Last Minute Halloween Costume Ideas

Last minute Halloween costumes are easy to create with a little material gathered from around the house, and a lot of imagination. Sometimes your kid may suddenly decide that the eighty-dollar Transformers costume they begged for is just not quite the right thing. Or, they may spill a bottle of punch on their Sleeping Beauty outfit at one party and need a change for another.

The tried and true costumes are sometimes the best. For younger children, the ghost outfit is easy and quick to pull off - simply cut a few holes in a sheet and use a headband to anchor it so they can see through the eye holes. For small toddlers, cut a hole just big enough to go over their head, trim the hem so they don't fall, and use Mom's powder puff to give their little face a ghostly appearance.

A cowboy or cowgirl outfit is also a favorite. Stuff the brim of a cowboy hat if you don't have a child-sized one on hand, and use brown construction paper to cut boot outlines which can be taped to regular tennis shoes. Add a lasso made of a bathrobe tie, and your little dude or dudette is ready for the open range.

You can create a cat outfit by gluing black construction paper ears to a headband and stuffing a long black sock with rags to form a tail. Paint on whiskers with an eyebrow pencil and you are done. You can create a dog the same way, using brown construction paper to make droopy ears, and creating a shorter tail. You can even make paws out of construction paper and tape them to the shirt-cuffs.

These last minute Halloween costume ideas can really save a little kid's holiday plans, and make them happy to join the horde of trick-or-treaters looking for an easy score. Just remember that fun is the goal, and unless you are entering a costume competition, competing with other kids is not the point.