Tell me you’re a crafty mom without telling me you’re a crafty mom. ::Inserts all the baby Halloween costumes here.:: Sharing some fun and mostly simple DIY Halloween costumes you can try with your little. If you’ve been following along, you’ll know I’m a big fan of using clothes we already have for costumes, and accessorizing with handmade felt pieces or unique finds. After all, a good costume is all in the details!
1. Panda Bebe Swap.
For Bebe’s first year we took monthly Bebe photos with Panda so we thought it would be a good idea for them to dress up as each other. For Bebe’s look I gathered a black sweater, white onesie, black pants, and panda ear clips from Kritter Klips (yes, I already had these in my stash). For Panda, a bib, teether clip, bonnet, and diaper – a classic Bebe look.
2. Tommy Pickles.
Hubby and I grew up watching Rugrats so it made sense that a basic blue tee in our little’s wardrobe would spark this idea. For the Tommy Pickles look I used a tea towel to create the oversized diaper (tied with knots on both hips) and added yellow felt for the diaper tabs (adhered with double sided tape). The only thing missing was Tommy’s bald head.
3. Retro Olympian.
My Mom dug up some of my old baby things including my 1984 Olympics outfit plus duffel bag. I originally wanted to have a Summer Olympics photoshoot with Bebe but, life, so Halloween costume it was! I found bronze, silver, and gold teethers (from Mushie) to complete the look. We took photos poolside. Gotta bite that Olympic gold!
4. Bruno Mars.
This was highly inspired by a button-down top Bebe received from a friend. When we saw it we immediately thought of dressing him up as Bruno Mars tropical luxury style. Add a hat, gold jewelry, some plants, and a fancy drink to complete the look.
5. Pumpkin + Award Winning Pumpkin Farmers.
I think it’s a rule that your baby needs to dress as a pumpkin for their first Halloween. For this costume I bought a pumpkin suit from Mini Ollie and took lots of photos with a styled pumpkin scene. I wanted to make it a family affair and dress up like farmers, but only half pulled it off with my jumpsuit fit.
6. Best-Teas.
And lastly, the family costume I did pull off for this first Halloween: a family of milk tea! “Best-Teas” if you will. I collected all the beigey-brown clothes and created felt tapioca balls and straws.
I attached the boba with double sided tape for the grown up costumes (my usual choice because it’s easy and won’t damage your clothes if you want to continue wearing them as everyday clothes) and hot glued them on for Bebe so he wouldn’t pull them off or eat tape (though he did end up chewing on some!).
For the straws I used cereal boxes wrapped in felt, and attached them to a headband.
The plan was to get boba on Halloween in costume and take a family photo. We did it!
7. Pumpkin Part Deux: A Pumpkin on the Loose!
By Bebe’s second Halloween we had a walker! So I started to plan costumes around Halloween events. We kicked off Halloween weekend with a pumpkin trot around town. We visited a local preschool’s pumpkin promenade. It was only fitting for him to be a pumpkin again. I thought it would be fun for him to try on his pumpkin costume from the previous year. It sort of still fit! This year we paired with under-pants.
8. Tortoise and the Hare.
The inspiration for this costume was my kid’s Briar Baby rabbit hat and Squishable carrot plushie. I found sweatbands and a Goumi Kids two-piece lounge set to complete the the hare look. Plus turtle shirt and turtle shell backpack for the tortoise. The original idea was a family affair: a tortoise (Hubby), a hare (kid), and a finish line flag (me), but I ended up with an eye injury (and at the ER) and cancelled one of our Halloween events, so the little and I dressed up as tortoise and the hare to go to the post office.
9. Tiger King.
I’ve never watched the show, but heard all the hype; and the little was gifted this animatronic tiger (a hand me down from our close friends!). Enter: Tiger King. I ordered animal print tops, wrote on a hat with Sharpie, grabbed one of my flower crowns and a gem-y necklace, and we went trick-or-treating as Joe Exotic and Carole Baskin in the Elmwood shopping district.
10. Ali Wong / Sheng Wang.
My little has long hair and when I saw Sheng Wang’s Netflix special I had to Halloween-ify it! We didn’t get to wear these outfits to an event (::ahem:: that year’s eye injury) but I still have to share it. The only item of clothing we had for this costume idea were the kid jeans. I sourced a yellow top and glasses for the Sheng Wang look, and a white top, black bottoms, glasses, and a giant pin for the Ali Wong look. Accessorize with a microphone and viola! Perhaps we could make this look happen this year. 🙂 Photo from UPI.
11. Cocomelon.
We did get a family costume in for Bebe’s second Halloween. We dressed as three characters from Cocomelon – a then current favorite show. My kid went as the mascot/icon. I found the perfect green two-piece and made the Cocomelon watermelon face out of felt, and the antenna with a headband, chenille stems, and felt balls. He had the green sunnies in his sunnies collection (from Hipster Kid) and we added a Squishable ladybug plush to our collection to complete the outfit. Hubby went as Momo the mouse. He wore his grey sweatpants and hoodie (inside out to hide the logo on the chest), and I made ears and a tail out of felt. I went as Cece and sported a pink top with felt kitten cut out, pink pants with felt paw prints, yellow tutu, and pink pom pom hair ties. We entered a local Halloween costume contest / fashion show and went trick-or-treating in the neighborhood.
12. Pumpkin Part Tois with Mama Mushroom.
For Halloween 2023 we went to Annie’s Annuals for self-service trick-or-treating and crafts. The previous years’ pumpkin outfit fit as a top. This year I added orange long sleeves and pants, rainboots, and me as a mushroom (See mushroom hat DIY here.)! Fitting for a nursery hang.
13. Pirate Fam!
And by now you get the idea – I’ll try to squeeze in at least one family costume each year. For this third Halloween we went at mate-yss. The little donned a pirate hat and waist sash, I stripes, and Hubby kept it simple with all black. I made felt skull and crossbones accessories to tie our costumes together. You might also note that by this year we’ve gone down from six to two costumes, due mostly in part to my little wanting to be a pirate for all the Halloween festivities. We got good use out of this costume! We went to Fairyland for their Halloween event (They had a giant spider scavenger hunt and mostly non-candy treats!), day of trick or treating, and to a friend’s Halloween party all in pirate attire.
What are you dressing up as this year? Share below!
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