5 Frugal Last Minute Halloween Costumes

It's that time of year again. The time when I think about how I planned to put together the perfect Halloween Costumes for my kids but then ran out of time and money and now we have costume parties to attend and I have even less time to think than I did at the beginning of the month where the past-me decided I had plenty of time.

She always does this to me.

Anyway. I have a few tips for putting together a quick costume. None of these are fancy, amazing, or award-winning, but at the least they'll get your kids (or yourself) ready for a party without adding to your headache (I hope!).

1. Raid the Dress Up Boxes. If your house is like mine, you have dress up boxes with previous costumes, old clothes, or other treasures to raid. This is the part where incomplete costumes can be even better. Throw on a mismatch of clothes and be a clown, a silly princess, or a super hero.

2. Hit the books (not literally!). Pick a favorite character from a book and dress like them. My daughter wants to be Junie B. Jones's First Boxed Set Ever! (Books 1-4)  this year, and with some striped tights, a skirt, a bow in her hair and a sweater, she'll be able to pull off the look easily. Harold and the Purple Crayon is another easy one, Harold and the Purple Crayon Board Book, use a wrapping paper tube covered in construction paper! Another is the Paperbag Princess, The Paper Bag Princess (Classic Munsch), you just need to brown bag it at the grocery store and score an instant costume!

3. Makeover time! Break into your makeup collection (or buy an inexpensive kit to use) and use makeup to make the costume. Kids can be anything from a vampire to a zombie in their own clothing (no costumes to buy!).

4. Box it up! Use a diaper box or other large box as your costume base. You can wrap it and be a present, television, washing machine, or robot. Then just dress in one color and let the box sell the look.

5. Mismatch. When you're down to the wire and have no time for anything else, just go mismatched! Put your clothing on backward, blend your stripes with plaid and polka dots and put on two different socks. Complete the look with crazy hair and you've got an easy, frugal costume!