Fast and Easy Last Minute Halloween Costumes to Make

Easy, Last Minute Zombie Make up
We decided at the last minute, to zombie out for a Halloween paint class, with the help of an Instructable’s tutorial. Debbie Morrow, Copyright 2023, All Rights Reserved.

Sometimes, time and life gets away from us. Maybe you’re a procrastinator. Or maybe you just didn’t feel like dressing into a costume, and then changed your mind, at the very last minute. No worries – we’ve all been there, and I’ve got you covered. Here are some fast costumes, to whip up within 15 minutes or less.

Make yourself a cereal killer
This dude is a serious cereal killer with his mask. Image courtesy of https://www.pinterest.com/pin/548524429613776463/

Cereal Killer: Take a cereal box (without the contents),near the top sides, make a hole on each side. Pull a string through the holes, tying off the piece so the box can hang at your chest level. Lay the box back down on a table. If you don’t have a plastic knife from a previous costume or prop, cut a piece of cardboard into the shape of a knife, cover the handle with black duct tape. Cover the blade section with a piece of aluminum foil. Make a slit (as wide as your blade) into the front of the cereal box. Push the knife into slit, and add some red paint, or red hot glue, for blood. Then hang the box back around your neck. See image below for instruction clarity.

serial/cereal killer quick halloween costume
An illustration of how easy a cereal killer costume is made.

Stick Figure: You’ll need a white shirt, pants, and shoes. Add a straight, Black line of duct tape, going down from the neck to the crotch. Make duct tape lines for arms, legs. A white paper plate can be used as a mask. Make holes for your eyes, draw a black circle around plate, use string or elastic at ear level, to secure mask. See Money Wise Moms for a great example.

Crazy Cat Lady: If you have several small stuffed cat toys, this is simple. Tease or mess your hair to look unkept. With safety pins, pin cats all over your clothes.

Little Dead Riding Hood: Wear a red skirt with a white top, or a Red dress. Add a red hoodie. Use fake blood to make your neck look bitten. Splatter blood on your pale face, if you want. Carry a wicker basket with you.

Carrie: You’ll need a white dress, you don’t mind possibly not reusing. Make a quick prom queen sash, with wide ribbon or fabric, and if you have a tiara, that’s a plus, but not needed. Make a lot of fake blood, if you don’t have any on hand. Standing in the shower, with your entire outfit on, pour blood over your head. * If you don’t have time for the blood to dry, and need to leave, drape a moving pad, or an old blanket, over your car interior, to protect it.

Zombie (See top image): If you have white school glue, facial tissue or toilet paper, and face paints, you’re in luck! Put on some shabby or paint clothes( I think most people have at least one set), then use this technique from Instructables, to make your skin look like it is falling off.

A Fork in the Road: Find a plain, black or grey t-shirt. With either white or yellow duct tape, make the white or yellow road lines, across the front of your shirt. If you have a plastic fork on hand, use a dab of hot glue to attach it across the road lines. If you need to use a regular fork, try finding the lightest one you have, and either hot glue it, use Velcro, or you can even sew it tightly against your shirt.

Easy Halloween Costume fork in the road
An easy Fork in the Road Halloween costume, anyone can make. Image courtesy of Mysterious Gal on Instructables.

Chick Magnet: If you have a bunch of fridge magnets, take them off the fridge, and attach them to a plain-colored shirt. You can use a dab of hot glue, Velcro, or whatever you have on hand, to attach. OR you can cut out a large “U” shaped piece of cardboard, paint or duct tape it to look like a magnet, and hang around your neck.

Beach Butler: You can go shirtless, or wear a tight tank and short, shorts. Put a tool belt on, or a folded up grill apron(with pockets), tied around waist. Add suntan lotion, Aloe vera, and a wine cooler or two, in your pockets. Wear a black bow tie, and white gloves, to really get your point across.

Richard Simmons: If you have curly short hair, or have a curly wig handy, this is an easy costume. Wear a red tank, striped shorts, white calf socks, and sneakers. A wrist or a head sweat band, would work well, too!

Oppenheimer: Raid your grandfather’s, or senior friend’s closet. They will likely have everything you need, including the hat.

Smartie Pants: Wear a plain shirt, and attach Smartie candies, to a pair of plain-colored pants. If you have one, wear a graduation cap.

One Smart Cookie: Cut 2 large circles out of cardboard,(See illustration below). With a marker, draw random choc. chips, on both pieces. Use string or duct tape, and attach the cardboard cookies together, at the shoulders and waist. Make sure you leave a big enough gap for your body to be in between the pieces, so the cookie can easily be taken off and on. Wear a graduation cap.

Smart cookie make your own costume
Illustration of strap or string placement. Although only one side shown, make a waist strap on both sides of cookie.

Barbie and Ken: If you have lots of stylish, form-fitting, pink clothing, Barbie is an easy choice for you. Ken can wear beachwear.

A Spice Girl: Attach your kitchen spices, to a plain t-shirt, or on the front of a plain dress.

