Trick-or-Treat, Smell My Feet

Yes, Halloween sneaked up on us like a stinky diaper. Boo! But that’s no excuse for sending Junior out on the street this Wednesday night with a homemade costume a la sheet with the eyes cut out.

No need to bother with Target and Wal-Mart at this point – it’s been slim pickins there for weeks. The same moms whose kids show up at school with perfectly coordinated outfits, combed hair and square meals in their lunchboxes already raided the Halloween aisles in September to nab the good stuff.

You can use regular household items to concoct a clever, one-of-a-kind Halloween costume, but it will take a little work and imagination so your child doesn’t look like a kid with a metal colander strapped to his head rather than the cool martian you were going for.

One of our very favorite parenting publications is BabyTalk Magazine. First of all, it's free. Plus it’s chock full of useful information, refreshing articles, advice and "straight talk for new moms". Our friends over at BabyTalk have pulled together a couple of ideas for homemade Halloween costumes that are just to die for.

My favorites are the scuba diver and strawberry (pictured above). Check out their full Halloween Central section for the rest of the suggestions on how to make your little one the cutest trick-or-treater on the block. I bet even Polly Perfect and her store-bought witch costume will be tricked by your craftiness.