DIY Halloween Costumes WITHOUT sewing!

I'm all for DIY (Do It Yourself). You will often find me on Pinterest searching DIY projects, not because I'm crafty, but because I'm cheap. I really hate paying for things that I don't value. And one of the things I definitely do not value are Halloween costumes.

Don't get me wrong, I love the traditional notion of Halloween - kids and adults celebrating the ghoulish, the dark, or maybe celebrating life by welcoming death with open doors. What I don't love is the commercial side of Halloween. 

This is really too bad, as I'm someone who SHOULD be purchasing costumes for my kids. Why? Because I can't sew! And even if I wanted to, I don't own a sewing machine and don't have time for a hobby at this point in my life.

But who needs a sewing machine for Halloween? There is so much you can do without that needle and thread. I put the question out on our Facebook Page: "do you have an example of a Halloween costume you've put together without the use of a sewing machine?" Here are a few examples!

Buying Used

Angèle made use of Value Village and a stapler for these three costumes! You can piece together a fabulous costume by scouring your local second-hand shops.

Astrid from How to Train your Dragon

Little Red Riding Hood

Mavis from Hotel Transylvania

Buying New but Reimagining the Costume

OK fine, I said I was cheap, but last year I DID spend a bit of money on my daughter's costume:

To make this Elsa dress, I purchased a white adult-sized angel dress ($15). I then used fabric dye from Michael's ($5 with a coupon!), as well as stickers, jewels and tulle (another few bucks and some stuff we already had at home). The dye didn't work well because the fabric of the dress is not a natural fabric but that was OK with me - I loved the icy blue that resulted!

Krysta V commented: "When my little guy wanted to be a bumblebee, we got dollar store Bee wings, black clothes, a yellow bow tie and yellow/black striped underwear to wear on top of his pants! Cutest bumblebee I'd ever seen! No sewing involved, so even better!"

Hot Glue Gun

I love glue guns. There's something so satisfying about the glue squeezing out of that gun....except when it leaves those strings everywhere!

Lara made this Creeper costume, and she shares the instructions here:

Shirt: take an old shirt that's stained or ready for giveaway. Buy some sheets of felt (I think I needed about 6-8 sheet of 8 x 10) and cut into squares. I didn't measure - you should measure.

Use a hot glue gun to affix them to the shirt.

Mask: Find a box that will fit well over your child's head. Draw a grid onto the box and let your child paint the squares in a variety of greens and black. Cut out the eye holes. You will probably need to create a bit of a crown in the top of the box so it will sit on top of the child's head instead of sliding around all over the place.

Have you made an awesome Halloween Costume without a sewing machine? Head to our Facebook page and post it there!