What is Halloween Costumes?
Haloween costumes are a collection of clothing articles, make-up, and accessories which can include masks and plastic weapons. These costumes are traditionally worn on Halloween (October 31st), and have many different meanings behind them.
Historically, costumes were worn on All Hallow’s Eve (Halloween, Samhain, etc.) to frihten away evil spirits from housholds during the one night that the veil between the mortal world and the Otherworld (the spirit realm) was believed to be the thinnest.
Today, Halloween traditions include dressing up in costumes and children going door-to-door to collect candy and other treats. Costumes can range from an innocent fairy or angel, to frigtening and gorish specticles such as Freddy Kruger from Nightmare on Elm Street. The most traditionally recognized costumes are vampires, werewolves, Frankenstein, and witches.
There are also many creative home-made costumes that are great if you’re on a budget.
Cat- Burgler : There are two variations of this costume, both of which include a black sweatsuit and a large black trash bag such as the ones commonly used for leaves or grass clippings. For one version of the Cat-Burglar, you can add a cat tail and ears to the costume and paint the face to have a black or pink nose, and whiskars. The other version adds a ski mask to the costume, and several cat stuffed-animals in the trash bag (which is ultimately used for gathering candy).
Cereal-killer: This costume also uses a black sweatsuit. If you have school-aged children, or a spouse that takes small, individual-serving boxes of cereal with them, this is a great opportunity for recycling. Cut slits in the front of the cereal boxes (or just stab a plastic knife through the front of them), then glue a plastic knife into the opening. Glue several boxes onto the front of the sweatsuit to appear to have a pathological hatred of breakfast cereal (the joke with this works even better if the knife is always stabed through a well-known cereal box figura such as Tony the Tigger).
Little Black Rain Cloud: This Winnie the Pooh inspired costume can be done several ways, and is great for young children who adore Pooh Bear. One variation is very organic. For this, you will want to use a red shirt and yellow pants. Now apply mud and allow to dry so that the mud does not drip, but does not simply fall off the material either. Viola! One "Little Black Rain Cloud". Version two also uses a red shirt and yellow pants that may be on their last leg, or simply aren’t cared about. Brown paint, particularly acryllic, makes for great fake mud, but cannot be as readily washed off as real mud. For both of these styles, the child should carry a red balloon with them. The third is to glue cotton balls, that have been dipped in grey or black paint, to a sky-blue sweatsuit in the shape of fluffy rain clouds. This works best for older children who hae the song "I’m Just a Little Black Rain Cloud" memorized.
Enjoy.
