Unique, Super Easy, DIY Cardboard Box Halloween Costumes: Be a Fireplace or a Washing Machine

You can count down the days until the next Halloween. Why not begin the fun of creating your child's Halloween costume now?

Halloween is the time of year for you to have fun as a parent as you unleash your creative inspiration in your child’s costume! I know my mom did! :)

As my mother was on a tight budget and my parents had four children to support on one income, she often had to be very crafty! For example, she sewed our clothing, and for Halloween, she did cardboard box costumes.

I was a wrapped gift/present with wrapping paper and a cute bow on my head, and my little sister was a dice cube painted black and white. Moms can be so original, and now she has given me even more boxed Halloween costume ideas!

Try one of these unique box-shaped costume, and you (Well, your child) will have one of the most original ones around! These costumes are great for parents who are working on a budget, and will surely help your child win any Halloween costume contest!

These instructions are very easy to follow and will help you add to your family memories.

Making a fun costume will bring laughs as you and your child create it together!

These costumes will let you to use lots of color. You can be as creative as you want without spending more money this year.

You may even be the envy of other parents who didn't think of a homemade idea like this first!

What you’ll need:

• A Large Cardboard Box
• Sample Sized Box of Baking Soda
• Old colorful children’s clothing or doll-sized clothing
• A Large Knife
• Colored Construction Paper
• Black Spray Paint
• White Paper
• Empty fabric softener box
• Empty laundry detergent box
• Hot Glue Gun and Glue Sticks

Step One: Tape together a large cardboard box so it is whole.

Step Two: With a large knife, cut large circles in the top and bottom of the large cardboard box. These holes will be used for your child’s (1) head and neck, and (2) bottom and legs. Make sure that the bottom hole is big enough for your child’s body to squeeze into the box.

Step Three: In the same manner as the larger circles, cut medium sized circles on the sides for your child’s arms. Be sure to give them plenty of wiggle room so that their arms can carry their pumpkin or candy basket for Halloween

Step Four: Spray paint the box black.

Here is a great video to give you some guidance on how to spray paint when doing craft projects.

Step Five: Draw a circle with a light color over the spray paint on the front (as if this was a front loading washer).

Step Six: In the circle you just drew, glue white paper (or spray paint white) in the shape of a circle.

Step Seven: Glue a couple portions of the pieces of the children’s or dolls’ clothes you gathered in the circle you just drew. Use a hot glue gun and glue sticks if craft glue does not hold well.

Step Eight: With the “clothing” now being in the “washer,” draw some water. You can draw a line of water half-way high on the circle you drew. Use blue construction paper, and cut the top wavy so that it looks like water.

Take a picture with your camera! Cheese!

Glue some pictures of your kids in their baby clothes to the front of the box for some extra character. Those who celebrate Halloween by handing out candy to your kids and admiring your kids’ costumes will really enjoy looking at the pictures of your children when they were babies. What a fun and memorable Halloween!

Step Nine: Cut the empty fabric box and empty detergent box in order to make “miniature” ones. Once they are cute and tiny, attach them to your kid’s costume where the shoulders will be. This way it looks like there is a box of fabric softener and a box of laundry detergent sitting on the washer.

Step Ten: Attach an empty mini-sized baking soda box to your little girl’s hair rubber-band or plastic headband. If you really want to get creative, temporarily spray dye (with a safe, easy to rinse out product) your little girl’s hair blue (as in “water”).

What you’ll need:

• A Large Cardboard Box
• 1 to 2 Rolls of Foil
• A Large Knife
• Colored Construction Paper
• Black Spray Paint
• An Empty Box of Crackers
• Popsicle Sticks
• Marshmallows

Step One: Tape together a large cardboard box so it is whole.

Step Two: With a large knife, cut large circles in the top and bottom of the large cardboard box. These holes will be used for your child’s (1) head and neck, and (2) bottom and legs. Make sure that the bottom hole is big enough for your child’s body to squeeze into the box.

Step Three: In the same manner as the larger circles, cut medium sized circles on the sides for your child’s arms. Be sure to give them wiggle room so their arms can carry their pumpkin basket for candy.

Step Four: Spray paint the box black.

Step Five: Draw a square with a light color over the spray paint on the front (for the actual fireplace). Make it large in order to give you plenty of room to create the “fire” in the fireplace.

Step Six: In the square you just drew, glue the foil.

Step Seven: Glue large triangles made of black, red, and orange. You can use light, medium, and dark varieties of those colors. Look at pictures of fires in fireplaces to get ideas on how to make your “fire” look realistic.

Step Eight: Cover the empty cracker box with red construction paper. Using a black permanent marker, “draw” the bricks on the red cracker box. This will be your “chimney.” Attach it to the big box on the shoulder of the box (the area where your child’s right should be).

Step Nine: Glue about 3 to 4 Popsicle sticks together. Glue 2 to 3 marshmallows to the tip of the long stick. Attach this “roasting marshmallows” stick to the other “shoulder” of the costume. In other words, at an angle, this stick should be attached to the big box.

Step Ten: If you really want to get creative, temporarily spray dye (with a safe, easy to rinse out product) your little girl’s hair bright red (as in “fire”). You can use more marshmallows for her hair rubber-band (glue them on) and for the chimney. Attach the marshmallows to the end of the cracker box to be the “smoke” in the chimney.

Kids are always excited to do craft projects with their folks. Enjoy the time while they are young by doing these homemade projects as a family. They will surely leap home with smiles on their faces when they win their class’s Halloween contests! You will most likely be envied by other parents for coming up with such an original idea (or by reading about it hee hee)!

Save money this Halloween by creating your own costumes! Watch the candy intake of your children. You don’t want them bouncing off the walls with sugar! If possible, try to space the candy out in order to make it last until next Halloween. Be safe, and take lots of pictures of your little tikes this Halloween.

Pictures: The images in this article were provided by Michele Kelsey or the free website, the Morgue File.

Video: The videos provided in this article were from YouTube.

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Thanks for stopping by!

Michele Kelsey