Fun Halloween Costume Ideas! - A Reblog from Parenting.com

1. Cut a hole in the bottom of an inflatable baby bathtub (we used Munchkin's Inflatable Safety Duck Tub). Leave at least 2 inches for the rim.
2. On the remaining bottom rim, punch two holes near the front and back. To make the suspenders from wide ribbon, measure your child from shoulder to waist and multiply by 2; cut two lengths of ribbon to that size. Thread through the holes, knotting the ends underneath to secure.
3. Blow up 15 white balloons and attach them with double-stick tape inside the tub and to the sides to make it look like bubbles are overflowing.
4. Accessorize with bath poufs as hair accessories.

• Oversize pale-blue sweatshirt
• Fabric glue
• 1 yd 1"-wide elastic
• Large safety pin
• 1 yd batting
• 1 yd white felt
• 55 Styrofoam balls in various sizes
• 1"-sq Velcro
• 1 yd seam binding
• Fine white string
• Extra-large sewing needle

1. Cut sleeves off shirt 2" from neck; glue under raw edges. Cut small slit in waistband. Secure one end of elastic to safety pin; insert into slit and work through waistband. Tie ends in knot.
2. Turn shirt inside out and line with batting, gluing at shoulders and sides.
3. Make wristbands: Fold two 3"-wide strips white felt in half lengthwise; glue closed. Using a knife, slice a ball so it lies flat. Glue to strip. Continue until both strips are covered. Glue Velcro to ends.
4. Create collar: Take two 3" x 3" squares of white felt and fold each in half. Cut out snowflake design. Open each up and cut in half, creating four snowflake pieces. Glue to seam binding, leaving small spaces. In between each snowflake piece, glue half a ball, flat side down, to binding. Tie around neck, trimming tails to size.
5. Make hat: Cut a sleeve 8" down from top. Gather top end together, wrap with string, and tie. String a few balls using needle. Tie to top; glue to secure. Hollow out center of largest ball. Put glue inside and place over gathered edge, tucking excess strings inside.
6. String half of remaining balls at various lengths. Knot ends. Cut the rest in half. Glue end of each string to the flat side of a ball, then glue onto shirt. Cover shirt in this manner, attaching extra halves as well.

• Oversize yellow sweatshirt
• Fabric glue
• 1 yd 1"-wide elastic
• Large safety pin
• 1/2 yd yellow felt
• Small piece orange felt
• 1 yd golden-yellow felt
• Bag pipe cleaners
• 1 yd yellow rickrack

1. Cut sleeves off shirt 2" from neck; glue under raw edges. Cut small slit in waistband. Secure one end of elastic to safety pin; insert into slit and work through waistband. Tie ends in knot and cut off excess.
2. Make face: Cut a 12" circle from yellow felt. Create eyes and mouth with orange and golden felt; glue onto circle.
3. Make rays: Cut fourteen 3"-tall triangles and fourteen 6"-tall triangles from golden felt. Cut pipe cleaners into seven 3" pieces and seven 6" pieces. Glue each to the center of a corresponding triangle; glue remaining triangles on top, covering pipe cleaners. Glue triangles around back of circle, alternating sizes.
4. Glue rickrack around edge of circle.
5. Make hat: Cut one sleeve 6" down from top. Glue under raw edges of top. Create three additional 6" rays. Tuck each inside top of hat and glue closed. If necessary, trim bottom of hat to fit.

• 1 yard green felt
• Fabric glue
• Silver-painted spools
• A scrap red felt
• Faux fur
• Black sweatpants
• Gray T-shirt
• Dark sports jacket

1. Cut a piece of green felt long enough to wrap around your child's head and 12 to 16 inches wide.
2. Fold in half lengthwise so the hat is 6 to 8 inches tall; glue sides together to form a cylinder.
3. Cut two more pieces of green felt about 6 inches wide and 8 inches long to create the neckpiece.
4. Glue one strip to each side of the hat on the inside; glue silver spools in the middle of each piece for neck bolts (you'll tuck the ends inside his shirt or jacket).
5. Cut a "scar" out of red felt, and glue to the hat.
6. Place faux fur across the top and glue in place around edges. Trim to desired style.

• Oversize white sweatshirt
• Fabric glue
• 1/2 yard white ribbon
• 2 yards white tulle
• 1/4 yard batting
• Black felt
• 1/2 yard black ribbon

- Body:

1. Start with the sweatshirt and cut off the sleeves 3 inches from neck; glue raw edges under.
2. When it's time to go out trick-or-treating, fold tulle in half and cut a slit at the center, large enough to fit your child's head through.
3. Pull over child's head, on top of the sweatshirt.
4. Cut a 4-inch slit down the back, starting at the center of the neck. Attach ribbon to a safety pin and thread it through neck casing (you'll use the ends to tie a bow).

1. Take one sleeve and cut 8 inches down from the shoulder. Glue raw edges of the widest end under.
2. Coat one side of the batting with glue.
3. Gather the narrow end of the hat and wrap the batting around the top 3 inches, squeezing as you go to form a pointy tip.

1. Cut two circles (about 2 inches in diameter) out of black felt; cut smaller circles from the insides to make goggles.
2. Connect them by gluing a piece of thin ribbon between (just long enough to sit on bridge of nose); glue on longer pieces on each side to tie around child's head.

• Small roll canvas-backed foil insulation (available at hardware stores)
• 2 yards silver ribbon
• Gray nonskid drawer liner or rug pad
• 1 yard elastic
• Disposable pie tin
• 12-inch pieces red and black felt
• 4 white or metallic scouring pads
• Black gloves
• Large red and black feathers
• Small metal colander
• Cardboard wrapping-paper roll
• 1/2 yard patterned fabric
• Black hoodie, gray long johns, black boots
• Tools: A hot-glue gun, glue sticks, and scissors.

