The cheap, non-crafty parent's guide to making costumes.

Muffin Man is nothing if not a stickler for verisimilitude. The boy shaved his head for last year's costume.

I am cheap and, beyond knitting, am not at all crafty.

I do not like buying costumes that will be used once. I especially do not like paying more for a costume than I would pay for real clothes. Particularly since those costumes are severely lacking in verisimilitude.

That being the case, the Miller Household puts our heads together to come up with costumes that incorporate items we already have, or that can be reused in everyday life and that also capture the spirit of the character. I think we're pretty successful! What do you think?

Side-by-side pictures of MM's last two Halloween costumes and their inspirations.

Cone Head Zombie from Plants vs. Zombies. Character copyright PopCap Games.

Aang, the Avatar from the cartoon, The Avatar
(not to be confused with the movie Avatar,
or the character from the movie version, called The Last Airbender).

Both costumes are home-made, (ingredients here and here) and involved no sewing or other crafty skill whatsoever (although MS made a terrific traffic cone, which ended up not getting used in favor of the real much heavier one from Home Depot).