12 Fun & Inexpensive Halloween Costumes for the Un-Crafty

Happy Halloween! 

We’re celebrating by reminiscing on past Halloweens

Here are 12 of my favorite costumes for the un-crafty that my kids wore. 

#12 Charlie Brown

I’m the queen of last-minute. Some call it procrastination. I call it working better under pressure. This means most of the homemade costumes my kids have worn have been created just a few days to hours before they were worn.

Such was the case with this Charlie Brown costume. Super easy. Super cute. Just regular black shorts and shoes. A regular yellow t-shirt with zig-zag design painted on the bottom with fabric paint. It was almost too easy…

I really wanted BoyChild to have the Charlie Brown hairstyle. A curly cue in the front. A few whisps in the back. To achieve this I cut the toe out of a nude knee-high stocking and hot glued black pipe cleaners to the front and back. Except I couldn’t exactly figure out where to place the “hair” for the back. 

I was home by myself but whatever, I’m an independent woman, I’ll make it happen. So I put the stocking piece on my head and being oh-so-careful placed a dollop of hot glue where I needed it.

I thought I could yank the thing off of my head before the glue set. 

Instead, I accidentally glued a piece of pantyhose to my hair…right at the crown of my head. 

Momentary panic set in. Finally, I started to carefully and painfully separate my hair from the glue. I couldn’t get it all and, yes, the scissors had to come out. I cut a piece of my hair about the width of my pinky finger. It wasn’t so bad. It wasn’t good either.

Explaining to my hairdresser why I had a few whips of Charlie Brown hair weeks later was really fun. 

But hey, that Charlie Brown was a hit! And the hair made the costume.

#11 Baby Holstein Cow

GirlChild’s first Halloween was exciting and exhausting. She was around 6 months old. She was born prematurely so she was still small for her age and got cold easily. My mission was to start a tradition and keep my baby warm. This fleece Holstein cow hoodie/pants combo met all our needs. She was also adorable!

#10 Old Timey Golfer and Caddy

Some of my favorite costumes our kids and their buddies sported were created for costume contests for lamb shows, where the kid and the sheep dress up, usually as a complementary pair.

BoyCousin showed lambs with us one summer. His parents and Papaw love golf. This was one of the cutest costumes. The kid as an old-timey golfer and the lamb as the caddy.

#9 Daniel Boone

BoyChild was obsessed with Daniel Boone. Boone was from our neck of the woods. For that reason and the old TV Show loosely based on the man, BoyChild was determined to be Daniel Boone for Halloween. 

I can’t sew. I have absolutely no fabric construction skills. But I can sure make stuff stick together. For most of my kid’s costumes, that’s all that is ever required. Therefore, I have dubbed myself a hot glue seamstress. 

I created this costume out of old khaki and brown colored clothing we already had. I purchased brown felt, cut some crude fringes, and hot glued them to the brown clothing. BoyChild already owned the faux raccoon skin cap. The outfit was completed with a pair of GirlChild’s fringe boots. 

#8 Smokey the Mascot 

BoyChild loves animals and the University of Tennessee. This costume was the easiest. He had the Smokey the Mascot shirt. So I cut black felt into the shape of dog ears, hot glued them to his University of Tennessee hat, painted a dog face on him and he was Smokey. BoyChild loved this one!

#7 Cowboys and Show Lambs

For one of our sheep and showman costume contests, we trained BoyChild’s lamb to carry a small pony saddle. We were so impressed with our ingenuity and creativity! Until we realized our pal and his family had done the same thing. It was totally unplanned. We decided it was a case of “great minds think alike!” BoyChild was a cowboy, easy enough, he just had to wear his regular clothes. Our buddies took it a creative step further as our pal was the Lone Ranger.

#6 80’s Rockers

I loved this one. When our kids decided they wanted to be rock-n-roll stars for Halloween my mind went to the 80’s. 

GirlChild wore a dress-up outfit paired with black cowboy boots, both she already owned. We topped that off with a cheap plastic-trying-to-be-leather jacket.

I was most proud of BoyChild’s stone washed skinny jeans. I came across them completely on accident at a chain-but-not-your-typical-big-box-store. They screamed 80’s. I’m not sure why they were on sale in present times but they were perfect for this costume. He had a pirate shirt from a beach trip and an old flannel. We fashioned a spiked mullet out of a halloween store wig. The bandanna around his leg and cardboard hand-made electric guitar set the look.

We added purple hair for both just for fun!

#5 Popcorn and a Movie

This was one costume I actually took some time on. My sister and I were so excited to create our first lamb show costume for GirlChild who was 2 at the time.

The lamb was a movie marquee with the fair theme as the movie title. GirlChild was a box of popcorn. 

We used a tall rectangle box and painted red and white stripes to create a traditional movie popcorn box feel. Small white and yellow balloons pinned to the box and GirlChild finished the costume.

It was adorable.

The lamb, named Dora, tolerated her costume beautifully.

The 2-year-old human did not.

GirlChild refused to lead the lamb into the show ring. Coaxed by her daddy, she finally went as long as he lead the lamb. With every step she removed her balloon “popcorn kernels.” When they stopped in their place, she promptly removed the popcorn box.

The crowd thought it was darling. Her mother and aunt did not.

Still, it was a cute costume…for the .02 seconds, she wore it.

#4 Dr. Pol

Due to his love of animals and farming, Boy Child did then and still loves the reality show based on the veterinary practice of Dr. Jan Pol, “The Incredible Dr. Pol.” 

This “Dr. Pol” costume was easy. We had all the clothing and boots. To that we added a toy stethoscope, pantyhose cut off to make a bald head, and a 99 cent stick-on mustache. 

This cute costume pulled triple duty as a lamb show costume (the lamb was a lamb patient), Halloween costume, and won a contest on social media.

#3 The Golden Snitch

GirlChild is big fan of the Harry Potter series, books and movies. She had been Hermione Granger for Halloween before. She still wanted to honor the series and did so with this super easy Golden Snitch costume. 

A gold shirt we already had paired with an inexpensive gold tutu. We cut leaf shapes from gold-colored posterboard and dusted her face with some golden glitter makeup. 

Folks who hadn’t read the book or seen the movies didn’t really get it. Those who were fans of the series loved it!

#2 Uncle Si

This costume was based on the comedic uncle of a family who created a reality show based on their hunting merchandise empire. 

Again, BoyChild already owned the camo clothing. My mom helped me construct the full beard from posterboard, cotton balls, glue, and little gray paint. The glasses were old sunglasses with the lenses popped out. The tea jug (Granny’s idea) and cup completed this ensemble.

I always giggle when I come across pictures of this costume! I love it.

#1 Thing 1, Thing 2, The Cat & The Hat

The first Halloween for BoyChild and NeiceChild, we knocked it out of the park in the group costume department.

UncleJ gifted BoyChild and GirlChild with “Thing 1” and “Thing 2” t-shirts from a trip to Florida. I fashioned their blue hair from blue craft feathers, toboggan, and … my favorite tool … hot glue. Red pants and some pink make up for rosey cheeks and we were done.

A black sweatsuit with white felt on the front made NeiceChild’s cat costume. Our Aunt, who is a very talented seamstress, crafted the bow tie and hat.

I love looking back on these costumes and more. The memories created make all of the hot glue burns worth it.