Cheap Homemade Halloween Costumes

Growing up, My friends and I would almost always make our own Halloween costumes. Not only was it less expensive than buying one, but it was also more fun. We’d dig through our closets and attics looking for anything that we could use… an old leather jacket, an ugly blazer, Dad’s old leisure suit, Mom’s old workout gear… the possibilities were endless.

Prevent credit card debt with these DIY costume ideas!

Add in some make-up and maybe a wig, and you could be just about anyone. Some notable homemade costumes I’ve seen include Starsky & Hutch, Mary Katherine Gallagher (from SNL), MC Hammer, Willy Wonka, and Slash (from Guns n’ Roses). We leaned more towards the funny rather than scary.

I once turned an afro wig, an old vest, a button down shirt, and a silk bandana into Jimi Hendrix. Another year, my mother had this old brown leather jacket that I paired with a hat and a toy whip to become Indiana Jones.

The majority of my costumes are inspired from what I find in the closet. Go in with a blank slate and see what your imagination can come up with. 80’s Rocker, 70’s Disco Dude, Pro Wrestler, Nerdy Girl, all things that can be thrown together pretty easily. If you want to get messy, tear up some old clothes and add some gory make-up to be a zombie or a corpse.

You can also make your own accessories. Old sheets can be made into head wraps, bloody bandages, capes, etc. Some cardboard and duct tape can be made into just about anything. Weapons, armor, robot parts, etc.

Lacking the resources at home? Any Goodwill or Salvation Army store is like a mecca of Halloween costume ideas. Go take a walk through the aisles and pick up some used items on the cheap. It’s basically the same as rifling through someone else’s closets.

Goodwill even encourages Halloween shoppers! You can find a lot of awesome things there.

Here are some cool DIY costumes that I’ve seen…

Lego Boy