Easy Halloween Costumes for Kids

Review:

This is a beautiful book and so user-friendly! It was great to avoid frantically running around from store to store, since this book has such simple patterns and shortcuts where you don't even have to sew, as well as last-minute panic solutions. The 100 different costume choices (from well-known bunnies, pirates and witches to the amusing gingerbread house, octopus, swamp monster) will last the Halloween life of my kids (and probably their kids too!), making this book quite the bargain. Making and creating the costumes was a fun family project and encouraged everyone's imagination. I like the idea that a portion of the proceeds of the book go to UNICEF.

I have made the squeleton costume for my 5 years old and it was a success.It was a great initiation to costume making for me.It also is easy to understand and do by them selfs for older kids. It is our favorite bedtime story.

Sam (age 5) and Kate (age 3) have been so excited about this book "reading" every page over and over and taking it to bed with them! Kate has memorized the names of each costume and has been able to ask for and describe a combination of costumes that she has imagined for herself!
This book is wonderful for inspiring creative imagination and the costume tips and patterns ARE easy and versatile enough for you to whip up an original costume with very simple inexpensive ingredients or with whatever you have in the house even at the very last minute!

I am very proud of Sam, who after much gleeful "study" of this book with his sister, decided to make his own costume modifying one of the ideas in this book - how satisfying for him to march in his school costume parade wearing an original costume that started from an idea from this book and made pretty much all by himself (hey, no sewing, or even glue gun needed for that one!) I'm sure we will get lots more year round dress-up inspiration from this truly "Illegally Easy Halloween Costumes for Kids" book to come... my mind is already brewing up some winter dress-up Birthday Party ideas!

In Illegally Easy Halloween Costumes For Kids, Halloween costume designer Leila Peltosaari showcases one hundred easy-to-make costumes complete with matching treat bags and accessories. The simple, step-by-step instructions are enhanced with detailed full-color photos and illustrations. The color-coded, easy patterns for 3 to 12 year olds are well-organized and feature a wealth of "no-sew" shortcuts and "last-minute" solutions. Highly recommended for even the most novice costumer, Illegally Easy Halloween Costumes For Kids is enhanced further with a history of Halloween, safety tips, and anecdotal background stories. With designs ranging from traditional and storybook characters to animals and clowns, to celestial beings and cultural tributes, most of the costumes can be assembled without a sewing machine and in only one evening. Many of the costumes are made form Polarfleece (a perfect Halloween fabric which is soft and lightweight, slightly stretchy, warm, versatile, with no hemming or seam finished needed -- and hotglues like a dream!). Although specifically targeted for the Halloween holiday, these are delightful outfits that can well serve for costume parties and school plays at any time of year!

Illegally Easy Halloween Costumes for Kids is the best I have seen on this topic. The full color photographs of the costumes, complete with makeup, are spectacular. The directions are thorough and easy to follow. Any of these costumes would be a terrific for Halloween and the ideas could also be used for making costumes for plays or other productions. At the price of store bought costumes or patterns, this book is a bargain, as it contains 100 costumes and many additional ideas. You won't be disappointed!









Family Fun Tricks and Treats

Halloween is a time of transformation and not for just humans who don the face paint and masks!

Reviews

There are a number of Halloween books out on the market for decorating, baking and costume making, but this is one of the few that actually has something new in it!

The crafts are clever, but actually look doable wtih things you might already have on hand. The costumes ideas are fun and innovative, the food ideas are also really cute, but not overly-complicated. While some classic ideas never die, this book puts a nice twist on things like "body parts" games.

Of course, the ideas come from the monthly magazine that Disney produces, Family Fun, and if you get the magazine, you'll have already seen alot of these things in print or on their website. Still, the book is nicely layed-out, easy to flip through and a good resource of party and costume ideas for both kids and their grown-ups.

This book is an awesome resource for make-at-home costumes and decorations. The ideas are so cute, easy to follow, and where else can you find a recipe for slime?

This was great! My daughter & I love Halloween and when we saw this we bought it right away. There are so many wonderful ideas. A must have! There were a lot of spooky things to do with foods and great little ideas for those little helpers to decorate your home with lots of memories! You have to get this one!

The Halloween Handbook : 447 Costumes (Paperback)

Book Description
It's dress-up for grown-ups, and the liveliest, most imaginative collection of Halloween costume ideas--447 costume ideas to be exact--from two hip, inveterate lovers of all things Halloween . . . plus dozens of other ideas for enjoying the holiday.

