Halloween is the best! I mean free candy and homemade halloween costumes? What more could you want? Adults need costumes too, so get your brain in creative costume gear with 39 DIY adult Halloween costumes! Oh and if you’re pregnant, don’t miss DIY pregnant Halloween costumes or if you have a kids, check out 33 DIY kid costumes!
80’s Halloween DIY costumes
If you’re a child of the 80’s, these DIY costumes are sure to make you smile!
1. Bob Ross costume
This Bob Ross costume is hiding in your closet now! All you likely need to buy is the curly, brown wig. Check out this post for the step by step DIY happy little tree tutorial.
2. DIY Casette tape costume
Here is an easy costume idea! Whip up this diy cassette tape costume with a peice of cardboard and a little paint! What will you call your mix tape?
3. Where’s Waldo costume DIY
4. Game Boy costume
5. Tetris costumes
Tetris came out in June of 1984 and it brings back all the 80s nostalgia. This 80’s costume is perfect for a group!
6. 80’s Prom Queens
Any thrift store will have a few lacy 80’s prom dresses on the racks. Just grab a few friends, a little neon bling and be the Queens of the (Halloween) Prom!
7. Village People Costumes
The song “Y.M.C.A.” debuted in 1978! The Village People is pure 80’s. This easy DIY group costume idea has 6 character choices. Best part? You likely have most of the pieces needed for these costumes on hand or can find them at a thrift store. Your quick costume choices are:
- Construction worker
- Police officer
- Cowboy
- Solider
- Native American
- Biker
8. E.T. and Elliot Costumes
All you need for this retro costumes is a red hoodie, a pair of bike handlebars, and some form of E.T.! My friend, Rachelle, used her sweet pup in place of the cute alien. A stuffed animal works too!
Couples Costumes for Adults
9. Operation Costume
This costume is adorable and best of all, comfortable! All you need is a grey sweat suit and red and white felt. A pair of pliers is also an essential! The surgeon needs scrubs and a stethoscope. Find the full tutorial here.
10. Doug and Patty Mayonnaise
11. Fred and Wilma costume
12. Mary Poppins and Bert costumes
These amazing Bert and Mary Poppins costume DIY were put together with thrift store finds and pieces on hand. Check out this post to find out how Rachel made the DIY chimney sweep.
13. Cyclists on a tandem bike
Here’s a couples costume you don’t see every year– tandem bike riders– complete with a cardboard bike!
14. Indiana Jones
My favorite accessory of this costume is the arc of the covenant, filled with candy of course!
15. The Birds
If you’re looking for a creepy couples costume, The Birds came out in 1996 and was loosely based on a true story!
16. Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers
If you love country music, this Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers costume is perfect! Dolly and Kenny have been friends and collaborated on songs for decades.
17. Wayne and Garth
18. Princess Bride costumes
If you prefer romantic comedies, how about Princess Bride Buttercup and Westley costumes?!
Funny Adult Halloween Costumes
19. Clean and Dirty
20. Snapchat filter costumes
You can go all out for this costume or keep it simple with solid color t-shirts, jeans, and Converse like we did!
21. Glow in the dark stick person
22. Mail Stripper
23. VSCO girl costume
According to Dictionary.com, a VSCO girl typically wears scrunchies, the color yellow, friendship bracelets, high-waisted jean shorts, baggy tie-dye tops, and Birkenstock sandals. A VSCO girl is also a lifestyle and includes health fads, using eco-friendly products, drinking out of Hydro Flask water canisters, and using disposable cameras.
24. Tourist
25. Piñata and a piñata hitter
26. Grandpa costume
This grandpa costume is one the easiest thrift store costumes to throw together! Don’t forget to adda pillow for the beer belly.
DIY Food costumes
27. Crown and Coke
28. Oreo costume
No double stuffed Oreo costume is complete without a milk headband!
29. Pizza and Pizza delivery boy
30. Jolly Green Giant
31. Cheeseburger
32. Bunch of Grapes
33. Sriracha bottle and a rooster
34. French Press
DIY Celebrity costumes
35. American Idol contestant
This almost famous DIY celebrity costume is sure to get a laugh. Best part? All you have to do is print out the golden ticket and pin the number to your shirt.
36. Kim and Kanye Halloween costumes
Who knows if Kim and Kanye are back together or not, but this celebrity couples costume is fun either way!
37. Post Malone costume
Post Malone costume necessities are a grill, temporary tattoos, cigarette behind her ear, and a Bud Light in hand. Simple and genius!
38. Mr. and Mrs. Smith costume
This DIY costume works especially well if your last name happens to be Smith!
39. Rosie the Riveter
40. Donald Trump
My favorite costume from last year was my neighbor dressed as Donald Trump. He had the facial expressions and hand movements down!
