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30 Last-Minute (And Cheap) Halloween Costume Ideas

Maybe you got an 11th-hour invite to a Halloween party. Maybe late October really snuck up on you and you have no costume plans. Or maybe you want to save some money and go DIY.

Whatever your reason, we've got a collection of costumes — from classic to current — that you can easily put together yourself with some inexpensive supplies, a little bit of work, and a dose of imagination.

Silent Movie Actor

Last-Minute Halloween Costumes

Silent Movie Actor: Cover your face with black and white makeup, spray your hair black, and put on a black suit with a white shirt. Easy and clever.

Paint Chip:Here's one you can make with $5 and a trip to the dollar store with poster board, string, and some paint. If you've got a group, each of you can pick a colour to represent.

Lego Block: Yet another great use for party cups!

Bacon and Eggs: This couple costume is made with inexpensive felt. If you can't sew, you can use fusing tape and an iron to put this one together. Have a third person you need a costume for? Cut two circles of beige felt and you've got a pancake!

Hoodie Animal: If you've got a hoodie, some felt, and some velcro you can put together a simple costume for the animal of your choice. Add a bit of face paint to take it up a notch, but if it's good enough for Martha, it's good enough for us.

Angela Chase from "My So-Called Life":Channel a '90s hero and fight the boring trend towards skimpy Halloween costumes, all at the same time. Surely you've got one comfortable flannel shirt still kicking around.

Texas Senator Wendy Davis: Blond wig, white suit, a microphone, pink shoes, and a whole lot of awesome.

Drake Working at Shoppers: Have a friend who works for Shoppers Drug Mart? Borrow a uniform shirt, make a "DRAKE" (or "AUBREY") name tag, and you're set.

TARDIS: You can make the classic "Dr. Who" time machine spacecraft (which stands for "Time and Relative Dimension in Space" with a big blue garment and some white paint or masking tape. Easily customizable, like this somewhat-inexplicable flapper TARDIS.

Sharknado: We favour the shark-head mask plus grey sweatshirt with stuff taped to it approach, to make a literal Sharknado, but you've got a few options here. It's even adorable on dogs!

Grumpy Cat: Memes are great costume fodder, and you can pull off this one with makeup, kitty ears, and something beige and comfortable. Adorable and cozy, all at once.

Closed National Monument: Get relevant with this costume that references the U.S. government shutdown: dress as your favourite national U.S. monument, or as a park ranger, and then hang a CLOSED sign around your neck.

iPhone:Bring back all that cutting and glueing you did in kindergarten and put this one together with a box or a couple of pieces of poster board. Perhaps you can break out some spray paint and go as the coveted gold iPhone 5S, or add some colour and go as an iPhone 5C.

Duck Dynasty:This will be a popular one this year, we're sure, but it's still fun. You shouldn't have much trouble finding camo pants, a bandana, and a long beard. Add a mug of tea for Si, of course.

Sexy Avengers: We love that these guys turned the sexy costume trend on its head with this great group idea.

Annie Hall: Another thrift-store special, courtesy of a visit to the menswear section. If you shop well, you'll be able to add the items to your regular wardrobe rotation. Annie looked great, after all.

Lichtenstein Drawing: If you're patient enough to apply all those dots, you can have a creative costume with just some basic makeup and black clothing.

Popcorn Vendor:Got a baby and a baby carrier? Then you're most of the way towards this great costume idea. Might as well dress them up in silly outfits while you still get all the say in the matter.

Captain Canada: Captain America is fine and all, but Captain Canada would be very polite and bilingual.

Road Trip: This is a cute one for kids, and is easily done with masking or duct tape, an inexpensive grey or black sweatsuit, and toy cars.

Sharpie Pumpkin: Grab an unloved orange garment from your closet, or pick one up at your local thrift store, and get creative with a black marker. Bonus points if you cover the black parts with glow-in-the-dark paint. This is a fun option for people who don't have the skill or patience for carving actual pumpkins.

Daisy Buchanan: A short blonde wig, a flapper-esque dress, and a bunch of long necklaces let you channel this Great Gatsby character for a night, and look good doing it.

Bumblebee: Everyone has black clothing in their closet. With some yellow fabric strips, velcro, and wings made of black pantyhose and a wire coat hanger, you can easily have a cheap and cute costume too. This one works for all ages.

Calvin and Hobbes:This adorable costume is a great reason to have kids, but we see no reason why you couldn't also try an adult version.

Miley Cyrus, With A Twist: Don't go as Miley without putting your own spin on it. Robin Thicke's suit channeled Beetlejuice, so we're in favour of going as Beetlejuice and Lydia at the VMAs. Robin: striped suit (go with white paint on a black secondhand suit), crazy makeup, aviators. Lydia: very short puffy red dress, a black foam finger, black top knots with spiky bangs—and, obviously, tongue sticking out as often as possible.

Orange Is the New Black: This breakout Netflix show makes an easy enough costume for most women if you just get orange scrubs and white sneakers, but we like this as a group costume that includes Piper, Red, Taystee, Poussey, Crazy Eyes, Sophia, Pennsatucky, Alex...really, as many of these awesome characters as possible.

Carrie: You can go creative (and less messy), like in this photo, with some red tinsel, or you can just put on a white dress and blonde wig and then pour (water-based!) red paint all over yourself. Your call.

Rosie the Riveter: Denim, an updo, red lipstick, and a bandanna make this an easy costume, but it's a DIY classic.

Wednesday Addams: Another '90s throwback, and one that's easy to do with a black wig, black tights, and a black dress with a bit of lace and a white collar. Get out your glue gun!

Bat: Have a broken black umbrella lying around? Then you're halfway to a fun bat costume.

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