HALLOWEEN: Last Minute Costume Ideas!

I am a HUGE fan of Halloween. I know a lot of people hate putting effort into costumes and dressing up, but I will be the first to admit that I love it. Maybe it stems from my family and how we used to put on a haunted house in our garage that attracted over 400 kids a year. It was pretty aggressive but man was it fun!

When I was younger, my mom also used to make my costumes using the good old sewing machine and fitting me every few hours as she plugged away on the tedious creation that we had agreed on. Now that I'm a functioning adult, I'm left to my own devices. I'll admit, I can't sew for the life of me but I refuse to buy a costume from a party store. Yes, it's easy and convenient but in my opinion, it takes all the fun out of it! I would much rather hunt around for obscure items and let the creative juices flow.

So, after three years of mixers and opportunities to dress up in college, I've become pretty savvy about the costumes I wear. For example, last year I was a cat for four separate parties. I invested in a leotard and amazing shiny spandex from American Apparel and also a gold leotard (used for a Call On Me girl costume). It cost me a little over $100 but I've been able to use all three pieces several times for various different events.

This year I didn't want to reuse the cat idea again (even though I did for a last minute Halloween bar crawl), but I decided that I would create my costume out of the things I already had. Naturally, the leotard and spandex came out to play, but instead of being accompanied by cat ears and feline makeup, I attached a feather boa, and painted a white stripe down my face: voila! A skunk. It was super easy and the best part was playing around with makeup and face paint.

If you are still struggling with what to be for Halloween, take a cue from the pictures below and dig through your closet before going out and spending an exorbitant amount of money on a one-time wear.