What’s the best costume you’ve ever seen? What is your costume this year? What is your favorite costume on this list? I’d love to hear…
If you want more DIY costume ideas, don’t miss these posts:
Comments & Reviews
one of the easiest costumes of YEARS of loving Halloween and dressing up, is the BLACK EYED PEA … it is simple, green clothes, sweats … green all over and a black eye with the letter p ON THE FRONT AND BACK OF SHIRT~!!! ONE YEAR a cereal killer ,…. yep … white t shirt, with small cereal boxes attached, with a plastic knife stuck into the boxes and paint or blood dripping from ea box down the t shirt …. no one will ever guess this one !!! one year I dressed up like a hunter, wanting to look more like a man I needed a beard, so I spread a thin layer of corn syrup on face and took coffee grounds and patted on syrup for a scruffy beard, the smell of the coffee all day at work gave me indigestion, but no one knew it was me, because of the real looking beard, just washed off with warm water …
Hi, my daughter linked me here, love all the ideas for costumes. Our enlarged family has been doing Halloween for many, many years, and all the costumes have been handmade! My husband and I went as Sonny & Cher, he was Cher & I was Sonny, everyone loved it. Also, Hunchback & Gypsy girl, salt & pepper shakers, referee & football player, so many I can’t remember them all. Now once a month my sisters, our older girls, & our mom meet for a card night but we theme dress up: Harry Potter Night, Jersey Shore, Roman Toga, Nerd, and so on, we have so much fun doing it, take pictures, then we relax for the night. My neice made my mom a scrapbook of all our nights we’ve done, it’s great! Enjoy all.
Love those ideas! Thank you for sharing 🙂
My husband is a big Halloween lover so we’re always trying to do something unique. Before we met, he did that “God’s gift to Women one”. Last year, he was a giant mudflap and held me up through armholes… I was the chrome girl (body paint). It was amazing with great reactions. Still trying to figure out how to top it this year. 🙂
I met my fiancee on Halloween, and he had to hand make his costume. He got a big box, wrapped it in Pink Wrapping paper, Put a Bow and A Tag that said “To: Women From: God” =] He was God’s Gift to women… Guess it worked.
My husband and I went last year as Publishers Clearing House! I wore a robe and sweatpants with my hair all messy and makeup smudged, and he wore a suit. I made a giant check, and we bought balloons and red carnations. It was really fun, and I was psyched to be able to wear sweatpants in public because I was pregnant and uncomfortable at the time!
That is AWESOME!
Me and my two friends are going as the powerpuff girls this year. I will be bubbles. We are going to sew the costumes. So excited
Without a doubt being Rosie The Riveter!
Last year, my son wanted to be Woody from Toy Story. And then he wanted friends. So I was Jessie, my husband was Buzz and my sister was Rex the dinosaur. All homemade. I loved that group. And I love the Carmen Sandiego costume from this list!
My personal favorites from the last few years: Proper Young Lady, complete with leather bound “books” balanced my head and penny loafers; Mother Nature with butterflies, birds, leaves, and glitter all over and in my hair (inspired from Martha Stewart’s “Grey Lady” costume); and Medusa, a sheer black toga over leggings and a men’s long-sleeve black tee where i split the sleeves on the outside and cut the neckline to match the toga and decorated everything with gold and bronze paints, rope belts, decorated gladiator sandals, and snakes glued to hair clips that slithered through and stood up in my hair.
My dream costumes are the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland, Rosie the Riveter, and a Domestic Goddess (which is already made, just haven’t worn it.)
I love how people have an issue with the “bun in the oven” costume but not with the “Indian” costume. How about I dress up as a Caucasian or an African American this year. Now that’s tacky, dressing up as an ethnicity haha.
i’m a real native american…honestly we don’t mind if people dress up like indians…actually i do it myself. really, most of us just don’t want people to get all racially guilty about such a little thing. it insults our intelligence.
I’m from a Native American family too. Never mind things like that either. We even have a football team 🙂 Just wish the skins would play a little better. People get to uptight about stuff in general.
I think it’s okay too. A Geisha girl is popular. Caucasian stereotypes include little Dutch girls and drunken Irish men. Also hearkening from my background, I wouldn’t be offended if someone dressed as a Scot in full kilt etc. (especially if he has nice legs! lol), or the French stereotype: a beret, a baguette and a bottle of wine. I appreciate though that you don’t want to needlessly offend anyone.
I really like the Bert and Mary Poppins and the “bun in the oven” 🙂 Last year my boyfriend and I dressed as Fry and Leela from Futurama and it was epic! This year I think we are going to be Dia De Los Muertos figures…
I like the mary poppins and bert and the Jolly Green Giant! I had some friends and they dressed up as “Moonshiners” with overalls that had the “seat” area cut out like a flap, so when ever the occasion presented itself they could “moon ” you! It was funny, mason jars with their drinks and a blacked out tooth here and there.
My husband and I were the couple from the American Gothic picture. It’s super easy. Get a pitch fork and dress like an old farmer couple.
zomg. I know people from these photos! Did you live in the honors quad?
nope, I never lived in the honors quad. who do you know?! the first 3 pictures are of my friends!