1. Measure your child from shoulders to mid thigh and across his chest. Double the shoulder-to-thigh length and cut insulation to this measurement.
2. Fold material in half widthwise and cut a slit along the fold for neck hole.
3. Glue silver ribbon around the tunic edges.
4. Cut drawer liner to look like chain-mail trim and glue it along tunic bottom, as shown.

1. Glue a piece of elastic across the inside of the pie tin to make a handle.
2. Glue red and black felt shapes to front of pie tin.

1. Cover wrapping-paper roll with foil insulation
2. Glue patterned fabric along top half, as shown.

• Pink plastic table skirting*
• 1 yard white or pink ribbon
• 2 yards pink tulle
• 2 yards gold rickrack
• 1 yard white faux fur
• 1/2-yard elastic
• Pink or white oaktag
• Pink leotard, tights, and ballet slippers
• Tools: A hot-glue gun, glue sticks, and scissors.

*Available at party-supply stores: It's pleated at the top, with double-sided tape along the back of the pleating. Or use a plastic tablecloth and double-sided tape.

1. Cut a length of table skirting twice as wide as your child's waist.
2. Gather waistband every 3 inches and press tape together to secure.
3. Cover tape along inside of waistband with ribbon, leaving 8 inches on sides to tie skirt closed.
4. Cut pleated top off excess table skirting and attach to skirt's plain hem for a ruffled look.

1. Fold tulle in half lengthwise.
2. Fold in half crosswise and cut a slit for the neck along the short fold. A
3. ttach middle of rickrack to back of leotard neck.
4. Slip tulle over child's head and tie on by crisscrossing rickrack around your child's chest and tying it around waist, as shown.

1. Lay faux fur over your child's shoulders to determine size needed. T
2. rim excess, then glue raw edges under.
3. Glue loops of elastic on the underside of each end of the stole to slip onto your child's arms.

1. From oaktag, cut out a 15-inch-tall triangle with a curved bottom as wide as the circumference of your child's head.
2. Twist the triangle into a cone, then glue the edges together to form the hat.
3. Embellish with extra tulle.

1. Cut sleeves off white sweatshirt. Turn in-side out and fold in and glue raw edges. Cut out and glue black felt spots on sweatshirt.
2. Cut a small slit in waistband and neckband and use large safety pin to pull 1-yard piece of 1/4-inch elastic through each. Tie ends together (try on child to make sure it's not tight).
3. Hat: Turn one cutoff sleeve inside out; glue one end closed. Turn right side out, place on child's head, and cut to appropriate length, leaving an extra inch. Fold in and glue raw edges.
4. Ears: Cut two large teardrop shapes out of other sleeve. Cut two smaller pink felt teardrops and glue to smooth side of white teardrops.
5. Pinch round ends and glue to hat, as shown above. Glue Poly-Fil between ears.
6. Add white long-sleeve tee or turtleneck, black gloves, and black leggings or tights.

• Adult-size yellow sweatshirt
• 5 yards 1-inch-wide orange rickrack
• 18 inches orange ribbon
• 4 small paper plates
• 1/2 yard orange felt
• Orange poster board
• 1 Ping-Pong ball, cut in half
• 2 google eyes
• Orange, yellow, or striped long johns

1. Cut sleeves off sweatshirt. Fold in and glue raw edges.
2. Glue rickrack to sweat-shirt at 2-inch intervals.
3. Slit neckband in back center. Thread ribbon into neck- band to tie closed once costume is on.

1. Trim a crescent shape off one edge of each plate to make a flat side.
2. Glue orange felt to tops of each plate.
3. Glue 2 plates together, side by side, then repeat with remaining plates.
4. Glue bottoms together to create a fin.
5. Glue rickrack around round edges of plates.
6. Glue fin to bottom back of sweatshirt.

1. Cut an 8-inch cross section from one sweatshirt sleeve. Fold bottom edge in and glue it down. 
2. Cut two triangles out of orange poster board and glue together. Glue rickrack along two sides. Slip bare side into top opening of sweatshirt-hat and glue seam closed. 
3. Glue Ping-Pong-ball halves onto circles of orange felt. Glue google eyes to center of Ping-Pong-ball halves. Glue Ping-Pong-ball eyes to hat. 
4. Cut 2 teardrop shapes out of orange felt and glue narrow ends to the sides of the hat, behind eyes, to create fins.

• 3 yards black nylon webbing
• 1 yard self-adhesive Velcro
• 6 metallic scouring pads
• 2-liter plastic soda bottle
• 1 sports-bottle lid
• Silver spray paint
• 4 inches black rubber tubing
• 18 inches cord-keeper tube

• Black hooded sweatshirt
• Black tights or leggings
• Black gloves
• Plastic safety goggles

1. Cut a piece of nylon webbing 2 inches longer than your child's waist circumference. Attach Velcro pieces to each end for a belt.
2. Measure your child from front of waist, over shoulders, to back of waist. Cut two straps of webbing to this measurement. Glue one end of each piece of webbing to the center of the back of the belt, about 1/4 inch apart. Attach loose ends to front of belt, about 3 inches apart, like suspender straps.
3. Fold scouring pads into tubes and glue edges together. Glue tubes around belt to create diving weights.
4. Coat soda bottle and sports-bottle lid with spray paint and let dry, about one hour.
5. Glue a piece of webbing around bottom of soda bottle to resemble an air tank. Attach bottle to belt and straps with pieces of Velcro.
6. Wrap rubber tubing around the mouth of the soda bottle and glue ends inside cord-keeper tube.
7. Push other end of cord keeper into loop of painted sports-bottle top for a ventilator; tuck cord-keeper tube under webbing strap to hold in place.