Homemade Halloween Dress-Up

Halloween is one event that our family looks forward to every year. Nothing grand, just pure fun. 

It has been 5 years since we started a family tradition of making our own costumes and dress-up for Halloween. This year was no exception despite the pandemic, as we do not go out for Trick or Treating. We are happy to just take photos for keepsakes and share some sweet treats in the comfort of our home. 

A couple of years ago, I posted a blog here on City-Cost, "Creating a Memorable Halloween Experience on A Budget." There, I detailed my first experience of Halloween in my home country and how I carried that tradition with my little family here in Japan. Through the years, I am proud of how our costumes evolved and how involved my husband and son got in planning, executing and documenting our mini Halloween event.

Three years ago, I learned sewing as a hobby by watching YouTube tutorials. One of my first projects was our Pumpkin costumes for Halloween 2017. Using mostly felt materials, I was able to create simple overalls for my son and headpieces for the 3 of us. 

In 2018, we planned something cute and but I was rushed to the hospital on October 31st due to pregnancy complications. The photos below are some shots I took during our costume fitting days before Halloween. My son requested me to make a ‘poop’ emoji costume and that’s what I made for him. My husband wore a butt costume (as suggested by my son). While my costume was Winnie the Pooh (big tummy courtesy of my late baby girl when I was 5 months pregnant).

For Halloween last year, we were Toy Story characters. The idea came to us after we watched the Toy Story 4 movie and when my mom bought Woody pjs for my son. His cowboy hat was ordered from Amazon. While I cut-out Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head costumes from felt, which my husband happily helped sticking.

This year, my son wanted a Minecraft Creeper costume and that’s what he got. It was a challenge looking for Minecraft pjs. And Amazon sells them at very high prices, hence we needed to improvise. We bought a green and black checkered top that we covered in felt to make it look more Creeper than Demon Slayer. I also sewed bottom pajamas with similar print and covered in as well in different shades of green felt. What made this year’s costume special is the effort that the whole family put in making it. My husband and son were very helpful in creating our masks. We used recycled Amazon boxes and origami papers for the faces. My mother-in-law was very game in joining us in photo shoot.

Looking at these Halloween photos brings back lots of happy memories. I am proud of what we created and I am excited for the bonding activities we will have again as we plan and prepare for next year’s Halloween.

Do you also celebrate Halloween with your family? How did your Halloween event go?