I was a One Night Stand once. I wore a box that I turned it into a nightstand by drawing on drawers and gluing on drawer knobs. I glued an ashtray with a cigarette in it, condoms, and an old cell phone on the nightstand and wore a lamp shade on my head.
Classy.
Last year I was the school girl Brittany Spears with two baby dolls on a leash dressed as thing one and thing two, I would drop them and sing “Opps I did it again, I had everyone rolling,
As an etsy seller, I personally don’t think it’s unethical to list an item in any blog post (even a DIY one,) as long as the link takes you back to the item listing, and/or the creator is given credit. This one just happens to have been deactivated, maybe because the seller did it, or it’s possible etsy did. Either way, even if the item was copyrighted, someone crafty could make something similar for personal use (but, from what I’ve seen, not of the same quality unless they’re experienced with printing on fabrics!) Most sellers are up on their SEO and google stats, and it appears this one’s sales haven’t been hurt by their item being posted all over the web. 😉
Anywho, I have loved that jellyfish costume idea for a while now! I have to give it to Martha, she and her team get pretty freaky for Halloween.
I’m a sucker for Halloween and costumes in general. My hubby and I have been participating in our church’s “trunk or treat” for the past couple of years, and it’s been a blast. The first year we went as Dorothy and the scarecrow, and our trunk was Oz: http://buymelovestore.wordpress.com/2010/11/03/tuesdays-treasure-3/
I made the hub’s costume from sweats, raffia and elastic, sewed the hat with fleece scraps, and painted his face.
I bought my dress and added a layer of lace to the hem and a slip for length. My mom mercifully glitter-ified my shoes, and I made the backdrop from a mishmash of different papers, glitter glues, fake poppies, paint, and a plastic tablecloth.
Last year, we were a mermaid and a pirate, and our trunk was my giant shell: http://buymelovestore.wordpress.com/2011/12/26/make-it-monday-a-very-belated-reveal/
I made my ear “fins” from floral wire and tulle, and meticulously hand sewed sequins. I wore a nude tank top and pinned my hand sewn shells on. Then I sewed a fin, using a skirt as a pattern, and added tulle fins (again, meticulously hand sequined.) I was covered in glitter and blue and green makeup, and found that delightfully tacky wig at Goodwill. Don’t worry – it was new and unused!
My husband’s costume was a combo of thrift finds, torn, tattered and stained. We added some eyeliner and a scar, a tattoo sleeve found at the dollar store, some fake jewelry, and, believe it or not, that scarf on his head and wooden sword at his waist are both his.
I made the shell from 6 pieces of foam board, acrylic paint, glitter, and fishing line. (I cut a stool-sized hole in the bottom half so I could sit in my shell.) The “water” is an iridescent door curtain.
Even though these aren’t from Halloween, I thought I’d share our last Comic Con costumes. We went as Tank Girl and Clark Kent: http://chelsealikeengland.wordpress.com/2012/05/26/dallas-comic-con-2012/
The only thing I made for Kent was the tie, and that was just wire sewn into the tie and formed, bent, and sneakily safety-pinned around his collar. The rest came from my hubby’s closet.
Tank Girl breakdown: shirt – mine, target painted on w/acrylics; shorts – mine, vintage; vest – thrifted, and I added patches and doodads; socks – hub’s and thrifted rainbow toe socks (one cut off as an arm warmer); goggles – dollar store; belt & holsters – my husband’s; weapons – dollar stores (I painted the bright orange gun); boots – mine; bat – thrifted kid’s plastic bat that I covered in contact paper and athletic tape. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to add wounds and bruises, but I did add some bandages. 🙂
Anyway, now that it’s completely clear I’m a nut, I hope someone out there enjoys and can even use some of the ideas!
My 86 yr old Dad’s KISS COSTUME last year – he won the contest! All homemade, including the cardboard guitar. His walker was decorated with KISS CDs and posters.
Cute, but I’m not sure it’s ethical to include costumes from Etsy shops in a DIY blog post.
The picture for the Waldo costume won’t load on my pc. Oh, the irony.
I loved the Where’s Waldo costume! The bun in the oven was a little tacky though… especially the “bun baker”, oh brother!
How was the sock monkey costume made???
I didn’t make it… click on the link for more deets 🙂
how did you make the sock monkey head
I was a paper doll last year. It was pretty awesome, although some people didn’t get it.
That is awesome!!!
I will being the most epic rainbow dash ever.
No way!! that’s who i was this year!
Very cute!
I made fake blood for Halloween through this game http://www.pheon.org. Its a Facebook app game where you climb levels as you do crafts! All of you would be great at it!
Hi! I'm a new follower! This is my very first blog hop. I just recently got back into blogging :o)
Loving Waldo by the way 🙂
Feel free to visit my blog at http://www.macheriecreations.com
See you around!
-Adri
Only handmaking 2 costumes this year, and I can't wait to get them on my blog. My little Sasha is going to be a peacock and her next oldest brtoher is going to be a lego man. My husband and I are going as an angel and a devil. Which one do you think I will be??? 😉