Every year, I look forward to dressing up my little one for Halloween. I can’t be the only one who gets unreasonably excited about this, right?
Toddlers are already adorable enough; put them in a little Halloween outfit and it’s a real cuteness-fueled dopamine surge for my brain.
I’ll admit that I’m usually the first to buy anything online in ready-made form, including Halloween costumes. But lately, the DIY bug has struck and also my wallet has been feeling a little light.
The idea of spending money on something I’ll never use again is not one I want to entertain. I figured why not try making something for Halloween?
It might seem like a lot of work to make a Halloween costume, but it really doesn’t have to be.
As a busy working mom who’s not the craftiest one on the block, I really don’t have time to spend days making a costume. I need this to be done in a week, max.
Luckily, there are lots of DIY Halloween costumes out there that don’t take much work or time but still look pretty good!
The great part about DIY costumes is that they don’t have to be perfect – we can substitute and change things based on our time and resources. And everybody loves a homemade costume!
I’ve done some reading across the web and found some highly creative, talented people that have come up with these amazing and super easy ideas for toddler Halloween costumes.
Here are some my favorites:
1. Astronaut
Photos from https://withtheblinks.com
This astronaut costume from Simple DIY Toddler Halloween Costumes – With the Blinks is so cute and simple!
We just need white clothes, black electrical tape, astronaut patches, empty water bottles, spray painted or store-bought feathers in orange, red, and yellow, and a glue gun.
Spray paint the water bottles and attach the feathers, put the tape on the clothing to make the spacesuit, and stick the patches on. Ready for takeoff!
2. Firefly
Photo from https://www.countryliving.com
There’s something so beautiful and magical about fireflies. That’s why I love this DIY firefly costume from Country Living’s 51 Unique Toddler Halloween Costume Ideas.
So easy to put together, and so adorable. All we need is a neon green dress or tutu, black wings, and an antenna headband. The post also suggest attaching a clip-on light to the wings for that ‘glow’ effect.
3. Emoji
Photo from https://www.hellowonderful.co
This Easy DIY Cardboard Emoji Costume is so 21st century, and I’m so here for it.
We just need a cardboard circle cutout, yellow spray paint, paint for the emoji face (the authors used white, black, and red acrylic), paintbrushes, a pencil (to draw the circle on the cardboard), and string to attach it. So low effort and original!
4. Mickey Mouse
Photo from https://thechirpingmoms.com
A Mickey Mouse costume is always a Halloween classic for the kids. I would normally buy this online, but now I won’t have to thanks to this DIY Mickey Mouse Halloween Costume.
I really think this DIY version looks just as good as a store-bought one. All we need is white and black felt cut into circles (and a piece of black felt for the tail if we want), a headband, a black shirt, red shorts, black tights or pants, yellow shoes (or old white shoes we can spray paint yellow), and white gloves.
Use a hot glue gun to stick the stiff black felt onto the headband as ears, and the white felt circles onto the shorts.
5. Tooth fairy
Photo from https://thechirpingmoms.com
How cute is this DIY Tooth Fairy? It’s pretty simple to put together and a non-scary option for the younger kids.
We need a leotard, pink tutu, fairy wings, a wand, silver leggings, a crown, tooth applique to stick on the leotard (I would probably just print a picture of a tooth and pin that on), and accessories.
Although not part of the costume description, I love the addition of the purple wig too.
6. Gumball machine
Photo from https://www.alexmariejordan.com
I absolutely love this DIY Toddler Gumball Machine Costume for a few reasons. One, it’s original and unique. Two, it’s inexpensive. Three, it’s SO EASY.
We’ll need a white top, red bottoms (skirt/shorts/pants), pom poms (every parent of a toddler has some of these laying around), a hot glue gun, gray felt (for the 25 cent square piece), a sharpie, and an optional headband or bow accessory.
According to the original post, this costume takes less than $11 to make!
7. Strawberry
Photo from https://prettylifegirls.com
Check out this berry cute and easy DIY Strawberry Halloween Costume for a Toddler.
We’ll need a red shirt or dress, black fabric marker, green felt, black headband, and fabric glue to make it.
The hardest part is probably making the headband, but I think a green hat or green headband would work just fine as well.
8. Paw patrol
Photo from https://kidsactivitiesblog.com
This No-Sew PAW Patrol Marshall Costume will be done on the double! Sorry, I couldn’t resist. That song lives rent free in my head at all times.
Back to the costume – your little Paw Patrol fan will love getting to dress up as their favorite four-legged friend.
We’ll need a red fleece vest, yellow duct tape, felt (orange, red, black, and yellow), and a hot glue gun. The post includes templates to make the badge.
As for the hat, we can make it with a play fireman’s hat and some white felt, or go the easy route and buy one.
9. Cowboy/ cowgirl
Photo from https://www.lovetoknow.com
This cowboy/ cowgirl costume from DIY Toddler Halloween Costumes | LoveToKnow requires absolutely no craft skills. Yay!
It’s just putting together things we may already have or that we can certainly re-use if purchased.
Here’s what we need: a plaid or gingham checkered shirt, overalls or a denim skirt, a cowboy hat, a bandana, cowboy boots, and a horse stick toy. Easy like Sunday morning (before kids).
10. Despicable Me Minion
Photo from https://fabeveryday.com
Everybody loves the minions! The great thing about this costume is that we might already have most of this stuff at home.
To make this DIY Despicable Me 2 Halloween Costume, we’ll need some goggles, a yellow hoodie, black pipe cleaners for the hair, black gloves, black shoes, blue denim overalls, and the Gru symbol (found easily on google).
Bonus: this post also has a guide on making Despicable Me costumes for the whole family (also pretty easy to do).
11. Butterfly
Photo from http://bee-ingmommy.blogspot.com
This Butterfly Homemade Halloween Costume is sure to delight the little critters on Halloween.
We need butterfly wings, a tutu, matching pants and shirt, face paint/ eyeshadow, and an optional necklace accessory.
The post includes a tutorial on how to make a tutu, but we could just as easily buy one (if we don’t already have one).
12. Clark Kent
Photo from https://thechirpingmoms.com
It doesn’t get much simpler than a DIY Clark Kent Costume.
All we need is a Superman shirt, white button down shirt, black pants, and black glasses. That’s it!
This clever costume takes no time at all to put together but is instantly recognizable. It’s perfect for busy parents who need a last minute costume idea.
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