 | ||
| Your browser is not supported. | ||
|
Please browse our site using any of the following options:
| ||
Smart Ways of Spookifying Book Week Costumes for Halloween
It's no surprise that kids love dressing up in costume, and with so many celebrations revolving around dress up ensembles, it can be hard to keep track of all the costumes needed. With the ending of Book Week and the transition into the spooky season, you may be struggling to come up with ideas for kids' Halloween costumes. This year, why not repurpose an old Book Week costume? Here at Spotlight, you can shop from a wide range of versatile costumes that can be used for both Book Week and Halloween celebrations. Or, if a Book Week costume wasn't necessarily scary enough for Halloween, simply "spookify" it!
With a Book Week costume as your base, you can create a range of DIY Halloween costumes. There are many ways to transform a Book Week ensemble into a spooky dress-up for trick or treating. From adding scary make up to splattering fake blood over your costume, take a look at some of our favourite ideas for easy DIY Halloween costumes you can recreate with your Book Week costume!
Quick Links
- Transform From a Helpful Doctor to an Evil Genius
- Gather the Bad Guys For a Halloween Heist
- One Costume - A World of Characters: From Willy Wonka To The Mad Hatter
- Become an Expert in Combat With a Ninja Costume
- Sail in From Book Week to Halloween With a Mighty Pirate Costume
- A Fan Favourite: Harry Potter Costumes
- A Spooky Twist on Iconic Fairy Tale Characters
- Frighteningly, Creepy Animal Costumes
- Disguising Accessories For a Where's Wally Costume
- Dress Up As A Haunting Version of the Lorax
- Homemade Book Week and DIY Halloween Costumes With @my.lovelymate
Transform From a Helpful Doctor to an Evil Genius
Career-themed costumes are a popular choice for Book Week, with kids and teachers dressing up in a pristine white lab coat for a doctor or even an expert scientist costume. Fortunately, these lab coats are easy for re-purposing for the spooky season. All you need to do is pair it with a crazy wig and large glasses to become a mad scientist, or splatter fake blood all over the coat for a scary surgeon ensemble. Find out more about using fake blood to transform a costume by checking out our helpful blog article.
Gather the Bad Guys For a Halloween Heist
Get your crew together - we're going on a Halloween Heist! Movie characters are a fan favourite amongst kids and adults when it comes to both Halloween and Book Week costume ideas, especially those based on troublesome characters! Think the animal outlaw group from 'The Bad Guys'. When it comes to easy Book Week costumes, masks are a beloved accessory. At Spotlight, our range of masks of characters from 'The Bad Guys' make for a convenient costume for both Book Week and Halloween. Convenient and easy to wear, these masks are a great addition to any dress up drawer.
Some costumes can even be repurposed and used for a completely different character! With our High-Top Hat and Jacket Costume, available in both kids' and adult sizes, you can unlock a world of characters! If you dressed up as wacky Chocolate Factory owner for Book Week, hold onto your hat (and costume jacket) and repurpose this ensemble for a Mad Hatter costume! Both characters are known for their whimsical dress-style, with dress-ups revolving around a long coat and top hat. Turn this ensemble into a cute duo Halloween costume by pairing it with an Alice in Wonderland-inspired dress! Shop our Spartys Kids Wonderland Costume or the Spartys Adults Wonderland Costume and dress up as the Mad Hatter and Alice for a wonderful and wacky adventure.
There are not many characters that are scarier than a highly trained expert in self-defence and combat arts. That's what makes a Ninja costume perfect for both Book Week and Halloween celebrations. Dress up as your favourite Ninja character for Book Week, then pack it all up and save the costume for your Halloween celebrations. At Spotlight, you can find a great range of Ninja costumes perfect for both students and teachers to reuse during the spooky season!
Pirates are known for being passionate treasurer hunters who will do anything to reach their gold. Popular characters in books and movies, pirate costumes are great ensembles for Book Week! And when the book festivities have concluded, a pirate costume doesn't have to walk the plank - keep it for Halloween! You can go the extra mile for Halloween and pair the pirate costume with some zombie face paint and transform your child into a spooky, zombie pirate for Halloween. Check out our free Zombie Face Paint project for a helpful step-by-step guide on a terrifying make-up look. With ready-made pirate costumes available for both 3-5 year olds and 6-8 year olds, this costume is sure to be a fan-favourite for Book Week and Halloween.
A Fan Favourite: Harry Potter Costumes
Harry Potter is a beloved fictional books series with its fan base spanning across generations. When it comes to Book Week costume ideas, both students and teachers alike are known for celebrating the occasion with a Harry Potter themed costume. While the series is known for its adventurous heroes, it's also known for its scary villains and creatures. If you've dressed up as one of these villains or creatures for Book Week, save your costume for Halloween, a celebration of all scary and terrifying things. Attend your next Halloween house party as He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, complete with a wizard's wand, or dress up as one of the series' spooky creatures and celebrate the scary elements of the beloved fantasy series.
