Make your own Halloween costume

Which Halloween costumes for kids can I make myself?

The most popular classic costumes for kids probably include vampire, mummy, spider and pumpkin. These spooky costumes are easy to make and assemble yourself – with our instructions you'll find out how.

Why do we dress up in a Halloween costume?

Halloween symbolizes the start of the dark season and originally comes from the Irish Celts. They believed that on Halloween night ghosts visit our world. With scary disguises the Celts camouflaged themselves to make the ghosts believe they were dead as well. The bravest of the disguised set themselves the task to frighten and drive them away.

A little vampire

Halloween schminken | Junge als Vampir verkleidet und geschminkt

You need:

black pants or skirt
white shirt or T-shirt
white, black & red face paint
black scarf or fabric for the cape
safety pin or brooch
red watercolor paint
paintbrush
hair gel

How to:

Black pants or a black skirt form the basis for the spooky vampire costume. Your child should wear a white T-shirt or a shirt with it. The shirt looks scariest with a stand-up collar – like Count Dracula!
Before putting on the shirt or top, you can add some drops of blood to it. For this take the red watercolor paint, thin it with a little water and drip it onto the shirt with a brush.
After dressing, it's time for makeup. Paint your child's face completely white with theatrical makeup. Outline the eyes with black makeup for dark shadows. This makes your little vampire look even hungrier and thirstier for blood! Paint the lips red. From the corners of the mouth downward, paint small red lines representing trickling blood.
Comb the hair back firmly with hair gel. For a little vampire girl you can also style the hair wildly or pin it up elegantly.
The Halloween costume is completed with a black cape. You can make this yourself easily by arranging a scarf or a large piece of fabric around the shoulders and fastening it at the front. You can use an old brooch or safety pins for this. Be careful that your child does not injure themselves on the pin.

Spooky mummy

Halloween Verkleidung | Junge als Mumie im Gesicht geschminkt und verkleidet

You need:

white or beige T-shirt and leggings
gauze bandages, linen cloths or toilet paper (however, it dissolves quickly)
black tea or coffee
hot glue gun
needle & thread or safety pins
black & white theatrical makeup

Here's how:

Dilute the tea or coffee with some water and soak the gauze bandages or linen cloths in it. Then hang them up to dry. If you use toilet paper, you should spray the liquid onto the paper only gently so that it does not dissolve. Of course, you can also leave it white.
After everything has dried, attach the dyed fabrics in places to an old T-shirt and pants with hot glue and safety pins. Alternatively, you can sew them on by hand. Leave some fabric for the head.
Paint your child's face with white makeup and outline the eyes in black. If you smudge the color a little, the face will match the creepy rest of the costume.
Now wrap a gauze bandage or toilet paper around the head and your little mummy is ready for the candy hunt.

Cute pumpkin

You need:

orange T-shirt, a few sizes too big
green leggings
a small pillow
brown felt-tip pen or fabric paint
wide, green crepe paper
green makeup
masking tape
optional artificial ivy vines and hot glue

How to:

From the collar to the hem, draw brown lines on the T-shirt with the felt-tip pen or fabric paint to represent the grooves of the pumpkin.
If you want to attach ivy vines to the shirt, fasten them with the hot glue gun.
Now your child can simply put on the prepared T-shirt and the leggings. Tuck the small pillow under the T-shirt.
Then secure the T-shirt at the waist with masking tape so that the "pumpkin filling", i.e. the pillow, doesn't shift.
Paint your little pumpkin's face green and make a hat out of the crepe paper: wrap the paper around the head and let the rest stick up. Twist this remaining part together and the pumpkin head and your Halloween costume are ready.

Gross spider

You need:

4 black knee socks
old newspaper
safety pins (about 10)
fishing line
googly eyes in different sizes
black beanie, long-sleeve shirt, pants, socks & shoes
hot glue or superglue

Here's how:

Stuff the socks with the newspaper and then place two socks next to the shirt so that the heels point up. You can now attach the spider legs with needle and thread or with two safety pins each.
Connect the spider legs to each other and to the sleeve of the shirt using fishing line. This way your child can move the spider legs when they raise their arms.
Now decorate the hat with the googly eyes. Hot glue works best for this.
Now just put everything on. You may need to help your child put on the top a little so that the "legs" don't get tangled. And that's the creepy spider costume!

Makeup for a Halloween look – complement or alternative to the costume

Halloween mit Kindern | Mutter schminkt Tochter mit Halloween-Motiven

With a bit of makeup you can perfectly complement Halloween costumes and round them off. This makes the whole disguise even more eerie and your child can wonderfully scare the neighbors when going door to door with friends and collecting candy. Whether a bloodsucking vampire, pale zombie or creepy skeleton – the Halloween makeup makes a big difference and in most cases is quite easy to apply.

If time is short or you don't have the necessary things at home to make a Halloween costume yourself, the makeup completely replace a costume – and still achieve a spooky effect! Another advantage: It is usually a bit cooler outside on Halloween. While a costume disappears under the cozy warm jacket, the eerily made-up face is still visible.

Making Halloween masks

Does your child prefer no makeup on the face, then a Halloween mask is just right. That way nothing smears and the mask can be taken off and put back on at will while eating or playing. You can also very easily make the masks yourself – there are no limits to your ideas and your child's wishes. We have great instructions for you on how you can make Halloween masks yourself.

Make Halloween masks

Ghost, witch & co: last-minute Halloween costumes for kids

Halloween Spiele | Kind steht vor einem als Gespenst verkleidet

Ghost from a bedsheet: What is creepier than a little ghost haunting the neighborhood? With an old bedsheet, in which a few holes are cut for eyes, nose and mouth, the ghost costume for Halloween is quickly made.

Witch on a broom: A witch costume you can easily make with things from your household create. A colorful skirt, a dark top, messy hair, possibly some makeup from mom and of course a broom – then your child can 'ride' around hunting for sweets.

Creep factor with watercolor paints: You're sure to have a set of watercolor paints. With the paints you can create many great effects on old clothes : With red you can create "drops of blood" on an old T-shirt, with brown and black you can make gauze bandages quickly dirty and wonderfully creepy.