This post may contain affiliate links.
I love Halloween! Everything about it, from the spooky decor to the candy and mostly dressing up in costume. I’ve almost never skipped a Halloween without a costume. My husband and I have been making our Halloween costumes together since 2005. These DIY couples’ costumes are usually planned for months and put together a few weeks before Halloween.
Here’s a look back at some past DIY Couples Costumes.
Jack Skellington & Sally Costume
For our first Halloween together we created our first DIY couples costumes: Jack & Sally
How we made our Jack & Sally costumes:
Jack: For the mask, we purchased a rubber baseball head mask that covered the top of the head down to the base of the neck in back and down past the nose in front. Jack’s mask was completely customized by cutting out the eyes and covering with sheer black fabric. The chin was formed with cardboard and a piece of the sheer fabric was connected between the face mask and chin piece. The entire chin piece hung freely from the mask and was held onto the face with an elastic band so when he talked the chin moved naturally (people loved this). He then painted the face mask and chin piece white and drew on the stitching and nose holes with a Sharpie. A thrift shop women’s pin-striped pants suit with white dress shirt along with some black boots and skeleton gloves gave him that sleek Jack Skellington look.
Sally: I found a form-fitting dress from a thrift shop and with the help of my BFF we created Sally’s patchwork dress. We cut random shapes of different fabrics pieces and hand sewed them on with embroidery floss. Cheap light blue tights withdrawn on stitching covered the legs and arms. A red wig, striped socks, black boots, and some costume makeup completed the outfit.
70s Disco Couples Costumes
This Halloween couples costume was a compilation of thrift store and Ragstock gear.
How we made it:
Gold chains, gold rings, and gold-rimmed glasses for him along with a fake mustache and form-fitting suit. The hair is totally natural! Polka dotted top, neck scarf, belled dress pants, retro earrings, and some red heels for me. That year was a duel couples costume and our best friends also dressed the part. Then we got down that night to some nu-disco.
Witch & Wizard Couples Costume
How we made it:
A red wig (reuse of the Jack & Sally costume) and a discount witch hat along with a black dress and purple shawl made up my witch costume. The wizard wore a long white beard along with his old graduation gown and a hoodie. Quick, easy, and simple.
Woodland Fairy & Giant Costume (and the Funky, Punky Fairy)
How we made it:
During a summer trip to the cabin, my BFF and I came up with the idea to make fairy wings using willow branches. We carefully selected matching pairs of branches, stripped off all the bark and formed into 2 pairs of fairy wings by tying them together with string. We covered the wings with a double layer of cream-colored tulle and attached them with hot glue. We didn’t want our wings to sit flat on our backs like store-bought fairy wings and it was a challenge to do so. With some thrift store vests, we attached a very thick, non-bendable mounting board inside the back of the vests using staples. More staples and glue attached the wings to the backs of the vests to sit in the exact position we wanted. Finishing touches to the fairy costumes were glued on leaves, cute fairy skirts, gloves, boots, and fairy dust (glitter).
The giant costume matched my woodland fairy look by dressing up as a giant from the forest. We created “stilts” for added height by layering and attaching multiple platform shoe soles together. I extended and belled a pair of corduroy pants and created some patchwork fabric scraps. We tore the seams of an old dress shirt and added a vest complete with flower corsage to match the fairy’s floral crown. His hat is made of a scrap of fabric sewn in a circle and tied with a drawstring.
Glowing Break Dancer & Dance Kitten Costume
How we made it:
Dance Kitten: Using old white t-shirts strips and a tiger print thrift shop top, I put together this handmade cat costume reminiscent of raver gear with shaggy boot covers. For the cat mask, I used an old pair of sunglasses with lenses removed and attached cardboard to create the mask shape and ears. Using glue I covered it black fabric. Some white paint, a shimmery string from a gift bag, and scraps of the tiger-striped shirt fabric added the finishing touches. And you can’t be a cat without a matching tail made with strips of t-shirt fabric attached.
Glowing Break Dancer: An all-white jumpsuit, hat, and shoes were what was seen in the light. Turn the lights off and the entire costume glowed blue. Using tape we attached glow-sticks down the arms and legs. On the bottom of the shoes, we carved out a part of the rubber and inserted more glow- sticks.
Glowing Break Dancer & Dance Kitten (Part 2)
We felt we hadn’t gotten a fair chance at these costumes so we went for it again. I added a thrift store faux fur jacket – perfect for the chilly night. Whiskers made of plastic cord were added to the mask. The glow-sticks were replaced with sound-activated LED wiring and built-in speakers hooked up to an iPhone. He was the light and sound of the party.
Birds Couples Costumes
How we made it:
One of my favorite handmade Halloween costumes yet! And I’m a bird fan so it had to be accurate. My bluebird costume consisted of handmade wings, tail, and mask. For the mask base, I used a cheap mask cut into shape. Stapled and glued cardboard created the bird’s beak which was painted black. Using Mod Podge I layered blue feathers until it was completely covered. To finish it off I cut off the extra feathers that hung over the side and added some faint white paint to the beak. For the wings, I cut a blue blanket into two pieces to span from the base of my neck to my fingers and down the length of my back. Using embroidery floss and a couple of different types of ribbon cut into feather-like shapes I hand sewed the flight-feathers in layers. Blue shimmery ribbon covered the shoulders. The tail was made from a piece of a bubble wrap envelope cut into shape with the same ribbon feathers sewn on. The wings were then pinned to a hooded sweatshirt. A white tank top, red scarf, blue pencil skirt, fishnet stockings, and black leg warmers completed the costume.
His bird mask was created using a similar method with black and white feathers and the addition of a long, curved bill.
Creepy Ghost Couples Costumes
The ultimate and classic Halloween ghost costume! This year we got creepy with torn cheesecloth and a covered face.
How to make the Cheesecloth Ghost Costume.
Queen Bee and Beekeeper Couples Costumes
This couple’s costume was one of my favorites both to make and wear. We were both very comfortable for a whole night of dancing and received a lot of compliments as a couple.
How to make a Queen Bee & Beekeeper Costume
Dragon & Wizard DIY Couples Costumes
Our Dragon & Wizard Halloween costumes were such fun fantasy couples costumes. The wizard required little more than a graduation gown, wig, and hat. The DIY dragon costume included a dragon mask, dragon wings, and a dragon tail.
Unicorn & Wizard Couples Costume
This year was a remix of some past costumes. My unicorn costume from EDC needed to be worn again with a few added accessories from the costume bin. The wizard costume paired perfectly to complete our couple’s costume. Can you spot the baby bump?
DIY Mirror Costumes
These are one of our best costumes yet! We know so, because we won a costume contest of 3000+ people.
See more Mirror Costume pics.
Our couples costumes transitioned into family Halloween costumes when we expanded to three. See our first family costume here.
What have your past couples Halloween costumes been, and how long do you usually plan for your Halloween costumes?
I am waiting to see what you will be this year!