When I grew up–there were no Halloween stores, Walmart with racks of costumes, or even the internet (I’m old!) So if we wanted to dress up for Halloween, we DIY’d our costumes. Most of the time we got a quick trip to our favorite Thrift Store (the Deseret Industries) and see what we could find! So today I thought would show you some Halloween costumes you can DIY from the thrift store for cheap–and bonus because most of these are pretty fast so you can do these last minute!
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Flower child:
Here is our goods from the Thrift store: $2.50 worth of supplies.
We purchased the daisy ribbon from Hobby Lobby and just tied it around her head. You could DIY a peace sign necklace or earrings too.
We found LOTS of Tie Dye shirts there too that would be great for a hippie costume!
2. MUMMY COSTUME
You definitely have to go into the thrift store with an open mind–I had no intention of making a mummy, but this dress basically screamed to become a mummy!
We bought this 2 yard bundle of fabric and added a little spray paint to make it look more aged and then ripped it into strips to tie around. Don’t tie too tight- and don’t tie to the point of not being able to bend arms and legs. (You could also use crepe paper or toilet paper if you are worried about young kids getting tangled up)
We snipped off the pearls (My daughter already has upcycled them into a bracelet)! Put dark eyeshadow all around to make her look a little more “dead”.
If you can’t find a perfect mummy dress- You could find a white dress and rip up-or a white tablecloth or curtains to rip up!
3. scarecrow Costume
This one was so easy! Lots of flannel shirts- Lots of hats- and we even scored some “straw” raffia in the crafts section of our thrift store. Total cost was 4.50 and my daughter wants to wear the shirt to school (It’s in great shape!)
I snipped off the fabric and hot glued the straw inside the fabric so we could just slip it in the sleeves without it itching her!
and hot glued the extra around the hat!
We created a simple scarecrow makeup and put on some overalls and she’s the cutest scarecrow costume ever!
ADAPTATION: There were a couple of farm animals in the stuffed animal pile- you could easily adapt this costume to be a farmer!
4. ROCKSTAR COSTUME
This one I’m partial too because this was our fallback when we were growing up. If our costumes didn’t turn out- we were “punk rockers” Ratted hair, funky clothes. Weird makeup. I found some cute clothes that had a rock star feel (that she can wear after Halloween is over) Lots of weird glasses and then these big headphones! (I did find some fun band shirts you could rock too!)
We wanted a more punk rock feel–so we spray painted it. You may notice the slinkies. We picked up a pack of 6 at the dollar store.
We added the slinkies in her hair and as bracelets and we had a toy guitar that we used as a prop. But you could DIY these microphones to carry around!
You could adapt this costume to be a FUTURISTIC Girl- You could add slinkies all around the skirt or something funky on the shirt! Let your creativity shine!
5. Space Costume
My son is over the dress up for Halloween –(sad) He does like gross masks and bloody shirts etc. But we compromised with this costume because he gets to carry around a basketball all day!
I found a basic black shirt and added some paint to make a galaxy. (He would only be wearing this once-so I didn’t bother with using fabric paint) You could use the fun bleach method to get the galaxy feel too! Then spray painted the ball!
There is some blow up planets you could use- If this costume was for my daughter I would have added cute stars across her face with a silver marker!
6. LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD COSTUME
Out of all these costumes, this is one that my daughter is going to be for Halloween. She loves how much the cape flows around her! It’s actually a big red tablecloth. I also picked up a basket for $1.00. (and she can use that to get her trick or treat candy!)
This one did involve some sewing. I just used a preexisting hood as a template.
I love this costume because Idaho is always cold on Halloween, so she can wear warm clothes underneath and her costume still looks awesome!
You could do a fun themed costume, wolf, grandma (see below) and lumberjack! I even found a wolf stuffed animal at the Deseret Industries Thrift Store.
7. GRANDMA:
I found this amazing pink zip up robe and glasses. Purchased some pink curlers from the dollar store. The pjs only fit my son and those pictures….well…they are funny but didn’t quite work out! But you could add some makeup lines, a walker, some cat stuffed animals to complete the look. (perfect for the old granny in little red riding hood!)
8. Zombie Bride
There were so many old wedding dress (and prom dresses) You could easily rip it up a little, add some red paint to look like blood and add some zombie makeup to really get the zombie feel!
Other ideas I had while walking around:
- Pirate: Lots of white blouses–and there was even a hook!
- Medusa: I dug through the stuffed animals and found 3 snakes. You could wrap them around your head and arms and snag some extra snakes from the store.
- Captain America -There was a big red plastic platter that I thought could easily be turned into his Shield!
- Doll: you could find all sorts of great dresses you could use to dress up like a doll!
and if you want more ideas- check out Deseret Industries instagram page! They are showing off some cute ideas!
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