Halloween costumes for less

“One year for Halloween I went trick-or-treating dressed as a table...yes, a table. But not just any table. Mine was set to perfection with everything from plastic plates & cups to cardboard food products and napkins and a fancy tablecloth. I had so many positive comments about it and, I must say, it had to have been one of the simplest costumes ever to put together. An added bonus was that no one saw my big lumpy jacket I had on underneath it!"
Julie Wirth, Ontario

“My favorite costume for Halloween is a fisherman. I borrow my father's hip waders, my husband's flannel shirt and a floppy hat. The topper is a mustache drawn on with pencil eyeliner, and of course I bush up the eyebrows with the same thing. I carry a fishing rod with blowup fish we got at Subway a few years ago. Costume complete! It's a really fun costume, and quite easy to dance in. I've stopped conversation when entering the women's bathroom – they weren't sure... what with the mustache and all."
Darleen McCartney

“A costume that makes a big impact but requires a small investment of time and money is a Jelly Bean Bag. All you need is some heavy duty gauge clear plastic, black leotards, a black top, (or colour of your choice), small colourful balloons, and draw string or elastic for casing."

Instructions:
1.Take the heavy gauge plastic and have someone fit it loosely around your torso. (From the neck to the bottom of the buttocks)
2. Sew up a side seam, sew a casing at the neck and at the bottom and insert the elastic or draw string of some sort.
3. Step into the now large bag. Start filling the bag while in it, having someone help you, with small, colourful, blown-up balloons all around closing the bottom once the bag becomes full.
4. Close the neck and PRESTO! You're now a jelly bean bag.
I once won First Prize at a Halloween Party, there's only one draw back, you need a bar stool to sit down periodically, as a full back chair can be quite difficult to sit in."
Robin Luckhurst, New Brunswick

“My friend did this one: the wind-blown look - lots of gel and hairspray so his hair stood all out to one side, stuck a wire coat hanger through his tie and bent it out to the side as well. I think it was starch that he used in his shirt. The overall effect was that it looked like he was walking through a very windy day."
Sandra Corkum

“One year I went as a 'little white lie'. It was a very fun costume! I just bought some white tyvek coveralls from a paint store (very cheap!), and wrote a bunch of little white lies all over them with marker. I also belted a marker to my waist so that people at the party I was attending could add more lies to my costume. It was great for interaction, and a lot of fun to read the next day. You sure get to meet a lot of people and have a great time."
Shari Weech, British Columbia

A great adult costume that we have made a couple of times with friends is a 6 pack of beer. Last year we got yellow Cori-plast (plasticized corregated cardboard), two sheets each 4 ' by 8 '. We then used a German beer label as a guide and drew on the cardboard to replicate the label (with giant permanent markers in red/black/blue). We folded the ends in to enclose the case and cut small hand holds to glue on the inside. We each wore a pie plate on our heads to resemble a beer cap and wore brown pants with Beer T-shirts to look like bottles. Lots of laughs getting in and out of parties inside the case and we usually do one dance together inside the case before the "6-pak" gets broken up for the night!
Deb Durocher, British Columbia

"One year we went as an old blind lady and her dog. My husband was the old lady which was easy to costume and I went as the dog. We had a dog costume but it would be fairly easy to make one using a brown jumpsuit with a tail pinned to it and a dog mask. Put a leash on the dog and away you go."
Gwen Pellerin, Saskatchewan

“Easy, easy costume: take an old coat (I used a mechanic's type shop coat bought from the flea market). Eat a lot of those small cereals - and save the boxes! Attach the boxes to the coat with stapler - place a plastic knife coming out of each box in the centre! What you are? A 'cereal' killer! Ha - I've worn this costume quite a few times and was a BIG HIT!"
Sandy Goba, Ontario

My favorite homemade Halloween costume was a fried egg. I got two pieces of white foam from a local hardware store, cut it into a shape of a fried egg, glued the two pieces together – leaving three unglued spots, one for it to go over my head, and the other two for my arms. I then cut a small hole in the front part for my face and one big round hole around the chest area. I found a bright yellow, shiny fabric and clued it around the inside of the large, round, cut hole, leaving enough of a gap to stuff the yellow fabric. I wore white tights, white runners, and a white turtleneck. On a footnote: I had met a nice man the weekend before; he invited me to a Halloween party and willingly helped me make the costume(s) – we went as a pair of fried eggs. I thought after only 7 days of knowing me and how willing he was to join me in such a fun, yet silly outfit, that I just had to marry him.
Anonymous

“This is from years ago. My then-boyfriend put on a western shirt and cowboy boots (both of which he already owned!) and affixed toasted bread to a western style vest. His costume? A toasted western. Cost: A loaf of bread. The next year? Same great outfit except this time the vest had pasta stuck to it. You guessed it: Spaghetti Western."
Pamela Fontaine, Ontario

“Costume: Gum stuck under the table. For this costume you need: pink pants pink shirt, hat, Styrofoam (18" x 18" approx.), brown paint and a hot glue gun. Paint the Styrofoam with the brown paint. When dry, glue the Styrofoam to the top of the hat. Dress in your pink outfit and voila – you are gum stuck under the table!"
Linda Donahue, Ontario