Her Campus Logo Her Campus Logo

Halloween Costumes on a Student Budget

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at U Ottawa chapter.

It’s Halloween and scrambling to find the right costume can be a little stressful – especially if buying one last minute isn’t exactly ideal. As a student, it can be hard to find a Halloween costume that is not only right for you, but within your budget. Those packaged costumes, like “Flirty Firefighter” or “Igloo Cutie”, are great if you want to look hot, but they can also be quite expensive. If you’re still trying to figure out what you want to be for Halloween, look no further! Here are some suggestions for Halloween costumes this year (and they range from silly to sexy).

Stop light

This kid really knows how to get creative! All you need are 3 squares of either black poster paper or cardboard painted black. Paint 3 circles over each square (one red, one yellow, and one green). Make sure to tie each square together with string and tape (you could even tape kebab skewers to make them stay up better). Then loop a final piece of string through the red light and hang around your neck. You’re ready to stop traffic!

Jack Skellington

Be everyone’s favourite Halloween character! All you’ll need is all-black clothes (or a pin-stripe suit jacket) and white gloves. There are Jack Skellington masks for sale at costume stores, but if you’re trying to be frugal, you can just paint your face white and black! 

Cereal Killer

This costume has to be one of the best play-on-words ever. This costume is really easy to make – all you will need are about mini-cereal boxes, and you can buy them at any grocery store. You can even use the cereal as a treat at your Halloween party! Puncture each cereal box with a plastic knife, and then tape each box to your body. If you’re feeling adventurous, you can even glue them to yourself and go all out!

Sexy Librarian

This costume is the perfect combination of smart and sexy. The great thing about it is that you can pretty much wear anything and still pull it off! You can wear a dress, a short skirt, or even pants with a blouse. Then accessorize with some books and a pair of glasses!

Thing 1 and Thing 2

If you’re looking to pair up with someone, this is the perfect costume. Again, pretty inexpensive and very easy to make. All you need is a red shirt, a black marker, and a white circle (could be paper, cardboard). Write “thing 1” and “thing 2” on each circle and tape or glue onto the red shirts. If you don’t want to buy a blue wig, there’s temporary blue hairspray at costume stores or the dollar store. 

The people who make their own costumes get a lot more out of Halloween. How good would it feel to say, “I made it.” when someone compliments your costume? Get creative and start your costume now!

Photo credits:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wwworks/6301078974/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/baranclesdublingalway/4097384411/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gammaman/6294928497/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/johncarljohnson/283708513/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/librarianavengers/269737140/

Alexandra is a third-year English Lit and Classical Studies student at the University of Ottawa. Her favourite activities include reading, working out, and Tumblr. She currently lives at home, working to save up money to travel and take the world by storm. She never stops dreaming, and wants to explore more of Canada before anywhere else in the world. Her dream career is to become a journalist for the Canadian Forces.