DIY Racing Halloween Costume for CHEAP! (Less than $5.00!)

Halloween is the one time of year you can be anything you want to be. At least without people judging you that is. I remember having those plastic Halloween costumes that would rip as soon as you moved, with the plastic masks that you couldn’t see or breathe out of. I actually had to google “Vintage Costumes” to find the picture below. Vintage!! Those were the days. If you are too young too remember I am sorry you missed out on all of that awesomeness.

Now that costumes are so much more advanced I was always that Mom that went crazy for Halloween. I wanted to make sure my girls had the perfect costume with all of the matching accessories. Aww they looked so cute in all of their pictures.. Thankfully I got a huge thump on the head and realized spending $50+ on a Halloween costume they would wear for ONE night isn’t practical or smart. I would convince myself it was ok because they could play dress-up later blah blah blah. And then I never saw it again bc it was under a bed or behind the dresser where things go to never be found again. No thanks!

Being the creative person that I am I decided we are going to make costumes this year. Not only would we save a ton of money, but it’s a project we can do together. Being that we are a racing family that we are, my 3 year old of course wanted to be a race car driver. I mean who wouldn’t? Living in Indy and being so close to Indianapolis Motor Speedway  it only seems natural.  After overthinking it for a couple of days a huge lightbulb went off.

I made this super cute costume for her and spent less than $5.00 doing it. Total WIN! She looks super cute and will be able to keep warm without wearing her coat over her Halloween costume.

Here’s what I used:

I bought a plain red sleeper from a consignment shop for $1.99
They happen to have a checkered flag print handkerchief for $0.50 (I would have used checkered duct tape otherwise)

Cut a patch off of an old hat my husband had in the closet
Fabric glue $2.00 (because I was too lazy to sew)
A racing themed hat for her to wear also found in my husband’s closet

Here’s how I did it:

Glued the patch that I cut off of a hat over the already existing logo on the sleeper. Cut a strip from the checkered fabric (or use the tape) and place a crossed the front of the sleeper on the waist area. Kind of like a belt. Now since I glued it, I did have to leave a small space so that the zipper could still function.

While the glue on the belt was drying I cut the very bottom of the feet area off. This way she can still wear shoes, but the red fabric will cover them. So now there is no need to buy something extra to match.

I then cut another strip the exact same size as the belt on the front to glue to the back so that it appears to wrap all the way around the suit. Again, you can achieve this look with the tape as well. I also ran a strip of the fabric down each side of the suit from armpit to ankle.

Once dried completely it’s done!! Toss on a hat and you have yourself a super easy and CHEAP Halloween costume.  You can add other stickers to jazz it up a bit or whatever you want. There aren’t any rules! 

I gave her the leftover fabric she can wave like a flag. I’m sure it will end up in her bag a few short minutes after we start trick-or-treating so it’s totally not necessary. 

Make Halloween about fun and imagination and not about spending a ton of money to look great. Here is just one of the thousands of DIY Halloween costume possibilities.