DIY Halloween Costumes « Halloween Ideas

How To: These Free Printable Masks Are About as Lazy as Halloween Costumes Can Get

You told yourself you wouldn't be one of those lame people who throws on a mask and shows up at costume parties, but here we are a day before Halloween and you still have nothing. Unless you want to endure endless ridicule, you can't skip dressing up altogether, but if you don't want to buy a pre-made costume your options are pretty limited.

How To: Print Out These Emoji Cutouts for the Easiest Halloween Costume Ever

Emojis have transformed the way we laugh and cry, tell stories, give responses, and express excitement to get a drink after work — without any actual text required. Heck, in an incredibly meta move, the Oxford Dictionary even named the "Face with Tears of Joy" emoji as their word of the year at one point. So how could you not want to be an emoji character for Halloween? Emojis are everywhere. The ubiquitous symbols are already on smartphones, tablets, and social networks, so why not help them...

How To: Build Your Own DIY Star-Lord Guardians of the Galaxy Mask

Star-Lord may not have been a household name prior to the release of Guardians of the Galaxy, but you can sure count on a flood of kids and adults alike wanting to dress up as Chris Pratt's character this year for Halloween.

How To: Transform into Eleven from 'Stranger Things' for Halloween (Costume & Makeup Guide)

Since its debut, retro thriller Stranger Things and its characters have become ingrained in our popular culture — especially the telekinetic Eleven. For cosplayers, it didn't take long before they grabbed their boxes of frozen Eggo waffles, blonde wigs (or bald caps), and pink smocked dresses to transform into El herself.

How To: DIY Call of Duty "Ghosts" Skull Mask: Halloween Achievement Unlocked

Call of Duty may be one of the best video game franchises ever, but I doubt you'll see very many people dressed up as COD characters this Halloween. As awesome as the games are, there just aren't any memorable characters when it comes to looks—besides one.

How To: Make a Living Rorschach Mask with Morphing Inkblots

Watchmen may be old(ish) news, but cheap and legit costumes never go out of style. Easily the most sought after character for Halloween (it might be a little cold outside if your hoping to pull off Dr. Manhattan), Rorschach with his trench coast and splotch-filled mask make for a cheap, easy, and instantly recognizable costume for this coming Halloween.

How To: Build a LEGO Man Costume for Halloween

If you need a Halloween costume posthaste, you really can't go wrong with a LEGO man costume. And one made from cardboard that is fully functional, well, you'll probably win the "Best Costume" contest hands down. Not only will this mecha-esque costume wow everyone you meet, but it eliminates the need to apply Halloween makeup, style your hair, and get your outfit just so. With a LEGO man costume, you're ready to roll.

How To: Yard Waste = Free Halloween Costume: How to Make Creepy Masks from Fallen Palm Tree Fronds

I want my Halloween costume to take as little effort as possible and be cheap—extremely cheap. That means I don't want to pay 50 bucks for some costume online or spend all day playing with liquid latex, and I most definitely do not want to visit a super crowded costume store in Hollywood.

How To: Build Ant-Man's Helmet & Suit for Halloween

Ant-Man isn't one of the most famous Marvel superheroes. In fact, with the news of his individual movie came great doubt that the comic book legends could succeed in telling the tiny story of an oddball hero on the big screen. Yet with its humor and unique story, Ant-Man has become a hit movie in its own right—and the hero will most certainly make a hit Halloween costume.

How To: Make a Cardboard Captain America Shield for Halloween

As if Captain America: The First Avenger wasn't awesome enough, Marvel hit us with Captain America: The Winter Soldier this year, and it was even more spectacular than its predecessor. Grossing nearly $260 million in domestic sales, it's safe to say America loves Captain America and we'll probably get a heavy dose of Captain costumes this year for Halloween. Anyone can buy a costume from the store, but what will help set you apart from everyone else is a badass DIY Captain America shield, unm...

