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Easy Costume Ideas

Posted by Danielle Bean in Family on Thursday, October 27, 2011 10:21 AM

[Because it might be helpful for panicking moms across the country, I’m re-running this post from a few years ago.]

It’s that time of year again. As the poll we have going in the sidebar indicates, in late October many Catholic moms find themselves preparing to celebrate Halloween, All Saints Day, or some combination of the two.

And that means COSTUMES.

Have you been sewing for weeks and now your little cherubs are decked out as perfect likenesses of St. Cecilia, St. Anthony, and Barney the dinosaur? If so, congratulations. We love you and we’ll see you at the party, but this post is not for you.

This post is for the rest of us—those of us who go light on the seamstress skills and heavy on the glue-gunning and safety pinning with a splash of makeup and an occasional prop this time of year. Don’t be shy. I’m right there with you.

If you have a clutch of children to outfit before the end of the week and are in full panic mode already, Susie Lloyd’s All Saints Day round-up in the September/October 2008 issue of Faith & Family magazine is a great place to find practical tips and inspiration.

My own advice for manic moms wielding hot glue guns and panicked expressions this week?

• Be original. Coming up with a creative idea can be a major labor-saver. One year, we pinned stuffed animals to an old t-shirt and gave Eamon a cotton beard to make him an instant Noah—and the talk of the party.


• Buy it. Not everyone can afford the gorgeous handmade costumes available at online shops taht specialize in saint costumes, but if you can ... go for it! They’re lovely and you’ll be supporting small family businesses. You can also buy costumes elsewhere and adapt them to suit your purposes. Thrift shops can be great for this. I found an adorable lion suit in a thrift shop last year and for about $5 I turned 2-year-old Raphael into his older brother “Daniel’s” companion.


• Give props. The right props and accessories can really “make” the costume so that you won’t have to sweat the other details. It was easy to turn our own Stephen into his martyred namesake, for instance, with a large rock and some fake blood. I even got bonus points for the gory coolness!


• Relax. This is supposed to be fun, not stressful. Letting the kids join in the brainstorming and costume design can take the pressure off of you. The results might not be “perfect” but your kids will enjoy every minute of it. And in the end, the Butterfinger bars they collect will taste every bit as good.

How about you? What costumes are you whipping up this year and what are your Halloween and All Saints Day tips?

our holy handful last year

top photo credit: Hub Willson

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Reading Fun and Getting Ready for Advent

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