With Halloween approaching, the pressure is building to have a costume, whether it’s for trick-or-treating, going to a spooky party, or just a quick picture for Instagram. Sometimes buying a costume is easiest, but due to a budget or small timeframe, sometimes the only option is to whip up an easy, DIY costume. Here’s a few last minute ideas.

The Crayon

Supplies needed: a brightly colored shirt, construction paper that matches the shirt, scissors, tape, and a dark fabric marker

1. Take the bright colored shirt and create a logo for a crayon brand on the front. Then write the color of your crayon of choice on the side of your shirt, parallel to the side seams.
2. Next, take the construction paper and construct a cone out of it (cut a circle from the paper, cut a triangle out of it, then curl it on itself and tape it together). This is supposed to be the tip of the crayon. To keep the hat in place, poke two holes in the side of the bottom of the cone, then thread ribbon or elastic through the holes and tie it under your chin.
3. (Optional) To really complete the look, try to find pants and/or shoes of the same color. If such clothes are unavailable, use dark pants and shoes so the shirt and hat are the focal point of the costume.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Supplies needed: a group of four friends, any form of green clothing, and a colored bandana or headband

1. Assign who in the friend group will be which turtle. This can be based on personality type or be completely random- that’s up to the group to decide. This determines what color each person’s bandana or headband will be.
2. Suit up in all the green clothing you own.
3. Tie the bandana that correlates to the ninja turtle you are dressing up as around your head, or use the headband to push your hair back.
4. Optional: Invest in the weapons of the turtle you’re being, whether they’re katanas or nunchucks. This will really make you look like a ninja turtle, as opposed to a normal turtle with a colored headband.

Tim from BrainPop

Supplies needed: a white t-shirt, fabric markers, jeans, and tennis shoes

1. This one is easy– simply sketch a design from a BrainPop video onto the white shirt. Depending on the topic of the video, the design on Tim’s shirt changes, so there’s a lot of variety for this costume.
2. Pair the shirt with a pair of jeans and light colored tennis shoes.
3. Optional: If you happen to have short brown hair, use gel to spike it up to imitate Tim’s signature look.