Easy DIY Halloween costumes and decor for 2022

Last-minute Halloween preps: Upcycling décor If your house is the only one on the street without decorations up yet, here's how to put some together last minute.

Halloween in 2022 is the first time in more than two years when the spooky celebrations can go ahead without public health restrictions to curb the spread of COVID-19.

This Halloween represents a time to get back to trick-or-treating with kids, dressing up in-person, and going all-out with fun Halloween decor to spread creepy delight in the neighbourhood.

Shannon Crown, a Toronto-based do-it-yourself expert, told CTV’s Your Morning there are many costumes people can created themselves, using items already in their homes, or easily acquired with a quick trip to the local dollar store.

“You can make [costumes] tonight, or this weekend, with simple craft supplies like shirts, felt, glue, scissors, and paper,” Crown said Friday.

Halloween costumes have been in high demand this year. Some stores in the Waterloo region, for example, have already reported their stocks are depleted, and they’re still expecting a weekend rush.

Crown said a great DIY costume for kids can be a “Care Bear,” which she assembled using a matching sweat suit, and then creating the costume’s trademark stomach using white felt and glue. To top it off, Crown adds little ears made out of a headband and coloured pieces of foam.

Another effortless costume option is an ice cream cone that can be created using plain, long-sleeve coloured shirts. Then sprinkles can be cut out of felt and glued on with fabric glue or super glue, she said. For the cones, those can be cut out of brown construction paper and a waffle design can be drawn on it, she said.

Another costume Crown made for herself, turns her into a walking spiderweb. “What I did, is it’s a plain black sweatshirt. To make the web design, I cut it out of felt. It doesn’t have to be perfect, it can be a little wonky,” she said.

For the head piece, she attached a spider from the dollar store to a headband.

And when it comes to DIY Halloween decor, that’s just as easy. Lifestyle expert Julia Black told CTV’s Your Morning that potential decorations can be found in most pantries.

“These are so simple…we’ve upcycled milk cartons and juice cartons. I’ve just painted them black, cut out windows and doors, and cut out orange tissue,” she said. Putting the tissue inside the cartons gives it a glow, said Black.

“You can add spiderwebs, you can have so much fun with it and it really is kid-friendly,” she said. Battery-operated tea lights can also be inserted into the cartons, she explained.

The cartons can even work for a moody centre-piece for any Halloween party, she said.

Haunted lanterns can also be made out of glass jars. “Whether it’s a mason jar or a pasta sauce jar, what I like to do is create almost an old and eerie type of vibe,” she said.

Black recommends pouring black nail polish or paint into the glass and painting the lid as well. Spiderwebs can be adorned on the glasses and tea lights can be inserted to create a spooky amosphere, she said.

“It’s almost like a haunted house which I love,” said Black.

With files from CTV News Kitchener