100 Easy Homemade Halloween Costumes for Adults to Show Their Creativity
Creative solo, group and family outfits for grown-ups and their little ghouls and gals.
The spookiest day of the year calls for some creativity. Need a fun way to exercise yours on October 31? Look no further than homemade Halloween costumes — the perfect complement to any DIY Halloween decorations and pumpkin carving ideas you may have planned to celebrate this year.
If you love a good Halloween craft and are searching for a spooky (or punny!) solo costume or family outfit, everyone from adults to babies, teens, tweens and every age in between can consider the ideas below. They're cute, silly and, in some cases, more than scary enough to win any Halloween costume contest. Some of our best ideas for couples include transforming into bandits, lumberjacks, Nintendo switches and alien-fighting characters from Men in Black. Children (toddlers included!) can transform into adorable cupcakes, plants, foxes and the tiny yellow henchman, the Minions. Even foodies will enjoy dressing as mouthwatering cookies, cakes, burritos and hot chocolate with marshmallows. And the best part of it all: Many of these DIY Halloween costumes can be made last-minute, so don't worry if you end up picking a work-appropriate or squad-approved option later than intended.
Whatever outfit you have in mind for you and the kids in your life, we hope this list gives you a head-start on the planning process. Luckily, many of the bloggers featured used simple items — cardboard, balloons, construction paper, paint and more — to put their stunning looks together. And if worse comes to worse, we have a list of the best Halloween costumes on Amazon, along with a roundup of Halloween stores and websites to buy from. Have a spook-tacular Halloween!
Best for Couples: Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake Halloween Costume
Here's an idea for the pop culture lovers out there: Recreate the iconic "Canadian tuxedo" look then-couple Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake rocked at the 2001 American Music Awards. Pull out all of your denim and don't forget to DIY your own waist chain or hot glue rhinestones to a denim handbag to complete the look.
Best for Groups: Milkshakes Halloween Costume
Gather your girl trio to don these homemade milkshake costumes that are perfect for Halloween pictures. Wear your favorite colorful dress and DIY the cherry headbands with red balloons, cardstock and white cotton batting.
Best for Families: Fruit Snacks Halloween Costume
This idea will have you craving a sugary treat. Simply hot glue felt fruits to white shirts before ironing on the "Fruit Snacks" wording. It's that simple!
Best for Kids: Ballerina Jewelry Box Halloween Costume
Blogger Vanessa transformed her daughter into an adorable pink ballerina jewelry box using Amazon Prime smile boxes, spray paint, crystal knobs and ribbon. Now all that's left to do is plié.
Best for Couples: Nintendo Switch Halloween Costume
Any gamer would get a kick out of this costume idea. Use posterboards and foam spheres to transform into Nintendo Switch controllers — one blue and one red. You might even want to consider saving these outfits for Comic-Con.
Best for Teens and Adults: 'Mean Girls' Burn Book Halloween Costume
Halloween may not fall on a Wednesday this year, but you can still wear pink, especially if you're dressing as the iconic burn book from the Mean Girls movie. You'll simply need a pink dress and printable letters.
Best for Teens: Crystal Ball Halloween Costume
What's cooler than looking into a crystal ball? A large paper-mâché version you can wear on Halloween, of course! This crystal ball costume is made out of a 36-inch balloon that's covered in spray-painted newspaper.
Best for Kids: Spellbook Halloween Costume
A spooky spellbook with a large (and creepy!) googly eye will steal the show at a Halloween costume party. Simply cut up a cardboard box and decorate it. Then, attach nylon webbing to use as the straps for your little one to wear their grimoire.
Best for Kids: Bubbles Halloween Costume
This costume idea is for kids who can't get enough of blowing bubbles. You'll need a corrugated cardboard roll and blue foam to make the body and clear balloons for the bubbles.
Best for Couples and Teens: 'Stranger Things' Halloween Costume
Season 5 will be the last time we see the Hawkins gang. That's why Halloween is the perfect time to dress as Mike and Eleven from the Stranger Things cast. Remember to carry frozen toaster waffles wherever you go!
Best for Adults: Medusa Costume Halloween Costume
Don't worry: These "snakes" won't turn your friends into stone. Blow up and attach balloons to your hair and clothes using bobby pins. Use a range of blue and green shades to replicate the reptilian creatures, and top it off with a few rubber snakes.
Best for Adults: Bop It Halloween Costume
If you're a '90s kid, you may remember the classic Bop It game, where you follow the voice directions to pull, twist and push the handles and buttons. Using a large foam half-sphere and acrylic paint, you can transform into this nostalgic childhood device.
Best for Kids: Bird Halloween Costume
Turn your child into an eye-catching bird with striking wings to match. You need a white shirt and leggings, a white mask form, a cardboard box, white and metallic silver cupcake liners, white coffee filters, and tape (double stick tape, gaff tape or strong duct tape).
Follow these steps to make your own:
- Fold the cupcake liners and coffee filters in half.
- Cut out two oval wing shapes out of your cardboard box.
