Funny Costumes For the Party

There are several different approaches to animal costumes. One of them is the professional mascot approach. In this approach, your animal costume should look as cartoony as possible. Professional mascots all have a particular look that owes a lot to Disney animation. Many of the costumes are actually made by the same companies, and they all have a very slick appearance that focuses on anthropomorphic design.

Then again, it all depends on what you are wearing an animal costume for. Sometimes, animal ear costumes are the best. A lot of people like to dress up as cats, wolves, or other creatures with pointy ears because it looks attractive. With a little bit of face paint and some pointy ears, you can come up with a cheap animal costume. This is a great approach for Halloween parties – particularly ones held in college. It will give people the message that you are fun and flirty and open to talk to strangers. More importantly for many, it is less expensive than an animal mascot costume.

There is also the approach favored by kids animal costumes. In these, cuteness comes above all else. They also are cartoony like animal mascot costumes, but with an important difference. The emphasis is on the eyes and adorable expressions. They can be soulful, pouty, sunshiny – any basic emotion. Although these costumes used to be used exclusively by children, nowadays they're more popular with adults than ever. As a matter of fact, at the Halloween party I went to last year, this was the most popular animal costume design.

Finally, there are the animal costumes that strive for realism. Anyone can be a cute cartoony animal, but if you can come up with a realistic animal costume design, people will be really impressed with your look. It is an especially good effect if you're trying to be scary. Dressing up as a wolf, mountain cat, or some other dangerous and vicious animal makes a big impression in Halloween parties.

Then again, you can always feel free to combine the different kinds of animal costumes until you find the right balance for yourself. The important thing is to create a fun costume design that you enjoy wearing and that looks good on you. Uniqueness counts a lot, so sometimes you can score more points by coming up with something totally original than with coming up with something that is traditionally “good.” Feel free to experiment!

Halloween Costumes You Can Make at Home

Back in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, it seems like kids were satisfied with whatever Halloween costume their mother came up with the night before.  In many homes, that meant you were going to be one of three things on Halloween night: a hobo, ghost, or a gypsy.

Nowadays, children are more demanding than ever when it comes to their Halloween costume.  In fact, there are so many activities surrounding the Halloween holiday that some kids might wear one, two or three costumes over the four-week long Halloween season.

For trick-or-treating around the neighborhood, they may wear one costume and at the school, church or community center “Trunk or Treat” event, they may want to wear something else.

To purchase pre-made Halloween costumes is an expensive proposition regardless of how much money you have.  Purchasing a costume at $20, $30 or even more when the ‘wear date’ is virtually one 24-hour period is just too pricy for most modern families.  Convenience comes with a price; however, creativity goes right out the window when pre-made Halloween costumes are worn.

Families have been turning to Homemade Halloween Costumes for the past several years.    Homemade Halloween Costumes have many benefits:

-    They generally cost less to make than purchasing a pre-made, pre-packaged Halloween costume.
-    Making a homemade costume requires ingenuity, creativity and resourcefulness.
-    Homemade Halloween costume creation is an activity where all family members can contribute.
-    Homemade Halloween costumes are simply more attractive and generate a bigger “wow” factor.
-    The kids are generally much more proud of wearing a homemade Halloween costume when it’s created with love and togetherness.   It makes Halloween night that much more special.

Homemade Halloween costume ideas are everywhere.  The first place to look is in your own home. 

Do you have a white sweatshirt and white sweatpants?  Make a Dalmatian, an angel or a ghost.

Do you have a brown sweatshirt and brown sweatpants?  Make a white-spotted puppy dog.

Do you have green pants and a green shirt or sweatshirt?  Cut some ‘petals’ from fun foam, hot glue them to an old headband and you’ve got a flower.

Do you have an old robe and old some old slippers?  Add some hair rollers and a coffee mug and you’ve got a tired mom costume.

There are dozens and dozens of costumes that can be easily made at home.  
And don’t forget about making your child a hobo or a gypsy.  It could be the most original costume you’ll see this year.