Bridie Clark and Ashley Dodd are the dynamic duo, in or out of capes. For every level of interest, time--and irony--they offer suggestions. There's the ultra-quick: Pin several pair of underwear to a shirt, and voilà, A Chest of Drawers. With a bit more time, wrap yourself in aluminum foil and don a beret--mmm, French Kiss. There are Angels and Devils, all with variations (add roller skates to your Satan costume, and go as Hell on Wheels). Come Hither costumes--Lady Godiva, Chippendales Dancer, Stripper Emerging from a Cake. Celeb sightings, from the Dalai Lama to Madonna (six Madonnas, actually, from all of her phases). Costumes for couples--Sweethearts Caught on Lover's Lane, Fred and Wilma Flintstone--and costumes for whole groups of friends, including how to appear as the Sopranos or the hapless castaways on Gilligan's Island. And for the children, check out Nursery Rhymes, Fairy Tales, and Other Costumes for the Young and Young at Heart.

Finally, for the friend who just can't bear the thought of dressing up but still wants to join the fun, suggest the Time Traveler from the Day Before Halloween.

About the Author
Bridie Clark lives in New York and works in publishing. Halloween is far and away her favorite holiday--originally for the candy, and now for the once-a-year opportunity to play dress-up. Ashley Dodd lives in New York and works in public relations. Halloween is far and away her favorite holiday--originally for the candy, and now for the once-a-year opportunity to play dress-up.

Review: Showcases 447 do-it-yourself costume concepts
The collaborative effort of Halloween costume experts and enthusiasts Bridie Clark and Ashley Dodd, The Halloween Handbook: Dress-Up For Grown-Ups showcases 447 imaginative, easy-to-make, do-it-yourself costume concepts. From traditional favorites such as Wonder Woman or Peter Pan, to more eyebrow-raising unique costumes like the One-Night Stand (the costumegoer appears as an actual stand with lampshade over the head, bra and pantyhouse dangling on the tablecloth) or the Green Card (wearing a large green sandwich board humorously displaying a parody what a real green card looks like). Black-and-white photographs illustrate fun, zany, sometimes edgy ideas with practical suggestions to efficiently and frugally make a Halloween guise to remember. Especially recommended not only for Halloween, but as a source of ideas for costume parties year round or even school and community theater apparel.



 

Clever Costume Creating for Halloween (Paperback)

Review" Prrrfect booook for the costume inclined!
From kids to adults, everyone loves being someone (or someTHING!) else for Halloween. Singleton's book provides a wealth of ideas and resources, and the interior illustrations, photographs, and black-and-orange two-color printing make for a very attractive product.

Review: Fun! Fun! Fun!
This is such a fun book for Halloween! I have enjoyed looking at the photographs and illustrations. I can't wait to try some of the creative costumes out on my children. The book makes it so easy to put together and understand! In this day of rush, rush, rush, its so wonderful to have a book that makes life simple. Thank you for such a great tool!

Review: Clever Costume Creating for Halloween
I found this book to be very enlightning for ideas on creating Halloween costumes. It is full of so many good tips, many requiring a minimal amount of effort in putting together a costume. I would recommend this book to many, both young and old and particularly to parents who every year need to come up with a new and unique costume for their children to dress for Halloween.

Review: Clever Costume Creating for Halloween
Suzanne Singleton has certainly outdone herself on this release. Clever Costume Creating for Halloween is jam-packed with unique ideas for easy to make, NO SEW costumes. The illustrations help you visualize the overall effect and the instructions are packed with appropriate props and accessories.

Although I am an artist and consider myself to be pretty creative, when it comes to Halloween costumes I go blank. The creative part of me wants to do something original, unique. I definitely could never bring myself to buy those mass produced, plastic-masked versions available in the stores. When I flipped through Suzanne Singleton's book, my mind began to race with all the possiblities. I found myself thinking, "Why didn't I think of that? This is sooooooo clever!" Now my only problem is choosing which idea to try first!

Review: FUN & EASY NO SEW COSTUME Ideas w/visuals!
This title had just been published a view days when I purchased it. If you are like me and love Halloween but panic at the thought of what to be? what to wear? This is for you! Singleton has written a book with A to Z costume ideas that are fun and refreshing and all NO SEW!

What you also receive with this book purchase are pages filled with fun to view black and white visuals of the costume ideas. The pages are bordered with corn candy and various halloween graphics which only adds to the fun and festive halloween spirit.

Year after year, my husband and I along with our children are invited to dress up Halloween costume parties.These parties are usually fun and yet I am always feeling pressure for myself and my family. What to do? Like many women of today, I do not sew which only adds to my frustration. Well now here is the perfect remedy, this title is not only packed with fun and easy costume ideas but each page is sure to bring a smile with each costume visual!

It is cute, fun, festive and fills a need! Never again will you lose sight of the Halloween fun that costume panic brings!