- Starting on one side, attach the coffee filters with tape, while overlapping them to create a ‘feathered’ look. Splay it out on one end to create a wing shape.
- Add in smaller cupcake liners for extra texture and make sure to mix in a few silver liners so sections pop.
- Make a tube out of cardboard and use gaff tape to secure it to the back of the 'wing.'
- Hide the cardboard base by covering the backside of the wing with more coffee filters and cupcake liners.
- Repeat steps 3-6 for the other wing.
- Use tape to layer small-folded cupcake liners on your white mask form to create the tighter/smaller feathers that would be on a bird’s face.
Best for All: Disco Ball Halloween Costume
You'll be the center of attention in this costume, which comes together with a cardboard box and some aluminum foil.
To make:
- Cut two large circles from the cardboard box.
- Spray paint both sides of the circles with silver spray paint and let dry completely.
- While this dries, cut out 1"x2" foil rectangles.
- Tear 1/2" wide strips of duct tape and place foil rectangles on the sticky side, so the majority of the foil hangs off (so it looks like a banner of flags).
- Starting at the bottom, stick the tape/foil banner across the silver cardboard circle, so the layer above overlaps the layer below. This will create a tiled effect.
- Trim or fold back the tape around the edge of the circle to maintain the round "disco-ball" shape.
- Complete two circles for the front and back.
- To create shoulder and chest straps, measure the length of nylon webbing needed before cutting and placing two strips of the duct tape's sticky side together.
- Tape the straps to the cardboard's front and back, so you can easily slip it over your head.
Best for All: Cassette Tape Halloween Costume
Don't throw out those cardboard boxes, seriously! This look is so effortless, you can probably pick up everything at your nearest general store.
Here are the steps:
- Cut two large rectangles from the cardboard box.
- Spray paint both sides of the circles with teal spray paint.
- While this dries, print out two copies of the cassette label template provided.
- Cut out the label and glue it to the center of the cardboard rectangles.
- Using a black permanent maker, follow the template provided to add the cassette shapes and outlines.
- To create shoulder and chest straps, measure the length of nylon webbing needed and place two strips of duct tape sticky side together.
- Tape the webbing to the cardboard front and back, so you can easily slip it over your head.
Best for Adults: Mermaid Halloween Costume
For this DIY, you'll need a green shirt and leggings, a pink wig, a green apron, and gold and green metallic cupcake liners.
Fold the cupcake liners in half. Starting at the bottom of the apron, attach the straight folded part of the cupcake liners with a line of hot glue, with the rounded part facing down. Alternate the two colors to fill the entire width of the apron. Glue another layer of cupcake liners while making sure they overlap the first line before repeating the process until you have covered the entire apron.
Best for Kids: Plant in a Basket Halloween Costume
If you're a plant lover, transforming your kids into plant babies is the perfect idea. Cut out the bottom of an old basket for them to step into (make sure it's large enough, so they'll fit). Use green construction paper as your leaves, and green straws as your stems before hot gluing them to the basket to keep your paper greenery in place. P.S. Make sure they're wearing green attire to blend in with their new look.
Best for Adults: Adult Plant Halloween Costume
A perfect matching idea! To create, cut 1.5” wide strips of light green crêpe paper and 1.75” strip of dark green. Curve the tops into points. Spread a glue stick all over a light green strip. Place a length of floral wire down the middle of the strip, and top with a strip of dark green crêpe paper. Smooth with your fingers and let dry. Curve the strips to create a leaf effect and attach to a hat with hot glue or safety pins. Fill shirt pockets with more leaves to complete the look.
Best for All: Record Halloween Costume
Once you have your cardboard box, cut two large circles from it. Spray paint both sides of the circles with black spray paint and let everything dry completely. While this dries, print out two copies of the record label template provided. Cut out the label and glue it to the center of the black cardboard circles. To create shoulder and chest straps, measure the length of nylon webbing needed and place two strips of duct tape sticky side together. Tape to the cardboard front and back, so you can easily slip it over your head. *Optional: Use the paint pen to draw on record grooves.
Best for Kids: Western Box Halloween Costume
Here's another costume for the kids! Dress them in cowgirl or cowboy attire, and DIY a horse using cardboard boxes (in this case, the blogger used Amazon Prime smile boxes). The horse and jacket were also designed using fabric paint.
Amanda Garrity is a lifestyle writer and editor with over seven years of experience, including five years on staff at Good Housekeeping, where she covered all things home and holiday, including the latest interior design trends, inspiring DIY ideas and gift guides for any (and every) occasion. She also has a soft spot for feel-good TV, so you can catch her writing about popular shows like Virgin River, Sweet Magnolias, Hallmark Channel’s When Calls the Heart and more.
Mariah Thomas (she/her) is an assistant editor for Good Housekeeping, where she covers home and lifestyle content. Mariah has more than four years of editorial experience, having written for TLC, Apartment Therapy, Women's Health and Avocado Magazine. She received her master's degree in journalism at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and published her first book, Heart and Soul: Poems of Thoughts and Emotions, in 2019. She's also the founder of RTF Community, a platform for creatives of color to connect, learn and showcase their work.
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