11 Last-Minute Halloween Costume Ideas Using Products From Your Home

Halloween might be the last day of October, but somehow tons of people wait until the last minute to put a costume together. Whether you’ve been busy with life, or recently decided to embrace the holiday just days before the big night, you are faced with the stressful reality of putting together a costume with very little time and resources. Lucky for you, there are a lot of Halloween costumes you can create using items you already have inside your home.

Some classic costume ideas from home include wrapping your body to be a mummy or using a white sheet as a toga to be a Greek god. You can also use cardboard boxes and cardboard paper towel rolls to create a wind-up doll or social media post costume. Using items from your closet, you can be anything from a tourist to a hippie, or even a pineapple.

You can create various Halloween costumes using products from your closet, kitchen, garage, and even your bathroom. Using a bit of creativity, and some crafting and DIY skills, you can not only pull off a last-minute Halloween miracle, but you can even have a costume that will have everyone at the party talking. Below is a list of some unique and easy-to-execute Halloween costume ideas you can create using items from your home.

11 Halloween Costumes You Can Make Using Items From Home

1. Wind-up Doll

One gender-neutral costume that is both fun and easy to pull together is a wind-up doll. For this costume, first choose your most doll-like outfit (any type of doll will do, from cowboy to cabbage patch).

Next, use an empty toilet paper roll and a piece of cardboard from a cardboard box to make your “wind-up” back. Spray paint the winding cardboard piece gold or silver once you construct it to make it look lifelike. Then attach it to your costume using glue, or sew it onto a ribbon or belt that you can incorporate into the doll outfit. Add a little doll makeup to really seal the deal and take the costume to the next level.

2. Rosie The Riveter

If you want to show love for a feminist icon and have no idea what to be for Halloween, then consider dressing up as Rosie The Riveter. Rosie was made famous in World War II advertisements, and is known for her blue outfit, red bandana, and flexing muscles.

This is a very easy look to pull off. 

If you have overalls, that’s great. If not, simply use denim or navy blue pants and a matching blue button-down shirt. Roll the shirt sleeves up to your biceps, and wrap your hair in a folded red bandana. This is a costume that is simple, iconic, and requires no construction at all.

3. Mummy

Dressing up as a mummy is a rite of passage for any last-minute Halloween costume seeker. The idea is you simply wrap yourself in cloth, gauze, or even toilet paper, to give the appearance of a walking-dead mummy. 

You can be as committed or uncommitted to this costume as you want. Keep it simple with gauze and toilet paper, or go all-out by dying white cloth with some grey splotches to give an extra spooky level of authenticity.

4. Cactus

If you have a green sweatshirt, then you can be a cactus for Halloween. Ideally, you should wear green from head to toe. Next, fold white pipe cleaners, white paper straws, or even rolled white paper, and attach them to your green clothing to make your green shirt look prickly. 

Attach a flower in your hair to bring the whole look together. You can also attach a cardboard cutout in the shape of a clay pot and attach it at the waist to make yourself look even more like a plant.

5. Greek God Or Goddess

If you don’t have a lot of time and energy to create your last-minute Halloween costume, but you have a nice white bed sheet, gold-colored accents, and some ferns or ivy, then you can transform yourself into a Greek god or goddess in no time.

It’s straightforward to wrap a sheet around your body in the shape of a toga, creating the silhouette of a Greek royal. Next, add some fern or ivy to your hair, or tucked behind your ears. If you have a gold belt, use it to keep the sheet in place. Any gold wrist accessories or necklaces will add to this regal costume.

6. ‘Life’ Gives You Lemons

If you have a picnic basket, a marker, paper, and some lemons, then you have yourself a perfect last-minute Halloween costume. Everyone knows the famous expression “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” This Halloween, consider dressing up as “Life,” and carry around a basket of lemons.

To achieve this, dress however you’d like, just remember to wear a prominent name tag that reads “Life.” Buy some fresh lemons and add them to a basket of your choosing, and remember to carry it around for the night so everyone can piece together your concept.

7. Social Media Post

If you don’t mind a bit of crafting and have access to cardboard, then take a few hours to create a hysterical social media post border. This costume idea has become more popular as social media has continued to dominate culture. 

The idea is you carry around a cutout Instagram or TikTok post with comments and captions of your choice, and your outfit matches these comments. Just remember you will have to hold up this large cardboard window frame throughout the night, so make sure your arms are up for the challenge or find a way to attach the frame to your body.

8. Tourist

One costume you can pull together with items you have in your closet is a tourist. Not just any tourist, but a lost, confused, and obvious tourist. Wear a wide-brimmed hat, a fanny pack, carry a travel book or two, and a large map to seal the deal.

Alternatively, you could be a specific type of tourist, like a tourist on safari, or a tourist at a Disney theme park. Go with whatever look you can pull off using items from your home.

9. Hippie

Another classic last-minute Halloween costume you can pull together with items from your home and a bit of crafting is a hippie or flower child costume. If you have a vest with fringes or circular funky glasses, then you are off to a good start.

If not, don’t worry. You can tie-dye a shirt, make a flower crown, and use long beaded jewelry and your most bell-bottomed jeans to pull off this look. Always give a peace sign, and consider drawing a peace sign on your cheek if you are worried the costume isn’t “hippie” enough.

10. Plant Parent

The pandemic gave rise to the trend of “plant parents,” or people who obsessively care for plants. You can make this funny term into an even funnier costume. Use a baby sling to hold an indoor plant tightly to your chest, and baby it throughout the night. This is a funny and simple costume to execute. Just make sure the plant does not have loose soil, as soil can turn messy fast.

11. Pineapple

One fun, cute, and simple last-minute costume idea for those who don’t want to go all-out, but want to get in the Halloween spirit at least a little bit, is to be a pineapple. This costume requires very little, especially if you have a yellowish shirt (and ideally matching pants). 

You can leave your yellow clothing as is, or draw diamond-shaped outlines on it to make it look more like a pineapple. The most important part of the costume is the hand-crafted green frond headpiece. You can use actual pineapple fronds, or green construction paper (or green-painted cardboard) to create this palm-like headpiece. The result is a simple but fun look you can wear out for a night of fun.

Summing Up Last Minute DIY Halloween Costume Ideas 

Halloween night is all about costumes. If you find yourself without a costume and with limited time and resources, then create a costume using items from your home. Using cardboard and crafting skills, you can create a wind-up doll or social media post costume. Adding a few accents to colored sweatshirts can be a cactus or pineapple. With a bit of cloth or gauze, you can be a mummy, and with a white bed sheet and some golden accessories, you can transform into a Greek god. Remember half the fun is embodying the costume, so don’t stress over the look — just have fun!

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