4 Inexpensive Halloween Pet Costumes (That They Won’t Hate Wearing)

With Halloween coming up, you may be thinking about the paw-fect costume for your fuzzy friend. A lot of pet costumes are expensive, and even worse, uncomfortable for your pet to wear, whether they’re restrictive, too heavy, or too complicated. Good news for fellow pet-lovers: I found cute, DIY pet costumes online that are inexpensive (you may have most of materials around the house already), easy to make (with no tools more advanced than scissors), and comfortable for your pet. I made these pet costumes and had my rescue corgi, Gwennie, model them (plus one non-DIY option that was too cute to resist), but these costumes could work for cats and other pets too. 

The Incredible SpiderDog

Full transparency, spiders terrify me. I appreciate their role in the grand scheme of things, but I prefer we keep our distance from one another. Still, when I found this video for a DIY spider costume for my dog that required almost no technical skill, I had to try it. Maybe spiders aren’t that scary after all. 

Materials: 

• 64 regular-sized pipe cleaners or 1 giant (6.5 foot-long) pipe cleaner
• Your pet’s collar

Instructions: 

1. If using smaller pipe cleaners, twist eight together to form each leg, resulting in an approximately 15-inch long leg. Repeat eight times. If using giant pipe cleaner, cut into eight equal segments. 
2. Wrap end of pipe cleaner “legs” around collar, making sure the sharp metal end faces outward and away from your pet avoiding pokes.
3. Bend and arrange legs into desired positions.
4. Put collar on dog. 

My Result

Because Gwennie’s head is smaller than I’d considered, I ended up only fitting six legs on her collar instead of eight, which makes her more of an insect-dog hybrid than a spider, technically. Also, take into consideration how fluffy your pet’s neck fur is: The legs may not stand out as much when they’re buried in fuzz. Overall, this was a cute idea, and it didn’t take much time or effort.

Chef Puppy

My dog is always in the kitchen, hoping I drop whatever I’m cooking so she can have it. I figured it was time to turn the tables and let her play chef for once. The website I used for inspiration mentioned making this DIY chef hat for kids, but it still works for pets when scaled down. Besides, she’s my little baby — dog or not. 

Materials: 

• White poster board or card stock
• White tissue paper
• All-purpose glue
• Elastic cord
• Scissors

Instructions: 

1. Measure your pet’s head and cut a strip of the poster board or card stock big enough to sit on top of its head when formed into a circle.
2. Gently fold tissue paper into pleats.
3. Glue bottom of pleated tissue paper onto length of card stock strip.
4. Once dried, form card stock into circle and glue.
5. Once all glue is dried, cut small slit on either side of card stock just big enough for elastic cord.
6. Pull elastic cord through slits and adjust to pet’s head size.
7. Knot ends of elastic to secure, cut off excess.

My Result

Compliments to the chef (hat)! I was thankful for the elastic, because Gwennie shook her head a few times, and the hat stayed secure. This is a great, easy, quick costume to make your pet look like a master chef — even if their specialty pizza has a squeaker inside it. 

Ty Beanie Baby

Remember when Ty Beanie Babies were coveted collectibles in the 90s? Make your fuzzy friend into the cutest stuffed animal there is with the iconic branded “Ty” tag that hung off each beanie baby’s ear with a little poem inside. I was inspired by this idea from Brit + Co to beanie-baby-ify Gwennie. Whether or not you write the poem is up to you. 

Materials: 

• Red felt
• White felt
• Foam board
• Felt glue
• String
• Scissors

Instructions: 

1. Cut foam board and red felt into equally-sized heart shapes.
2. Cut the “Ty” letters out of white foam, glue to heart.
3. Once dried, cut small hole in upper corner of heart, tie to collar.

My Result

Aside from being absolutely adorable, this pet costume is great for those who especially hate costumes, since it’s only hanging off their collar. One note: I saw other instructions for making this costume with paper. I used felt because I wanted it to be as soft as possible against my dog’s body, but paper would be simpler, and stiff enough to not need to foam board. If you do use felt, make sure you use the right kind of glue so the letters don’t fall off. 

The Non-DIY Option

Though none of these costumes took long to make, they still took time and effort. If you’d rather pick an easier option and save time, check out the viral Pandaloon pet costumes that started with an appearance on Shark Tank. They’re soft, comfortable, easy to put on, and absolutely adorable. They fit around your pet’s head and front legs, so when Fluffy approaches you, she looks like a bipedal teddy bear, panda, lion, or koala. Check out their website to learn more.