We know the struggle: suddenly it’s the night before Halloween, and even the “easiest” costume ideas on the internet require more effort than you can muster. You either drop $60 on an itchy, too-small costume at the Halloween store, or wear the same witch’s hat for the fifth year in a row.
For those who love Halloween but have a limited budget (and limited DIY skills), here are three cheap, cute, and laziest-of-the-lazy costume ideas for you and your best furry friend.
Vampire and bat
A spooky classic that’s especially easy if you own a lot of black! All this costume takes is a quick trip to the local dollar store and ten minutes of semi-craftiness.
What you’ll need:
For you:
Black clothing (already had)
Black vampire cape (dollar store)
Fangs (dollar store)
For your cat:
Black felt or construction paper (craft or dollar store)
Thin headband (dollar store)
Scissors (already had)
Scotch tape (already had)
To make the bat wings: Fold a large piece of black construction paper or felt in half. On the creased side, draw one batwing about six inches long, depending on the size of your cat (you can use a printable stencil, like this one) and cut it out. Unfold it into a full set of symmetrical bat wings. Tape a thin headband on the centre of the underside, horizontally.
Place the headband on your kitty’s back, and there you have it: a bat cat!
Sims
Who needs to buy the Cats and Dogs expansion pack when you can make yourself and your cat into Sims almost for free?
What you’ll need:
White and green construction paper (dollar store)
Wire (we used one from an old cat toy) and a wire cutter, if needed (dollar or hardware store)
Hat or headband (dollar store)
Cat collar (already had)
Tape (already had)
Scissors (already had)
Black Sharpie (already had)
Sturdy cardboard (we used an old meowbox, but anything from your recycling bin will do)
Cut out two diamond shapes from the green construction paper, one slightly larger than the other. Use the black Sharpie to add detail (you can use thisphoto for reference).
Using the wire cutter, cut out two pieces of wire, each about 10 inches long. Tape each of these pieces to the backs of the paper diamond shapes. Attach the smaller diamond to the back of your cat’s collar and the larger diamond to a hat or headband.
To make the thought bubble: using the Sharpie, draw out a speech bubble on the white construction paper (if you’re not too artistically-inclined, a rudimentary drawing is purrfect). Cut it out and tape it to a strip of sturdy cardboard that is about 7-10 inches.
TY Beanie Babies
Throw it back to the ‘90s with this simple but adorable costume.
What you’ll need:
For you:
Animal ears (dollar store)
Face makeup (if you want to go all-out: we were going for extra-lazy here)
For both:
Red and white construction paper or foil
String or twine (already had)
Glue (already had)
Hole puncher (already had: scissors also work)
Scissors (already had)
To make the tags: Fold a red piece of paper in half and draw half a heart shape on the creased side (size depends on how large you would like the TY tag around your neck to be). Cut it out and unfold it into a full symmetrical heart shape. Repeat the process, but creating a smaller heart shape (depending on the size of your cat). Draw and cut out the TY letters on white paper and glue them onto the hearts.
Using a hole puncher or scissors, puncture a hole in the upper corner of both heart shapes. Loop a piece of string or twine through the hole. Tie the smaller heart loosely around your kitty’s neck and the larger heart around your own neck.
And there you have it: three cheap, easy costume ideas that you and kitty can rock together. Happy Meowlloween!
