15 Easy Halloween Costumes for Baby

Whitney Moss and Heather Flett, authors of The Rookie Mom's Handbook, are all about getting the maximum use out of bodysuits. "We love [bodysuits] because everyone already has a lot of them, they're inexpensive, they come in a lot of colors, and when you use them for costumes that's one more use you get out of them," Flett says. "Babies don't care what they wear, they don't really even know what's going on, so make them something that makes you laugh."

Flett and Moss use Sharpies and fabric paint to draw easy designs for some cute and clever bodysuits. Here are a few of their favorite ideas:

• Pacifist: Draw or iron on a picture of a pacifier on a bodysuit and write the word "pacifist" above or below.
• Baby Disco: Draw or iron on an album cover or CD on a white bodysuit, preferably something appropriate to a baby such as Disney Baby Lullaby . Take elastic out of the legs of a pair of white sweat pants to make them look flared, and top it with a headband.
• Business Baby: Draw a collar, tie, buttons, and a pocket on any color bodysuit.
• Conference Attendee: Draw a "my name is" sticker on a bodysuit.
• Workout Queen: Start with any color bodysuit, add leg warmers (cut off bottoms of any socks), and add a circle of fabric for a headband.
• Ballet dancer: Pink bodysuit, pink tights, and pink slippers.
• Greaser: Combine a white bodysuit, jeans, and a fake leather jacket.
• Bee: Start with a black bodysuit and black sweat pants. Make stripes with yellow electrical tape, and add a headband with pipe cleaner antenna.
• iPod: Find a picture of a click wheel online, enlarge it if necessary, print it on iron-on transfer paper, and then follow directions for ironing the picture on to a plain, white bodysuit.

Amy Gonzalez of Las Vegas, Nevada, also uses bodysuits to create outfits specific to the season. For fall, she finds fabric with a fall theme, such as pumpkins or fall leaves, cuts it out and appliques it on the front of a bodysuit. She points out that something like this can be worn not just as a costume, but the entire season from about mid-September through Thanksgiving. To convert it into a cute Halloween costume, just add an adorable hat, like an orange and green pumpkin cap.

For those who do specifically want a costume, Gonzalez offers these ideas, which may require a bit of sewing or crafting ability:

• Clown: Add colored ruffles to the cuffs of a long-sleeved bodysuit. Paint the front in bright shapes or swirls.
• Ballerina: Sew tulle around the waist of a pastel-colored bodysuit.
• Cat: Sew a tail onto a black, long-sleeved bodysuit. Make or buy a headband with ears.
• Cocoon: Sew an old receiving blanket around the waist of the bodysuit to make a "sac."
• Superhero: Add a cape, tights, and applique Baby's initials on the front of his bodysuit to make him his own superhero.
• Witch: Add a hat, cape, and skirt to a black bodysuit.