With Halloween right around the corner, why spend money on manufactured costumes when you could do it yourself?

College students by nature, do not have a lot of extra money.

So why would you spend 30-60 dollars on an outfit you might wear two times in a year?

Halloween is a fun time of the year, but try not to go broke this season, and make your own costume.

Do-it-Yourself or DIY is not a new idea, but it really comes in handy when you’re strapped for cash.

You can easily make a costume out of clothing you already have.

For example, I am going to be a Hogwarts student.

The costume is made up of a skirt, shoes, blouse and sweater I already own.

All I had to pay for is transfer paper to make the school crest, a tie and a dowel to make a wand. All of this cost me under $15.

See, keep it simple.

For the ladies, if you want to be a fairy or witch, it is easy to use things from your closet to make up an outfit for these roles and then only require accessories from Dollar Tree or the Halloween store.

For the guys who want to do something easy, grab a suit—if you own one—put on some sunglasses and grab a Nerf gun from your room or Goodwill, and go as one of the “Men in Black.”

Another easy costume for guys that takes even less work, is to take that superhero logo shirt you wear all the time, and throw a piece of fabric on your back that matches accordingly.

Make a small strip mask out the same fabric as your cape and you have a superhero.

These costumes- given you own a few essential pieces of clothing- will cost you close to nothing.

The benefit of DIY costumes is that there are so many possibilities. By Googling the term “DIY Costumes,” endless options arise.

Some costumes don’t even have to originate from actual clothing, but from crafting supplies.

It is as easy as taking one color of balloons and taping them to a similar colored shirt, and going as a bunch of grapes.

If you are unsure what you want to be for Halloween, look to your favorites to decide.

Many of the movies, shows and books we find ourselves absorbed in, are focused around regular human beings— or at least people that resemble human beings.

This then just comes down to finding clothing to match theirs.

Some of the best and funniest costumes I have ever seen are the ones made by hand. By being original and creative, you are sure to have one of the best costumes on Halloween.

Halloween does not have to be expensive to be a blast, so save your pocket change for what really matters and make your own costume this year, I challenge you that.

Kaylyn Peterson /  Managing editor

Kaylyn Peterson can be reached at [email protected].