Halloween is easily one of the most-anticipated holidays of the year. The reasons stack up, but besides all the candy you can handle, the biggest draw is that it gives everyone a chance to be someone (or something) else for a day. With that being said, what are YOU going to be this year?!

If you’re into DIY costume‘ing or on a budget, did you know that you can create amazing costumes with common household items? Get excited for your costume craft project with these tips!

1. Fake Blood

It wouldn’t be Halloween without some gore! Add some blood to that prom dress, or to your vampire fangs for a gruesome get-up.

What you’ll need: Corn syrup, flour, food coloring kit

Instructions:

1. Mix 1 part water with 3 parts corn syrup.

2. Add red food coloring until the desired shade of red is achieved. For a more realistic shade, add drops of blue and/or green.

3. Add the flour to thicken the mix.

4. Allow the mixture to set at room temperature for 10 minutes before using.

2. Halloween Makeup Face Paint

Some of the greatest costumes wouldn’t be complete without an epic face paint job. A skull, ghost, clown, vampire, and Frankenstein are just a few that come to mind. If you’re “dying” to pull off one of these classic costumes, but face paint and makeup from a Halloween store are more scary to you than your costume, try these DIY face paint tricks made with items from your kitchen cabinet!

What you’ll need:

For a white base: 2 tsp white shortening, 5 tsp corn starch, 1 tsp all purpose flour

For colored paint: 1 tsp corn starch, 1/2 tsp water, 1/2 tsp cold cream, 2 drops of the food coloring of your choice.

Instructions: Blend ingredients together and apply liberally with a cosmetic sponge or brush.

3. Halloween Makeup Fake Stubble

One for the cross-dresser. If you want to switch gears and channel dreamboat Ryan Gossling this Halloween, then “hey girl,” no shame! Or what about going as that hilarious bearded beanie hat?! The options are limitless, and we have the easiest trick to take you to fuzzy levels.

What you’ll need: Petroleum Jelly and coffee grounds

Instructions: Spread the vaseline over the areas of your face you want the stubble. Pat the coffee grounds into the vaseline and apply based on the level of hairiness you desire!

4. Halloween Makeup Fake Bruises

Want to fake a battered and bruised look this year? Look no further than your office drawer!

What you’ll need: Blue, Purple, Green, & Yellow permanent markers and hand sanitizer

Instructions: Start by drawing the outline of a bruise with the blue marker. Fill in the outline with spots of the purple, green, and yellow markers. Then apply a dab of hand sanitizer and blend. The sanitizer will blend the colors to make the bruise look believable and real!

5. Halloween Makeup Zombie Makeup

Hey, Zah-om-bay-ay-ay! What’s in your head? Soon to be this amazing Halloween costume hack we hope! You don’t need to be a Walking Dead fan to know that being a zombie is “so hot right now”. This hack will give your skin a rotting, decomposing look to it – perfect for crafting that “walker” costume!

What you’ll need: Toilet paper, glue, face paint and fake blood

Instructions:

1. Break toilet paper up into small-ish pieces. Set aside.

2. Apply a small amount of glue to your face and spread thinly and evenly across face.

3. Place the toilet paper on top of the glue. Glue the edges of the paper and add more glue on top of the paper.

4. Repeat until entire face and neck are covered, steering clear of eyes and mouth.

5. Once the glue had dried, add face paint (see #2) as desired. For a more gory look, pull apart some pieces of “skin” and add some fake blood (see #1).

Will you be trying any of these DIY tricks for your costume? If so, we want to see it! Post your ghoulish pictures to Instagram and be sure to tag us in the post. We’re excited to see you and prepared to be spooked!