Our 2024 Halloween Costumes
Last year’s Halloween was another mix of imagination, secondhand finds, and a little creative change along the way. Both kids went in knowing what they wanted... then ideas shifted a bit as new pieces came together which honestly always feels like half the fun.
Why I Keep Sharing
Sharing Halloween costumes started years ago when one or all parts were handmade by me. More recently, as the girls have gotten older, things have become simpler with this year’s being, I think, the easiest overall (at least for me).
I still wanted to share, though. These posts are part memory-keeping, part inspiration (in case our choices might spark ideas for you) and I love being able to scroll back through the years and see what we came up with.
From Thrift Store Finds to Fantasy Characters
The Idea
We came up with both costumes early on during a visit to a kids’ consignment shop. The girls each fell in love with a fancy dress which I was planning to buy them anyway... but I took a second to ask where they might wear them and their response created their costume!
At that point, Ada picked Lion, while Zoey, holding a red Christmas dress, chose Demon. Then we browsed a bit more and Zoey found a fur vest instantly upgrading her idea to Demon Werewolf (because then of course we had to get it... she hasn't worn it since).
The Lead Up
Once we got home Zoey kept evolving her look. Over time, she rediscovered her princess crown, cat ears, and tail thus transforming her costume into a Demon Werewolf Cat Princess.
For Ada, we ordered a lion costume set on Amazon that included ears, fingerless gloves, and a tail. She skipped the crown in favor of the ears but decided to upgrade her name to Lion Princess to match Zoey's royal title.
With comfy leggings, shoes, and watercolor pencil crayons for whiskers and noses we were ready to go!
The Final Look
I waited until after Halloween to sketch out their costumes (just in case of any last-minute changes) but I couldn’t resist capturing how it all came together.
As an aside I added a mannequin outline PNG image to my reMarkable as a custom template so I could trace and refine it before hiding the base layer and exporting the final sketch. I used Simply Customize It to make the entire process smoother.
Lion Princess
Ada combined a yellow dress with the lion costume set and added her own face paint using watercolor pencils. This was the first year she wanted to handle it completely on her own (nose, whiskers, and all) and she nailed it!
Demon Werewolf Cat Princess
Zoey kept adding to her costume as she spotted pieces she liked and didn’t want to buy anything new. Unlike Ada, I got to help her with the whiskers and nose but the rest was all her.
Kyra
In case you're curious the tail was sewn years ago from a spool of two inch fur I found at Joanns when Zoey was a black cat for Halloween.
Trick-or-Treat Bags and Sign
Years ago I'd made the girls their own trick-or-treating bags that had turned into library book bags and one had since been lost. 2023's last minute glow-in-the-dark bucket purchase quickly ran out of room so this year I splurged on some glow-in-the-dark skeleton fabric from Joann’s to make some dedicated bags! These didn’t glow quite as brightly as I’d hoped, but I love how they turned out... and I’m so happy we can use them again this year... if we can find them after this last move.
Kyra
If you’re interested, I shared our previous version here though the pattern itself is Stitch Upon a Time’s Market Bag, which unfortunately isn’t available anymore, but the company still has an Etsy shop here.
And for fun, last minute, I used the leftover fabric's center cardboard to draw a quick Happy Halloween sign to leave out with the candy. It looked a bit like a tombstone... perfectly on-theme!
The Week of Halloween
The week leading up to Halloween included a school event where the girls test-drove their costumes before the big night.
On Halloween evening we went trick or treating in the rain! Despite only living there for two years both Halloweens were incredible: full of friends, fog machines, and the best kind of cozy chaos.
Looking Ahead
This year Ada has been inspired by K-Pop Demon Hunters and chose to be Rumi while Zoey spotted a white dress that became an Angel Cat after combining it with her ears again. I’ll likely share that next year unless you’d like me to post it sooner.
Both costumes in 2024 were a collaboration of what we already had, what they found, and what they imagined. I love that they’re getting old enough to plan their own ideas and even do their own face paint... though I do miss the younger, craft-heavy years too. It’s bittersweet.
If your kids also combine every theme imaginable (princess, demon, werewolf, and cat) my advice is simple: let them. It’s more fun that way (even if it’s harder to remember the full costume title later). And if you can, jot the details down... or sketch them later. It’s such a lovely way to watch how their imaginations evolve year after year.
Hope you all have a wonderful Halloween! 🎃
And if you're still looking for a costume I shared a Halloween roundup last week of all our past costumes here.
And as always, feel free to share below if this inspired you and thanks for following along. Have a great one!
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