Piggy Bank Parties received free product samples from Oriental Trading for purposes of this post, but the opinions are 100% all mine.

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Has your child requested a Halloween costume you can’t buy online or in any store? Does the idea of creating a homemade costume overwhelm you?

If you answered with a resounding yes, have no fear! Today I’ll demystify the myth that homemade costumes are hard to make by sharing a few simple tricks I used to create the costumes for our Magic Trick Trunk or Treat.

In my former career, I taught music and theater at elementary, middle and high schools. Funding for the arts was extremely limited and costume budgets were almost non-existent. I had to get creative with what I had to work with and developed a few tricks to create show-stopping costumes on a shoe-string budget.

Do you want to know the big secret? It’s an illusion! The costumes weren’t meticulously well made, but they were good enough to fool even the harshest critic.

THE MAGICIAN

• Magician’s Hat
• Magician’s Cape
• White Gloves
• Magic Wand
• Bow Tie
• White Shirt
• Black Pants
• Black Shoes

1. SHOP FOR ONE ITEM THAT WILL MAKE THE COSTUME A SHOW-STOPPER.

If you can only afford to buy one item, figure out what is the most important item to help you make the costume a show-stopper. For the magician’s costume, the most important item was the magician’s hat. I fell in love with this one from Oriental Trading.

For over 20 years, Oriental Trading has truly been my go-to shop for those most important items. They offer complete costumes here as well as costume accessories here. Oriental Trading offers tons of black top hats in all different price ranges and the quality of the Velvet Top Hat is amazing! I can use it year after year for different costumes which leads me to my next trick.

2. INVEST IN ACCESSORIES YOU CAN USE OVER AND OVER FOR MULTIPLE COSTUMES.

In addition to the magician’s hat, I added a black cape and white gloves to my order which will pay for themselves over and over again. I can think of 20 costumes which need either a black cape, white gloves or both to complete them. Just like your regular wardrobe, invest in classic accessories.

I’ll let you in on another little secret. If you click on the black cape link, you’ll see that it’s made for a Big & Tall man. The cape was originally ordered for an adult, however, my niece was last minute replacement. I used temporary hem tape to shorten it and it looked adorable on her. Remember, you’re creating an illusion!

3. SHOP YOUR CLOSET THEN SHOP YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS’ CLOSETS.

I asked my niece to wear a button-down white shirt or white turtleneck, black pants and black shoes. Since she didn’t own either style of shirt I requested, she wore a long-sleeved crew-neck shirt instead which worked brilliantly!

Shop your closet first. If you don’t own what you need then shop your family and friends’ closets. Use what you have or what you can borrow. It doesn’t have to be perfect because it’s an illusion!

To complete the costume, I made a 5-minute felt bow tie (tutorial coming soon) which I safety-pinned on her shirt (another illusion) and a magic wand.

THE RABBIT

• Rabbit Hat
• Bunny Nose
• White Gloves
• Bow Tie
• White Shirt
• Pink Felt
• Scissors
• Safety Pins

Following my own show-stopping costume tricks, I first looked for rabbit ears and found this fluffy White Rabbit Hat with bendable ears on Oriental Trading. It’s even adjustable if you need to fit a smaller-sized head.

Secondly, I added two investment accessories—white gloves and a bunny nose. Now the husband can play the Easter Bunny every year!

Finally, I shopped his closet for a white turtleneck. Then I cut and safety pinned a pink felt oval to the front of the turtleneck because every bunny rabbit needs a pink belly! To complete the costume, I safety pinned a 5-minute bow tie to the neckline.

Add a black top hat full of mini magic wands (aka Tootsie Rolls) and TA-DA! A magical rabbit with Halloween treats!

There’s one last illusion I need to share. Since only the top half of the rabbit was going to be seen, I only made half of a costume! However, I strongly suggest that the rabbit wears pants!

Here’s a little slideshow The Magic Trick Players (my niece and husband) thought you would enjoy:

Creating a homemade costume doesn’t have to be overwhelming. With one show-stopping item and a few creative illusions, homemade costumes can be fun and easy to make!

Willing to share your homemade costumes with us? Tag your photos on social media with @piggybankparties or #piggybankparties and we might feature you!