Halloween on a Budget - DIY Devil's Pitchork Handbag

I have one big issue when it comes to Halloween costumes; there are no pockets! I can't possibly leave my house without my keys, money, and phone, to say the least! And of course, carrying a bag could throw off the look of your costume altogether. So what do you do? Well, you need to carry a bag that is incorporated into the costume itself of course!

Today, we will be making this:

A pitchfork handbag to go with your devil costume.

You will need: Red fabric (I am using part of a red velvet curtain, left over from when I made Little Red Riding Hood's Cape ), scissors, pins, a marker pen, a popper, and some cardboard for the template.

I know that the picture also shows a keyring, but I changed the design halfway through so discard this.

Step 1: Draw half a pitchfork shape onto your cardboard.

Step 2: Cut out the shape. Place it onto your fabric (lining side up), draw around it, flip it and draw around it again. Make sure that your edges are lined up. This way you get a shape that is more or less symmetrical.

Step 3: Draw a second shape, and cut them both out.

Step 4: Pin your two shapes together (lining side out), and sew. DO NOT sew around the top as this will be the opening of your bag.

Step 5: Turn your shape out.

Step 6: open up the top of your bag and sew on the popper, half onto each side.

Step 7: Now to make the wrist strap. Cut a strip of fabric measuring around 45cm x 10cm. Fold in half along the width so that it now measures 45cm x 5cm, and sew. This will make sure that the strap looks good on both sides.

Step 8: Line up the edge of the strap with the bag and sew.

Step 9: Repeat step 8 with the other end of the strap. Take care to make sure that the strap isn't twisted.

Finished!

Total cost: £0.00
Total time spent:1 hour 30 minutes (hand sewn)

Halloween on a Budget - DIY Cat Ears

It's that time of year again, when our thoughts turn to all things spooky. Halloween is my favourite time of year, even if my only plans are meeting up with friends and having a good giggle. But, as everybody knows, the BEST part of Halloween is the dressing up! It's the one day out of the year when adults get to be big kids again and throw on a costume. But what if you can't afford a costume? Simple, make one!

My friends and I started a rule last year; your costume can't cost more than £5. This means that we can all afford to dress up, but it also brings it's own set of challenges, namely being, how on earth can you make a costume for under £5? Well, I say, that's the easy part! So, over the next few weeks leading up to the day itself, I'm going to show you as many ways as possible to enjoy Halloween, without breaking the bank!

Here's the first instalment. If you have a black dress (and, let's face it, who doesn't), or black trousers and a top, a simple home-made accessory can turn you into a super cute witches cat.

To make the ears, you will need:
Black felt, pink felt, scissors, glue, and a thin black headband (these can be picked up really cheaply, try the poundstore. I got 3 for £1 which makes them around 33p each!)

Step 1: Cut out two black felt rectangles of equal size (approx. 15cm x 5cm)

Step 2: Take one rectangle and fold in half along the width. Then, with the fold at the bottom cut off the tops to form a point.

Step 3: Repeat step 2 with the second rectangle, you should now have something that looks like this:

Step 4: Cut two small triangles from you pink felt.

Step 5: Glue these triangles onto the ears. Leave to dry for a few moments.

Step 6: Put glue around the edges of your ear shape, lay the headband over the top, and fold the ear over. Hold in place until the glue dries and repeat with the second ear.

Leave a moment to dry and it's all done! Easy peasy.

Draw on some whiskers and voila! Instant kitty!

Total cost: less than 50p
Total time spent : 2 minutes plus drying time.

This technique could also work for a variety of other things too! Devil horns would be easy to make if you follow the same principles but tweak the shape a little. Leopard or tiger ears would be a breeze! And how about doing the whole thing in purple (or blue if you prefer the Burton version) and go as the Cheshire cat.

Still think a costume under £5 can't be done? Well this is us last year. (Although this is after many, MANY beverages)

Richard's costume and mine cost us only £2 for BOTH! All we paid for was the facepaint or him and the mask for me, again from the trusty ole' poundstore. I simply made a cardboard template of the bat signal, cut it out from an old yellow tshirt, and stitched it roughly to a tank. The cape was a table cloth with a knot in it.

I think we made a pretty fabulous bunch.