PLANES, TRAINS, AUTOMOBILES COSTUMES

Make these easy last minute costumes from cardboard boxes.

PLANES, TRAINS, AUTOMOBILES: Remove the top and bottom flaps of a box, then place a box around your child´s middle and attach with over-the-shoulder ties. Then, with paint, paper plates, tin cans, some additional cardboard, and imagination, your kid could be the following:
A race car: Paint racing stripes, add cans cups or stickers for front and rear lights. Don´t forget the sponsor´s names on the side and the personalized license plates (ISCAREU).

SCARECROW

Wear worn-in jeans - patch the holes with an old bandana, flannel shirt or overalls with patches, a worn-in hat and gardening gloves. Stick some straw in various places to add to the effect. Use makeup to paint your face yellow and add short lines around your eyes to look like a sewn on patch. Use green make-up to paint an upside down triangle on your nose again adding short lines around it to look like a sewn on patch. Use red for the mouth and (with short lines again). Perhaps adding a small patch of color to your cheek for a repair.

FLOWER MASK

Children enjoy discovering all the flowers that bloom in the summer. The colors are bright and inviting.

To make an inexpensive and colorful blossom mask cut out the center of a paper plate, leaving a hole large enough for the child´s face. Help the child cut flower petals from colorful construction or tissue paper. Glue the petals around the rim to make a unique flower. Attach elastic thread to the back of the plate to finish the mask.

JACK-IN-THE-BOX COSTUME

A big box with bottom and top cut out
A clown looking shirt
Clown Makeup
Aluminum foil
Paint
Take your box, make sure you can fit into it, paint with decorations, as you want. Numbers and Letters look great. You sew, glue, or tape your shirt onto the inside of your box. You could make a hat to match your shirt. You take your aluminum foil and make a crank out of it. Tape the crank onto the side of your box. Make up your face with clown paint. Then bend down in your box and POP!!! Back up.

FAIRY COSTUME

Material
Thread
Sewing needle
Mesh or lace material for wings
Metal or wire in a "C" shape for wings.
You can use a dress with a flaired skirt for the base. Next, cut your mesh or lace material into the shape of the wire with just a little room to overlap it. Sew the lace or mesh over the wire and you are done.

INSTANT EARS

It´s never too late for the Ears/Nose/Tail Solution. Just add a tail and one or two ears (big hunk of Styrofoam cheese optional).
For babies and toddlers who are too small for a full costume, just make your littlest one an adorable bunny, kitty, puppy, or even an elephant. All it takes is ears (construction paper or cardboard attached to a hat or headband) and a nose (a tiny bit of makeup on the nose and cheeks, and the appropriate tail pinned to the back of pajamas or a sweat suit).

MUMMY

Tear some sheets up and wrap them around your body (but never around the neck). Paint your face white instead of wrapping sheet strips for safety. Paint black rings around your eyes for empty eye sockets. Use a white swimming cap or stocking cap over your hair and attach sheet strips to it. If you have some sheet strips dangling from your body, make sure it isn´t long enough to trip you.

SAILOR

Preschoolers enjoy playing dress-up and many costumes can be made from items around the house. To make a Sailor costume find a striped shirt and a red bandana, sew the bandana on the collor of the shirt so it can be tied in front as a bow. A pair of blue track pants tops it off! You can turn the brim up on a sun hat so it looks like a Sailor´s Hat.

NERD

High-water pants, white button-down shirt, bow tie, white socks, black dress shoes, a pocket protector, and dark frame glasses with masking tape around the nose piece are all you need for this classic costume. For chilly nights add a cardigan sweater with ratty sleeves.

MAIL CARRIER

Preschoolers enjoy playing dressup and many costumes can be made from items around the house. To make a Mail Carriers costume find or make a canvas bag with a short strap so it can be carried on the toddler´s shoulder. Be sure to "equip" it with mail. Save old postcards, junk mail, little gift boxes, and a couple of magazines to put in your mail bag. Shoe boxes can be decorated and used for mail boxes, put them around the room or at the doors going down the hallway in your home. Use familiar neighbor, family and friend´s names on the boxes so your youngster can deliver the mail to them. Go a step further and decorate an old shirt to be their uniform.

