Make your own Halloween costume

Which Halloween costumes for children can I make myself?

Among the most popular classic costumes for children are probably vampire, mummy, spider and pumpkin. These spooky costumes can be easily made and put together yourself – with our instructions you'll find out how.

Why do we dress up in a Halloween costume?

Halloween symbolizes the beginning of the dark season and originally comes from the Celts from Ireland. They believed that on Halloween night ghosts visit our world. With spooky disguises the Celts camouflaged themselves to trick the ghosts into thinking they were dead too. The bravest of the disguised made it their mission to scare away 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 makeup
black scarf or fabric for the cape
safety pin or brooch
red watercolor paint
brush
hair gel

Here's how:

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 most eerie with a standing collar – like Count Dracula!
Before putting on the shirt, you can add some drops of blood to the top. For this, take the red watercolor paint, dilute it with some water and let it drip onto the shirt with a brush.
After dressing, it's time for makeup. Paint your child's face completely white with theatrical makeup. Use black makeup to outline the eyes for dark shadows. This makes your little vampire look even hungrier and bloodthirstier! Paint the lips red. From the corners of the mouth downwards, paint small red lines to represent dripping blood.
Comb the hair back tightly with hair gel. For a little vampire girl you can also style the hair wildly or pin it up elegantly.
The Halloween costume is rounded off with a black cape. You can easily make this yourself 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 (but it disintegrates 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 only carefully spray the liquid over the paper so it doesn't disintegrate. Of course, you can also leave them white.
After everything has dried, attach the dyed fabrics in spots with hot glue and safety pins onto an old T-shirt and trousers. 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

Here's how:

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

Icky spider

You need:

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

Here's how:

Stuff the socks with newspaper and then place two socks next to the shirt so that the heels point upwards. 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 so the "legs" don't get tangled. The creepy spider costume is ready!

Halloween makeup – addition or alternative to the costume

Halloween mit Kindern | Mutter schminkt Tochter mit Halloween-Motiven

With some makeup can be 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 they go door to door with their friends and collect sweets. Whether blood-sucking vampire, pale zombie or creepy skeleton – Halloween makeup makes a big difference and is in most cases quite easy to apply.

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

Make Halloween masks

Does your child prefer no makeup on the face, then a Halloween mask is exactly the right thing. That way nothing smudges and the mask can be taken off and put back on while eating or playing as often as you like. You can also easily make yourselves – 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 costume for children

Halloween Spiele | Kind steht vor einem als Gespenst verkleidet

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

Witch on a broom: Also a witch costume can be easily made with things from your household create. A colorful skirt, a dark top, tousled hair, maybe some makeup from mom and of course a broom – and your child can 'ride' around hunting for sweets.

Creepy factor using watercolors: Surely you have a box of watercolor paintsWith the paints, you can achieve many great effects on discarded clothing : With red you create "drops of blood" on an old T-shirt, with brown and black you make gauze bandages quickly dirty and wonderfully creepy.