room around the stomach and butt so you can sit down. Secure it with strong tape (duct tape works best). Finish off the costume with Dexter’s trademark ‘cheek slash’ on the victim and you’ll have a unique, fairly inexpensive costume people will love.

01: Yahtzee.

This is an inexpensive, unique and extremely uncomfortable couples costume. You’ll need to cardboard boxes that are the same size, white paper and black paper (or a black marker). Cut arm and neck holes out of each of the boxes and cover them with the white paper. Either draw circles six black circles on the front of the boxes with a black marker or cut twelve circles out of black paper and attach six to the front of each box.

 

Cheapskate Blood:

You’ll need:

• Flour (plain)
• Water
• Food Coloring (red)
• Coffee

Boil water and gradually add the flour. Mix it well until all of the lumps are gone. The ratio of ingredients doesn’t really matter. Make as much as you need, adding the flour to make it thicker. Once you have it as thick as you’d like it and all of the lumps are gone, add the food coloring. While the mixture is still hot, add a small amount of coffee to get a darker, more realistic color. Just as a note that I’m sure is entirely unnecessary, do not put the mixture on your skin while it’s still boiling hot. Wait until it all cools.

Simple Blood:

You’ll need:

• Corn Syrup (clear)
• Food Coloring (red and blue)

This one is pretty simple but can get pretty expensive if you need to make a lot of blood (like for the Carrie costume). You will need the same amount of corn syrup as you need for blood so if you were planning to cover your entire body in blood for some reason, you would need enough corn syrup to cover your entire body. This is the easiest way to make fake blood though. All you have to do is add the food coloring to the corn syrup. Add the red first using the blue to make it darker.

Authentic Looking Blood

You’ll need:

• 2/3 cup Corn Syrup
• 1/3 cup Warm Water
• 5 tablespoons Corn Starch
• 4 teaspoons Red Food Coloring
• 1 tablespoon Powdered Cocoa
• 2 drops of green (or yellow) food coloring

In a large bowl, mix the corn starch with the water. Stir in the corn syrup. Add the food coloring and cocoa slowly until you’re happy with the color. Make as many batches as you need. It’s not quite as complicated as the cheap recipe but you’ll have to spend more money on ingredients. With that said, it will produce the most authentic looking blood.

There are tons of great Halloween costumes you can make with items you have in your own home. All you need is a little creativity. Later this week, I’ll be back with some great theme ideas that will help make your Halloween party a scream. Make sure you don’t miss that one. Now, as promised, here are a few excellent recipes for making safe fake blood.

 

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