Don’t get spooked if the kids are invited to a last-minute Halloween party – these costume ideas are inexpensive and easy to make, plus you’ll already have most of the items at home.

Ghastly ghost

An old favourite and a great last-minute standby. You need: Old white sheet, scissors, pen/pencil, white face paint or alternative from your make-up bag. Difficulty rating: Easy peasy! Drape the sheet over your child’s head so that it hangs evenly on all sides; lightly mark the position of their head on the sheet. Remove the sheet (but keep your child nearby as you’ll need them for the next bit!) and cut a slit between the marks. For the best fit, make this slit slightly shorter than you think it needs to be, then make a smaller cut towards the body to form a T shape. Adjust as necessary. Wearing the sheet, ask your child to stretch their arms out to the side. Mark the sheet in 4 places to indicate their wrists are and where the sheet reaches calf-length at the front and back. Lie the sheet flat. Using the 4 marks as reference points, trim the edges, roughly trim into a circular shape. Don’t make it too neat – jagged edges will add to the spooky effect! On the night, make sure your child wears white clothing underneath the sheet. Finish off with white face-paint – white eyeshadow makes a good substitute.

Black Cat

As a hair band forms the basis for the ears, this costume is best suited to girls. You need: Black clothing, pair of black tights, pair of black/dark-coloured socks, needle & black thread, pins, black plastic Alice band, small piece of black card or felt (felt is more durable and keeps its shape better), glue, black eyeliner pencil. Difficulty rating: Some sewing required, but still very easy. As a base, your child needs an all-black outfit: a black leotard and leggings or tights are ideal. Cut off one leg of the tights to make the tail – stuff the socks inside to pad it out, aiming to create a loose cylinder measuring roughly 20cm x 5cm. Add more stuffing if you want a bigger tail, but take care not to make it too heavy or you’ll have difficulty attaching it to the rest of the costume. Tie a knot in the end to secure. Pin the tail to your child’s outfit – attach to their lower back rather than their bottom or they won’t be able to sit down! Sew it in place when you’re happy with the positioning (make sure you’ve removed all the pins before your child puts it on). A tip if you’re sewing by hand: your stitches don’t need to be neat, but they need to be strong enough to hold the weight of the tail and keep it secure when there are little monsters pulling on it! To make the ears, cut your black card/felt into 2 squares of about 8cm x 8cm. Fold each one diagonally around the Alice band to make triangles and glue into place. Experiment with different shapes and sizes, eg, or pointier ears, cut out diamond shapes instead of squares. Bend one of the ears forward to add character. The finishing touch: use your eyeliner to draw whiskers on your child’s cheeks and colour the tip of their nose.

Red devil

Follow the instructions for the Black Cat costume above, swapping black clothing and accessories for red and making a few tweaks. Difficulty rating: Some sewing required, but still easy. For the tail: use natural-coloured tights filled with red materials. To create a pointed end, take a square of red felt, fold over the tip of the tail to form a triangle and staple in place For the horns: adapt the instructions for making cat’s ears by cutting the card or felt into crescent s rather than squares, so that they fold over your Alice band to make horn shapes. Optional: add a shop-bought pitch fork and a red cape if you’ve got one left over from a superhero or Red Riding Hood costume.

Pirate

You need: Striped t-shirt, old trousers, black waistcoat, boots (wellies will do), 2 brightly-coloured scarves, scrap cardboard, black felt or foam craft sheet, string, scissors, black eyeliner pencil. Optional: plastic sword, gold hoop earrings. Difficulty rating: Easy This costume idea requires more special items of clothing than the others – if you don’t already have them, you could buy them cheaply at a charity shop. Draw an ‘eye-patch’ shape on a piece of cardboard. Use your child’s glasses or sunglasses as a guide to the size and shape to aim for, but be careful not to make it too small. Cut out and use as a template to make the eye-patch out of felt/foam. Make small holes on each side of the patch – a skewer or knitting needle are perfect for this. Thread the string through one of the holes and back again through the other hole. Move the patch along the length of the string and try it on your child to find a secure but comfortable fit. Trim the string, leaving enough length to make a knot and bow. Cut the bottom of the trousers to make them ragged. When your child’s wearing them, push one trouser leg higher than the other and wrap string around the bottom (but not too tightly!). When your child has put on the t-shirt, waistcoat, trousers and boots, tie one of the scarves around their head and tie at the side; tie the other scarf around their waist. Fasten on the eye-patch. Use your eyeliner to draw on a moustache and beard. Add the gold hoop earrings if you’re using them.

And for grown-ups…

Why not use Halloween as an excuse to get glammed up? Dig out your little black dress and team it with our Black Cat costume ideas. Add fishnets and killer heels and you’ll be a Flirty Feline. If you don’t want to damage your dress by sewing a tail to it, make a belt to hang it from instead by tying a leg from a pair of black tights around your waist, tucking in the ends If you’re feeling fiery, transform yourself into a Red Hot Devil – make yourself some horns and a tail as described above, but add a twist with a long red wig and feather boa. If you’re hosting a Halloween party, check out our horrid Halloween recipes!