Coming up with an Idea

• Steer clear of popular characters if you want a unique costume. For example, if you want to be a pirate, instead of being Captain Jack Sparrow like most other pirates on Halloween, be Captain Kidd or Blackbeard. Rather than being the expected character, like Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk, be the unexpected character--be the beanstalk itself. If you want to be an animal, avoid being a common dog, cat or bunny rabbit. Instead, be a racoon, an aardvark or a platypus. Rather than being a cartoon character, be a character from an old, obscure comic book.
  
  You can also come up with unique costumes by putting a spin on words. For example, instead of being a serial killer, be a cereal killer and show up with a box of breakfast cereal that has a bloody knife sticking out of it. Be a chick magnet by dressing in black and safety-pin small stuffed Easter chicks to you randomly. Wear a halo, bathrobe and slippers, and carry around a coffee mug to be an angel of the morning.
  
  

Putting a Costume Together

• Be creative when pulling your costume together. Look around at what you have available. You don't have to sew it all from scratch. In fact, if you don't sew, you can avoid sewing altogether.
  
  Look in secondhand shops for old clothing that inspires you. You might be able to die something, shred the edges, pin on accessories or layer different garments to make your costume. Tights, leggings, body suits, sweat suits and plain cotton t-shirts can be the foundation of a lot of different types of costumes.
  
  Take what you find available, then alter or sew elements onto the costume to give it details and make it unusual. There are lots of other materials besides a needle and thread you can use if you don't sew, such as safety pins, duct tape, hemming tape, ironed-on fusible webbing, fabric glue or a hot glue gun.
  
  A few store-bought details can help pull your costume together nicely, such as a hat, the right shoes or props.
  
  

Unusual Costume Ideas You Can Make Yourself

• Be the "Spirit of Autumn" by raiding local secondhand shops for clothing that features fall colors. Wear any outfits you can find that are brown, burnt orange, crimson red or golden yellow. Mix and match different outfits in the different colors. Add some props from the seasonal section of any major superstore: a grapevine wreath for your head or some silk leaf garland draped over your shoulders. Or, use a big stick from the park for a staff.
  
  Use a box to be an old-fashioned 1950s idea of a high-tech robot. Cut arm holes and spray paint the box silver. Spray paint and glue on items that look like controls, such as an old calculator, some bottle caps for knobs, or hot glue some metal gadgets from the junkyard onto it. Convert some flexible drier hose into sleeves and leggings to complete the look.
  
  Food costumes are easy to achieve with pieces of felt, a hot glue gun and some acrylic paints for details or shading. You can cut out two large, round white pieces of felt and glue most of the edges together, leaving a hole for your head, hands and legs. Then glue on a round yellow cut out to be an egg. Roll green felt around your body to be asparagus, or orange to be a carrot. Put on a green ski cap with silk leaves glued to it to be the leafy top of a vegetable.