Can I be real with y’all? (Ha! I don’t say “y’all” but I do live in Texas now, so I’m trying it out!) We just moved to the States. We just had a baby. We just faced a year of unbelievable challenges. When I say that money is tight, I am not exaggerating! Even in the easiest of life’s seasons though, I am generally that really resourceful Mama - the one who likes to save all her pennies for big fun family experiences. 

I also love to dress up though, and family costumes are my favorite! When we lived in China DIY projects were hard to complete. Craft items are hard to come by, and even though there was a lot I could order online, I really had to get inventive and work with what I could find. 

Since my first child, Elijah, was born we have done a number of DIY family costumes, and today I am bringing you my favorite five. All of these family costumes can be made or brought together with only a little bit of effort. You might need to make a run to the dollar store, or order a few things on Amazon, but all five of these family costumes are fun, affordable and DIY. 

Being a family of three for the last five years meant we looked for ideas we could do as three. Some of these could easily be adapted to bigger families though. 

So, here they are. My top five DIY family costumes:  

1.) Pirates and a Parrot 

There is so much you can do for pirate costumes. It is actually amazing how much you might already have available at home. Black eyeliner, hoop earrings, old t-shirts that you can tear up and use as headbands, and extra layers. Add a vest, some fishnet stockings, and loads of bangles. We made our son into a parrot - because every pirate needs his parrot - but you can dress the little ones in pirate gear too if you prefer.

I made the parrot wings and beak, and you can find those details here.

DIY Needs: kids red sweatshirt, hot glue, hot glue gun, colored felt

2.) Pokémon 

Definitely a classic. It was popular years ago and then made a reappearance over the last couple of years. This outfit was super simple, and most of the parts I was able to order cheaply online. I did not make my ears but you could totally do that if you felt up to it. 

3.) Robbers and a bag of money 

Possibly the simplest of the lot - this costume didn’t require much work at all. A couple of black and white striped shirts, black beanies, and some fake money. OrigInally our costume was going to include a black eye mask but the seller mailed us red ones instead of black and they didn’t go with our look so we decided to ditch those. 

4.) Mummies 

This was definitely the cheapest of all of these costumes. All I bought was a ton of bandages, and some black and white face paint. I didn’t want to use the cheap face paint on four month old Elijah, so I patted his head and face with baby powder instead. Just to make him look a little pale. This costume was super easy and quite a hit! 

5.) Pj Masks

A four year old son, obsessed with the PJ Masks - yup, as you can imagine, we got the “best parents ever” award for this one. He was over the moon, and so were all of his little buddies. Eli already had this store bought Gekko outfit so I only had to make costumes for myself and my husband. I made both the Catboy and Owlette masks myself, using felt and a glue gun. I also made our shirts in the same way, gluing felt cut-outs to old t-shirts. I ordered some capes and “wings” online and hand-stitched those to the back of our shirts.

I loved the creativity involved in this one. In fact, this one took first prize in a Halloween costume party. Oh yes! 

These are the Top 5 DIY Costumes we’ve done but more importantly than the costumes themselves is the why behind them. Why do family costumes? Why do DIY? Below are our 5 reasons why.

1. It’s affordable.

A DIY costume can cost you as little or as much as you want. You can go as simple or as elaborate as you like, too, but your buck goes way further in the DIY space than the commercial.

2. It builds family memories.

Any time you get dressed up as a family, is fun! I love all the fun moments of laughter, dancing in our costumes, and playing make believe our family costumes on Halloween have provided us.

3. It allows you to get creative.

Let the kids get involved with choosing the theme. Let them hot glue a part of the costume or take a sharpie and add some fun details to the costume. Whatever way works, let the kids exercise their creative sides, too.

4. It makes for great family photos.

There’s nothing like a fun, dress up photo of the family that takes everyone right back to those moments. You’ll cherish those photos in the future.

5. It takes the emphasis off of the commercial.

We’re always looking for ways that we can intentionally take focus away from consumerism and DIY Costumes hold a great opportunity for this. Don’t get us wrong, we also love an easy costume and have dreams of having dress up trunks for our girls filled with fun commercial costumes, but we also recognize that DIY family costumes allow us to show our children another way, too.

So there you have it, some DIY family costume ideas & our why’s behind them. Simple and affordable but super fun! 

Do you make costumes as a family? Let us know your WHY in the comment box below!