A Social Butterfly: Print/cut out several icons of social media platforms like Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, etc. Glue or pin the icons to a solid-colored shirt. Add a pair of Dollar Tree fairy wings.

Social butterfly easy costume to make
Social Butterfly costume. Image courtesy of Instagram user Ellegrrrl.

Send me your pics of your fast and easy costumes, and I’ll highlight them in a post. Happy Halloween!

Making Easy Lava Cracks in the Ground for Halloween

Cracks in the earth, under Vecna from Stranger Things yard.

After seeing the last season’s episodes of Stranger Things, I knew I wanted to recreate Vecna, the lava cracks in the earth, Billy, and Max. I watched a few other creative tutorials, but as usual, I decided to make mine a little differently. The differences in my version of lava cracks vs. others I found online:

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How to Make a Real Hair Beard for a Costume or Prop

Are you having problems finding a decent beard from your local stores or online vendors? You’re not the only one. After scouring Amazon, and other places, I felt a little desperate. I was making Hopper, from Stranger Things to go into my Halloween yard. I thought, how hard can it be to find a normal beard, that didn’t break the bank? Continue reading

Fast and Easy Stranger Things Demodog Heads to Make

demodog two liter head

Adding to our second year of our Stranger Things yard, we added a more visible gate, where demodog heads are scattered upon it. I even built a life-size, animatronic demodog that turns his head, when sensors are triggered. No, this is not that tutorial. It was not easy, nor fast. But the demodog heads on the gate? Easy Peasy.  Follow these quick directions, and you’ll have a Stranger Things vibe in no time.

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Making a Life-Sized Barrel from The Nightmare Before Christmas

barrel trio

I’d like to apologize to the frustrated creators, trying to find the link from my original post, Lock, Shock and Barrel Life-Sized Characters – DIY.  It seems a few years back, a glitch deleted content off my site. Here is the long-awaited tutorial for Barrel:

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Easy Last Minute Super Bowl Recipes

Image, courtesy of Home is Where the Boat is. They also offer an easy,
no-bake recipe, for Football cake pops.

If you are still scrambling to figure out some easy, quick menu items for Super Bowl, look no further. These recipes are sure to please a crowd. Best yet, they’re so simple, anyone can make. So, don’t forget to enlist your kids to help.

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Making a Spell Book Cake

Tutorial on making a spell book cake from the movie Hocus Pocus
Cast a spell with the Sanderson Sisters’ Hocus Pocus cake. Image courtesy of Debbie Morrow, All Rights Reserved.

After years of watching my aunt make some amazing fondant cakes, my daughter and I thought we’d give it a try. But, instead of store bought fondant, we decided to make our own. It was less expensive, tasty, and easy to make.

This Hocus Pocus Spell Book, is the second fondant cake we’ve ever made. The first was a five-layer Pusheen Cake, that took 9 hours to make, because of so many trials and errors. But that conversation is for another post.

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An Easy Cauldron Cake for Halloween

If you are looking for a super easy Halloween cake, this is the one for you. I’ve made this cake twice over the years and one of the first tips I have to offer is: Make sure you make your edible objects a few days before (or purchase them) and give yourself enough time to put it together. I had to rush to make this cake before our Halloween Bash, and I can see ever flaw – but my guests loved it. I had to put this together in about an hour’s time. I seriously would have liked another half hour to perfect the cauldron walls, smoothing them out. But it worked. Continue reading

Last Minute No-Cook Picnic Recipes

Easy red, white, and blue Cheesecake-Stuffed Strawberries. Image/detailed directions at: thekitchenismyplayground.com

Easy red, white, and blue Cheesecake-Stuffed Strawberries. Image/detailed directions at: thekitchenismyplayground.com

 

 

 

Scrambling for get-togethers can be daunting. Especially on super picnic weekends like July 4th. Here are a few last minute no-cook recipes that can save you time in the kitchen:

 

 

Star-Spangled Mini Trifles

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Last Minute Appetizers

Tortilla Pinwheels are visually appealing, easy to make and you can't eat just one! Image courtesy of appetizerrecipes.blogspot.com

Tortilla Pinwheels are visually appealing, easy to make and you can’t eat just one! Image courtesy of appetizerrecipes.blogspot.com and the Frugal Gal’s own recipe is below.

 

 

We’ve all been there…more people show up at our party or the food is going quick. Maybe it was a last minute effort to have a party. No matter which reason fits your scenario, you can make a fabulous spread quickly.

The Biggie: Asking for Help

No matter what, it won’t help you feel any better if you’re frazzled with stress because you’ve done it all yourself. At least one of those friends and family members that are at the party or coming can help. Understandably, some of us have more pride than others, but swallow it and face reality that you deserve a good night too.

You can also avoid everything on your shoulders by asking people to bring a dish to pass. Yet, this doesn’t always solve the problem since not everyone gets that a dish to pass means one large enough for a crowd. So here are some last minute appetizers that can save the night. Continue reading