I’ve spent most of this month trying to tame my kids’ all-out obsession about their Halloween costumes. They’ve swung the gamut from obscure Harry Potter characters to obscure Studio Ghibli characters to morph suits. I can’t keep up, much less take the time to think about my own costume for our annual trick-or-treat party.
In case you’re tired of also going as “the world’s greatest mom (aka, yourself)” again this year, any of these quick last-minute Halloween costumes for moms can be DIY’d in a jiffy.
And let’s be honest, going as Khaleesi or Waldo is just a lot more fun that not dressing up at all.
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Related: Super easy last-minute Halloween costumes for kids that you can make in 10 minutes or less
Daenerys Targaryen, lite
I’m a huge fan of costumes you can wear again, for kids and adults. This cute Mother of Dragons tee by Lovelane Designs fits that category for me. Plus it’s comfy, which is important when you’re chasing your kids down the street and lugging bags of candy around. Just note, these shirts run really small. I’m usually between a medium and large, and the large shirt I bought is very tight on me. Order up a size…or two!
Classic Lisa Frank characters
Got any bright colors hanging in your wardrobe? You’re in luck, children of the 90’s, because Studio DIY has four new amazing Lisa Frank-inspired costumes for us to try this year, and I couldn’t be more excited. Long live the ’90s! Just supplement from your kids’ dress-up collection and some simple tutorials on the site, you can pull any of these off in an afternoon…especially if you take these directions loosely. No white romper in your closet? Wear white jeans and a tee instead. Make it work!
Related: Wildly cool, creative sibling costume ideas beyond matching superheroes
Rosie the Riveter (there can never be too many)
Rosie the Riveter is a classic for Halloween, and the easy costume we found at What I Wore is something you could probably pull together from your closet. Because really, it’s all in the lipstick and that arm pose, right?
Snapchat’s puppy filter
Why should our teens get to have all the tech-y fun this Halloween? Go ahead and DIY this free printable Snapchat Puppy Filter costume at A Girl and a Glue Gun for a easy, 10-minute costume for yourself. Then try to keep your kids from stealing it from you.
Related: Great ideas for babywearing costumes for new parents and their babies.
Your social channel of choice
In our post about creative group Halloween costume ideas we found these clever Social Media Icon Group Halloween Costumes via @GymnastLaura on Instagram from the pre-snapchat filter days. Of course it’s like, sooooo mom to go as Facebook, these days so. Perfect!
Related: 11 creative group Halloween costume ideas for the gang
Superman…or is it Clark Kent?
We found this cute Superman outfit that @nuncie_sweetie put together for NY Comic Con this year, and it could easily be pulled off for Halloween too. While I don’t have a black pencil skirt like this one, black jeans would be an easy sub. Plus, that’s easier for chasing my kids around, right?
Easy Disney Tourist Costume
If you own a fanny pack (not judging) and some Mickey ears or a t-shirt, you’ve got all you need for a Disney World tourist costume for Halloween. We included it in our roundup of easy, creative last-minute Halloween costumes for kids but there’s no reason you can’t do this too.
Without the Disney stuff, you can be a tourist of any kind. Just stick a camera or binoculars around your neck, grab a baseball cap, and raise those socks up to the knees. Bonus points if you make the costume a family affair, like Liz Stanley shows on her blog, Say Yes.
French Toast…get it?
A good pun costume is always fun, but sometimes they’re more work than they’re worth. I love this cute French Toast costume we spotted on Pinterest because I can easily pull it off with things I already have in my closet and my kids’ craft drawer. In fact, my tween daughter would probably go ahead and make the toast for me. (Note: If this is your photo, let us know so we can credit you! We couldn’t trace the original source, boo.)
A classic bat
Now this one does take a little more effort than grabbing something out of your closet. But if you’ve got scissors and black fabric (or a plastic table cloth, or a sheet) then you can make this simple DIY Halloween bat costume we spotted at She Knows. Glam it up with the black dress and gladiator sandals or comfy high boots. Or, go more my style with a black tee and black jeans.
Related: 7 quick, easy face paint tutorials for Halloween if you’re skipping the masks
Emoji
It’ll take you about 15 minutes to make this simple dollar-store Emoji costume spotted at Nelle Creations. If you don’t have a glue gun — like she recommends — you can always just use fabric glue. And if you don’t have legs like Jenelle’s (I don’t), leggings please. No need to be a “sexy” emoji just because it’s Halloween. Or hey — split the difference and throw on a pair of Kristen’s favorite faux-leather leggings which you’ll definitely wear again.
Where’s Waldo
How adorable is Chelsea Foy’s family, dressed as Wally, Wendy and…baby Waldo? in this simple Where’s Waldo costume DIY at Lovely Indeed. The one catch is you need to own a red-and-white striped shirt and red caps, or find some that ship quickly.
Arthur, the … aardvark?
I could write a PhD dissertation on Arthur, based on how often my kids watched PBS when they were little. Even now, I think they’d appreciate this simple Arthur costume tutorial on LaurDIY’s YouTube channel. (Easy hack: those are old Harry Potter glasses she’s wearing!) But don’t skip the video, because she also has clever tutorials for Care Bears and Pokemon on there too, in case those are more your jam.
Kiki’s Delivery Service
My kids adore Hayao Miyazaki’s movie Kiki’s Delivery Service, and this Kiki Costume at All About Ami would make them so happy. Keep the whole family simple by dressing one of your kids in all black with cat ears to be Jiji and the other in red stripes and jeans to be Tombo. (And hey, next year they can go as Waldo!)
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