Caruso's Halloween Week ~ DIY Costumes

Are you sick of going as a witch for Halloween? Don’t have the money to spend on a new costume? Don’t fret! A lot of people this year are making their own costumes using supplies you can find around the house. Plus another advantage of making your own costume is you’ll be the only one with it! So take the plunge! Make your own costume this year with these easy directions & you'll save time and money!

Bubblegum Stuck to a Shoe: Raid your closet and find a pink pair of leggings, a pink tee-shirt, and an old (but clean) shoe or flip-flop that you're willing to part with. Glue the shoe, bottom-side down, to a wide headband. Use a can of pink temporary hair color on your hair. After it dries, put on the headband you just made. Paint your nails a wild pink color and accessorize with pink bangles and necklaces.

Greek God/Goddess: Find an old white bed sheet and wrap it around your body length-wise one and a half times. Take the remainder of the fabric and throw it over your shoulder. Secure the fabric over your shoulder with a pretty gold brooch and cinch in your waist with a gold braided or chain belt to make sure your toga doesn't come undone. Use some fake ivy from your local craft store and glue it to a skinny headband. Find a pair of gold gladiator sandals and slip them on.

Scuba Diver: Use swim trunks and a swim shirt as the basis for the outfit, then add on air tanks made from two empty 2-liter soda bottles, duct tape, and clear plastic tubing. Make the walking-friendly flippers with crafts foam, and add a swim mask wired with crafts-foam coral and fish.


Beauty Queen: Make the upper portion of the "gown" by decking out a pink T-shirt with ribbon bows and arranging stick-on jewels around the neckline. For the bottom portion, fold two yards of tulle in half and sew the edges to a ribbon waistband. Cut wide ribbon and sew ends together at a diagonal to make the sash, and adorn it with letters traced onto and cut from sticky felt. Complete the ensemble with inexpensive purchased items including long gloves from a costume shop or department store, a dress-up tiara, play jewelry, and a bouquet of inexpensive silk flowers.



Mad Scientist: It's simple to complete the Dr. Jekyll-like transformation by spiking up your trick-or-treater's hair with colored hair spray and giving him oversize black glasses and a loosely knotted tie to wear. Fill small plastic vials with colored water and slip them into the coat pockets to complete this experiment gone awry.



Chef: With a dash of creativity and a sprinkling of fun, it's easy to whip up this chef costume for a boy or girl. Mimic the look of chef pants with patterned pajama pants and pair them with a matching T-shirt. Purchase a plain denim apron and decorate it with bits of jumbo rickrack, then spell out a saying such as "Yummm" on a plain chef hat using letters cut from adhesive-back felt. Accessorize the costume with a variety of kitchen tools, a rolling pin, a cleaver made from crafts foam, and a metal mixing bowl for treats. Toss in some faux vegetables to add to the recipe

The American tourist: For a guy - loud Hawaii shirt, shorts (if weather permits), large straw hat. For a girl - bright loud dress, flats, big sun hat, straw bag. Don't forget to have a camera, and maps hanging out, and that look of being lost. Guys can use a tourist bag, (like you get from travel agents, and gals can use the straw bag for their treats.

Basket of laundry...clean or dirty:Wear sweat pants and sweatshirt if it is cold. Tights and a turtleneck if you will be in a warm building. Take an inexpensive (thin) plastic laundry basket and cut a hole in the bottom that you can fit through. Make it small enough so that is "sits" on your hips after you pull it over your head. Fill basket with laundry and pin a few dryer softener sheets to your sweatshirt.

1960s Hippy: This one is hard, after all its all back in style! What is real, and what is costume? ;-) Tie die clothing, long wig, sandals, and headband, anything with fringe on it (vests, purse...) light colored sun glasses.

Nerd. Slick back the hair, grab some paints that are too short, white shirt, white socks, penny loafers, or lace up oxfords, pocket protector, with lots of pens, dark rim glasses (don't forget to tape the corner, or at least paper clip it) briefcase, or backpack for treat bag.









And thank you for making me Your Orange County Real Estate Connection.

www.MichaelCarusoRealEstate.com

Best regards,

Michael Caruso, Broker ABR ABRM CLHMS CRB CRS GREEN GRI

Past President, Orange County Association of Realtors (949) 753-7900