Creative Halloween Costumes |
From brainstorming to creation, we've got the scoop!
Have you ever gone to a Halloween party and kicked yourself for not coming up with a creative costume? I felt like that two years in a row until I changed the way I planned my Halloween costumes.The first year I attended a Halloween party, the winner for the best costume was dressed as a garbage pail. The winner had bought a $20 garbage pail at the hardware store and cut out the bottom. Using old nylons, he fixed them up as suspenders to be able to "wear" the garbage pail and wore the lid of the garbage pail as a hat. He taped clean empty milk containers, cereal boxes and newspaper on the inside of the pail to fill in the gap between the lid and the pail. He won $300 that night…I was dressed up as a waitress.
The following year, the winning costume was a giant card castle. The lady taped playing cards all over her body to cover every inch of clothing. She created a card castle mounted on a hat. She too won $300 that night…I was dressed up as a witch.
Learning from previous experiences, the next year I got more creative. I took out my Christmas decorations and went crazy pinning ornaments, garlands and angel hair all over my clothes. I went about the party and drove many people nuts telling them they had less than two months to get all their Holiday shopping done. I didn't win a prize but it felt just as good when I received a honorable mention for my creativity.
Being creative at Halloween is as easy as 1-2-3.
Brainstorming
Sit down with a pen and paper and write down all ideas that you can think of. Write the costumes you have seen either on television or in magazines. Don't waste your time analyzing which ideas are good or bad, just write them down. Once you think you can't come up with anymore ideas put your paper down and wait an hour or so, until that evening or till the next day.
Incubation
Leaving a time lapse in between both sessions will help you get more fresh ideas. Now read over your list and write down all the new ideas it stimulates. This method of brainstorming is the webbing method. For example from the word police officer, you can get guard, prisoner, fire fighter, doctor, nurse, security guard, duty officer, crossing guard… There are no right or wrong answers. Using your finished list of ideas you can now begin the selection process. Start by crossing out the far fetched ideas and circle the interesting ones.Creation
Once you have selected a few costume ideas, write a list of materials needed for each. Look in your drawers and closet for items you can use for props or accessories such as clothes, hats, scarves, and jewelry. Will you need a wig or special make-up? Talk to friends with whom you can share ideas and props with. Are you going to need cardboard and water paints, or sewing material and fabric paints? What other accessories might be useful such as aluminum paper, glitter, or glue? Once you have selected a possible costume, adding details to the costume is the key to success. The garbage pail guy added garbage for the real effect, and the card castle girl wouldn't have been so good without the hat.
By Brainstorming you can get an early idea of how you want to dress up and can go shopping at garage sales, flea markets or thrift stores for second hand materials you might need. If you still need costume ideas after your Brainstorming session, take a look at a few web sites. They're filled with ideas on how to make your own Halloween costumes, accessories and props. Happy Halloween!