Shop Harry Potter Costumes & Accessories
A Spooky Twist on Iconic Fairy Tale Characters
Fairy tale characters are classic and iconic costumes for Book Week celebrations, with so many heartwarming stories to choose from! This Halloween, bring a horror twist to your fairy tale costumes. With Book Week fairy-tale costumes as a base, you can use your creative skills to create easy DIY Halloween costumes with a terrifying twist. Create a fake-blood-stained apron for a Red Riding Hood inspired costume or add some horror makeup to a Alice in Wonderland inspired costume and create a world where Alice had been trapped in Wonderland!
There's no denying how adorable our animal themed costumes are. Perfect for Book Week dress-ups of your favourite animal characters, these costumes can also be reused for any child's Halloween celebrations. Our Spartys Kids Caterpillar Costume and Gruffalo Kids Costume both feature added details and motifs, but for the perfect spooky touch, create scary makeup looks that transform the costume ensemble into one fit for the horrifying holiday. For other animal costumes, you can create DIY Antennae with the help of pipe cleaners or masks with sharp fangs using white card stock. Use face paint, claws or eerie lighting accessories to turn cute creatures into creepy critters.
At Spotlight, you can find a great range of costumes that allow you to embody a character. Think this Where's Wally Inspired costume, available in both kids' and adult sizes. When it comes to easy Book Week costumes, this is an ensemble that is comfortable to wear and easy to make with clothing from your wardrobe! But how can we spookify this for Halloween? Where's Wally is known for his famous stripes that are hard to spot in a crowd, so make your Where's Wally ensemble harder to spot with disguising accessories such as a large cloak and hide amongst the crowd, jumping out for a surprising scare! You can even turn the character into a ghost by using white face paint and faded red stripes on a plain white t-shirt for a horrifying twist on the book character.
Dr. Seuss characters are a beloved choice for Book Week costumes and by adding dark elements, you can turn these otherwise adorable characters into spooky Halloween ensembles. For instance, the Lorax is known as a character that speaks for the trees and encourages children to learn about the importance of caring for their environment, making this Dr. Seuss The Lorax Costume perfect for Book Week. But this Halloween, with the power of DIY-handiwork you can turn this environmental hero into a haunted forest spirit for a valuable lesson on caring for the environment. Use dark tones such as face paint and glowing accessories for a ghastly haunting version of the environmental advocate. Glue on some artificial greenery, wrapping the costume in garlands and adding artificial moss for a horrifying "undead" appearance.
Homemade Book Week and DIY Halloween Costumes With @my.lovelymate
Over on her Instagram page, crafter Courtney, or known by her followers as @my.lovelymate, shows how you can reuse your DIY creations from Book Week for Halloween. On Instagram, Courtney showcases her DIY skills and outlines the creative ways she was able to "spookify" her children's Book Week costumes and transform them into terrifying ensembles ready for Halloween.
A DIY Charlottes Web Costume to A Scary Spider Queen
Sometimes, DIY pieces are just too good for only one costume. Using foam balls, craft felt, jumbo chenille and a number of other craft supplies, Courtney crafted this intricate spider head piece for a Charlotte's Web Book Week costume. And what better occasion to reuse a spider headpiece than for Halloween? To make the Spider headpiece even spookier, Courtney has swapped out the adorable dress from Book Week and instead paired the headpiece with a white dress and black cape to "spookify" this costume and transform the look into a creepy Spider queen ensemble.
Transforming a Steve Irwin Costume Into a Snake Attack
With a Zookeeper costume as the base, Courtney was able to produce not one, but two incredible costumes all with the power of her crafty handiwork. For Book Week, Courtney created a crocodile made from egg cartons for a Steve Irwin themed look, and to "spookify" this Zookeeper costume for Halloween, Courtney went for a snake attack look. Using golden, shimmering fabric, haunting reptile eyes and white felt for sharp fangs and a slithering tongue, Courtney created an incredible snake puppet, filling it with hobby fill for a plump look and wrapping it around the Zookeeper costume for the illusion of a snake attacking a Zookeeper! This DIY project is perfect for kids wanting a fun and interactive look to scare their friends with, all while wearing a costume they know and love.
From Adorable Book Week Looks to Terrifying DIY Halloween Costumes
With so many celebrations throughout the year, events like Halloween seemingly creep up on us unexpectedly. This Halloween, prepare for your celebrations in advance by reusing Book Week costumes. With your Book Week costume as a base, you can create a myriad of easy DIY Halloween costumes. Most importantly, when armed with your art and craft supplies you can transform your adorable Book Week costume into a spooky ensemble, perfect for celebrating the day dedicated to terrifying jumpscares and scary stories. For more DIY Halloween inspiration this spooky season, check out our Halloween hub where you can find petrifying projects ready for you to download, or shop our full Halloween range in store or online for disgusting decorations and chilling costumes.