A FIREFIGHTER IN A FIRE ENGINE COSTUME

Paint the box bright red with ladders on the sides. Use aluminum pie plates for reflectors. A plastic firefighter´s hat is a good addition. Your child will be more than happy to come up with the siren sound!

BUTTERFLY COSTUME

Sturdy cardboard
Utility knife
Colored netting
Batting
Brightly colored paints
Satin ribbon
Leotard & tights
One & half yards of the same colored fabric
Same colored socks
Shoes
Plain, simple mask
Silk flowers
Pipe cleaners
Pom-poms
Glue
Stapler
Cut out two sets of the wings from the cardboard. Using a utility knife, cut out designs from the inside of the wings. Paint one side of each wing and fold them in half like a real butterfly. Next, lay the netting between the set and glue in place. Punch four holes through the cardboard to run the ribbon through to give the effect of a backpack.
We now have to make a mask. Separate the petals of the flowers and glue them neatly around the mask from the inside out, carefully making sure that the eyes are not covered. Remove the elastic cord and staple a piece of ribbon (long enough to tie around the head and dangle down) to each side. Double the pipe cleaners and attach to the back of the mask; glue the pompoms to the ends.
Have the child put on the leotard, tights and shoes, covering the shoes with the socks.
Use combinations of reds, oranges, yellows, greens, blues, purples, and pinks
This could also be used as a fairy with silver and white!

ARTIST COSTUME

All you need is a big white shirt, a beret, black tights or leggings, some paintbrushes and several colors of paint on an artist´s tray. Paint different blotches of paint on the white shirt. Cut a circle from the felt a little bigger that your head. Sew a running stitch around the outside of the felt and pull in just a little to make it puff up. It just sits on the head with bobby pins. Put paint brushes in pocket and carry artist´s tray with you.

VAMPIRE

Black pants, white button-down shirt, black shoes, cape (dye a sheet black), plastic teeth, and slick hair back with some gel. Use white make-up for the face and highlight with red blush on the cheeks and red lipstick on the lips. Red lipstick applied carefully with a lip brush down the side of your mouth can look like blood dripping down.

CAT/DOG/PIG

Cat: Black leggings or pants, black shirt, cover stretched-out wire hanger with a black sock or stuff a black sock with material for the tail, black headband with ears made of cardboard and painted black, black mittens or gloves for paws, and black socks and shoes. This idea can be used for any animal by switching colors and the type of ears and tail.

Dog: Add spots with construction paper and tape or washable glue use a barrette to attach long felt ears to the sides of your head.

Pig: Pink or white sweat suit with a pipe cleaner tail.

INDIAN HEADBAND

Cut brown construction paper into strips, fit it around child´s head and staple or tape ends together. Cut feathers out of scrap construction paper or use real colored feathers if you have them on hand and glue or staple onto headband.

GENIE

Bikini top and bottom, a pair of flimsy pajama bottoms with a hem that you can put a string through to tighten around ankles, matching midriff vest, and to make a hat cut a hole in the middle of a small plastic container for ponytail, cover with fabric and fasten a scarf to each side of the hat so that it hangs loosely in front of your mouth.

This is a great costume for an indoor party, but very cold for trick-or-treating door to door.

CRAYON COSTUME

Poster board
Stapler
Scissors
Black construction paper
Construction paper the color of poster board
Elastic
Take colored poster board (your choice) and cut to fit between underarms of child and knees. Should be able to wrap around child with room to wear sweats underneath. Cut oval out of crayon color from construction paper. Glue to center of poster board over tummy. Cut out the letters CRAYOLA from black construction paper and glue to construction paper centered on tummy. Use leftover poster board to construct cone shaped hat. Should use 2" strip at base of hat to form crayon design. Make sure top of hat has flat base. Attach elastic to shoulder area and staple to poster board.
DO NOT make too long as will constrict walking ability. May have to cut out arm indentations for easier fit. Use the same colored clothing underneath to create illusion of all one color. Utilize Halloween reflector to ensure safety of being seen at night.

INDIAN VEST

Cut a vest from a brown paper bag, cut a slit up the front and neck and arm holes. To decorate, either cut out construction paper shape (arrows, sun, designs, etc.) and glue them on.