How To: Make a 'Thor - Ragnarok' Costume That Will Rock Halloween

You can bet Thor costumes will be prominent among the superheroes seen this Oct. 31. Since the summer, there has been no shortage of coverage for Thor: Ragnarok, and the timing of its November release couldn't be better as a tie-in with the cosplaying holiday known as Halloween. This year, the success of pulling off the Thor costume will rely on how well your new Thor helmet looks, which as it happens, you can DIY at home, using a few simple supplies and perhaps a trip or two to the craft and...

Last-Minute Halloween Quickie: 100+ Free Printable Masks

If you've run out of time for all of our more time-consuming Halloween costume ideas, here are some places on the web for free, downloadable paper masks. There must be at least 100 options among these links to satisfy your last-minute costume needs! Just download, print, and cut 'em out to the appropriate size, then either glue a stick/handle on or tie some elastic string on.

How To: Make an Easy, Last-Minute Polygon Mask for Halloween

Halloween is one of those things that always seems to sneak up on you before you're prepared, so if you don't have tons of free time to make your own kickass costume, you might have to throw together something a little more last minute.

How To: Build the Ultimate DIY RoboCop Helmet with Cardboard

"Dead or alive, you're coming with me!" That iconic quote from the 1987 movie RoboCop was repeated by kids like me for years. The 2014 reboot introduced the baddest robot-cop on the planet to new audiences worldwide. While it didn't live up to the amazingly high expectations set by its predecessors, RoboCop 2014 did show off some newly upgraded gear. The modern look is cool and all, but rolling to a party rocking the 1987 helmet with the retro visor cannot be beat. With Halloween coming up, i...

Double-Take: 11 Optical Illusion-Based Costumes for the Creative & Crafty

Every year, some overly ambitious neighbor down the street amazes the crowds with his DIY illusion costume. While these costumes certainly require more work than pulling a mask over your head, they do have that wow factor that others lack.

Be Yourself for Halloween: Enlarge Your Head with This Bigheaded DIY Self-Portrait Mask

Have you ever come across somebody on the streets looking like this? Pretty freaky, especially if it's not Halloween. But you know what, Halloween is almost here, so freaky is good. Thanks to creative folks like Eric Testroete and Bhautik Joshi, you can now create an awesome papercraft portrait of your own head for Halloween this year.

How To: Fashion a 'Star Wars' Rey Costume for Halloween

"I'm Rey." That's what a lot of people will be saying again this Halloween, as Rey costumes are sure to be another favorite of trick-or-treaters and cosplayers. Yes, on Oct. 31 we all have a chance to be the scavenger of Jakku who just so happens to be the "new hope" for a Jedi renaissance.

Beauty & the Beast: How to Create a Belle Costume for Halloween

This Halloween, Belle costumes will be out in full force as devoted Beauty and the Beast fans represent the tale as old as time. Not only was the live-action version of the animated classic the top-grossing film of 2017 (so far), it's also likely to be a contender during awards season. If you're too swept up in all things Beauty, then a Belle costume may just be the look for you this Oct. 31.

Be Maleficent for Halloween: DIY Horns, Dress & Makeup for Cheap

Casting Angelina Jolie as Maleficent was a no-brainer on Disney's part. No one else could project beauty, elegance, and fear simultaneously just like the animated villain in Sleeping Beauty did. But what sets the character apart from other evil witches, or any other Disney character for that matter, is the sinister, yet gorgeous-looking horns and headdress. And with news that a Maleficent sequel is currently in the works, this will surely be a great Halloween costume this year.

How To: Become an "Alice in Wonderland" Character for Halloween

Alice in Wonderland has been around since 1865, when Charles Lutwidge Dodgson penned the novel under his pseudonym, Lewis Carroll. The classic story follows Alice on her journey down the rabbit hole and into a fantasy world full of anthropomorphic creatures, like the White Rabbit, Caterpillar, Cheshire Cat, Hatter, Duchess and Queen of Hearts.