How to Make a Cheap Ice Bucket Challenge Costume for Halloween

With over 2 million uploaded videos and over 28 million people who had talked about it online by the end of August, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge was the most viral social media event of 2014. Its popularity provided the ALS Association with $115 million in donations to date, with everyone from students to veterans to celebrities contributing.

But the ALS Association also got a lot of criticism for its distribution of the funds for actual amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (aka Lou Gehrig's Disease) research and for unintentionally promoting "slacktivism," where people care more about getting attention themselves than the actual cause.

Thanks to both its positive and negative attention, the Ice Bucket Challenge is sure to be one of the most viral 2014 Halloween costumes, and there are both store-bought and DIY options to choose from.

Ice Bucket Challenge Costumes for Sale

The first company to make an Ice Bucket Challenge costume was Brands On Sale. The costume is basically a water bucket, fake water (think transparent shower curtain), and ice cube tray. It currently goes for $39.99 plus tax and shipping, bringing the grand total to $50+ with up to 7-day standard shipping. Express 2-day shipping will bring that total up to $80.

In addition to that costume, you can also find an Ice Bucket Challenge headband on Etsy for about $17 and a seriously lame bucket with silver streamers and water balloons from Buy Costumes for about $20.

How to Make a Cheap Ice Bucket Challenge Costume for Halloween — (1) Brands On Sale version, (2) Etsy version, (3) Buy Costumes version

However, all of these costumes are too pricey for what they are. You can make your own Ice Bucket Challenge costume for way less and in a small amount of time.

DIY Ice Bucket Challenge Costumes

ThreadBanger has a great guide on making a cheap version using a bucket, plastic drop cloth, blue Sharpie marker, industrial-strength tape, a cheap bicycle helmet, screws, clear fishing line, glue, and paint. The most expensive part about this costume is the LED ice cubes, which you can use or not (Styrofoam is a good cheap alternative). The best thing about this one is the helmet, which means no holding a bucket over you head all night long.

If you don't care about holding a bucket over your head, you can try out the Pins and Things version below. It's more like the Brands On Sale costume, but much, much cheaper.