There’s no need to purchase an expensive Halloween costume when you can make one at home! Simply see what you have around the house, way at the back of your closet, downstairs in a chest, or something else you haven’t worn for over a year.

Then, depending on what you’re going to be, look around the kitchen, basement or garage for accessories, and you’re done! Not only will you look great at the Halloween party, you may win for best costume, simply because you made it yourself and can be as creative as you want. Instead of off-the-rack sameness, you can showcase your greatness!

Fairy Costumes

These types of costumes are excellent for home-made, because all you need is an old dress. If it doesn’t quite fit, and you have a sewing machine, simply cut down the back and add more fabric. If you’re not very good at sewing, no problem! Along with the “not Martha Stewart” hemming job, rip the dress in a couple places, add bad makeup, and viola, you are Shabby Fairy!

You can also look in thrift stores for cheap used dresses. This is especially useful for baby fairy costumes, since there are so many stores with used baby clothes. You will likely get away with a gorgeous dress that looks almost brand new (the child likely only wore it once or twice, since she naturally grew so fast), so along with it add cute shoes and a fairy wand, and you’re done. For a baby Tinkerbell costume, simply look for a green dress.

Also, a great tip is to find a dress with a zipper in the back. You’ll find out why soon.

Fairy Wings

There’s a couple neat and creative ways to make fairy wings. Here’s a couple:

Paper Wings – Buy a piece of poster board, in the color you desire, and fold it in half. Draw one half of your desired wing shape. Fairy wings usually come in pairs, just like a butterfly, so draw a top half and a bottom half. Cut it out. Punch two holes near the folded part with a needle or hole puncher.

Unfold the wings, and you’ll have a pair. Decorate as you wish, perhaps with glitter marker, crayons, yarn and glue, etc. Then, with some string, thread it through one hole, cross up (or down) to the opposite, and repeat for the other two. Place the loose ends over and under your shoulders, and tie them up. You now have wings to fly with!

Translucent Wire Wings – Take four wire coat hangers (you may be able to get them free from the dry cleaners) and cut off the top hooks. Place them into a butterfly pattern, the spirals at the top all in the center. This is to give you a visual of what the wings will look like.

Shape each of the four hangers into circular fairy wings. The bottoms are usually fatter than the tops, which are more narrow and longer.

Unbend the spirals at the top with pliers, but not all the way. Join the top two together by re-bending the wires with each using the pliers. Repeat with the bottom two.

Take four nylon knee-high socks and gently pull them over the wire frame. Tie or hook them into the center spirals.

Duct tape all four wings together until tight, then use velvet fabric and hotglue everything to cover the tape and make them look pretty.

You’re done! You can also lightly spray paint the stockings, glue sparkles and feathers onto them, etc, to make a great pair of wings. Lightly spraypainting the edges also gives a great effect.

Finally, glue two elastic headbands to the center. These will be the straps you put over your shoulders. You can also cut a scarf in half and glue them in an x pattern, then tie each side over and under the shoulders to the chest.

The Finished Fairy Costume

Remember wearing a dress with the zipper in the back? Well, to hide the straps on the wings, you’ll wear those first. Then, step into your fairy gown and place the straps over your shoulders. Zip up until you meet the fairy wings, and use two safety pins – one just below the zipper to keep it in place, and one to cinch the dress above the wings.

Add accessories like makeup, a tiara, a wand, etc, and you are now an adorable fairy! Having fun and dressing in make-believe is what Halloween is about, and nobody says you need to go to a store to buy an expensive costume.