I was Charmander two years ago. Best.costume.ever! I made the whole thing myself too. I took a red sweatshirt that I had and sewed yellow felt on his stomach, stapled a cardboard tail to red sweatpants (complete with tissue paper "fire"), put eyes on the hood, and even sewed little white triangles of felt onto red gloves to make "claws". I did a similar thing with red and white felt onto my sneakers to make feet. It was the best, warmest, and cutest costume ever.

Nittanygirl, I was a Beanie Baby too one year! I think I was the Dalmatian though, haha.

When I was a little girl, I had a Raggedy Ann doll that I adored. (I still have her, and several others, and a few Raggedy Andys too.) So, for several years, I dressed as Raggedy Ann. At first I wore the stupid store-bought costume with the cardboard mask and plastic bib thing. But when I was maybe 8 or 9, my mother bought me a blue floral-print dress and made me an apron and red-and-white striped stockings. She also bought me red lipstick to color my nose and mouth, and black liquid eyeliner so I could paint Raggedy Ann's eyelashes and smile onto my cheeks. It was a big deal - I attended Catholic school at the time, and on Halloween we were allowed to wear costumes instead of our uniforms. Of course, then I would go home and get about half an hour to trick or treat before having to change into church clothes for All Saints' Day vigil Mass :rolleyes:

A few years later, when I was 12, I got hold of a sewing pattern for a Starfleet uniform. (I've been a Star Trek fan since my first exposure at the age of 6.) I went out and bought some black and red spandex, borrowed my mom's sewing machine, and made myself a uniform. My mother and I have matching gold flat disk earrings, which I used as my rank insignia (would I be anything less than a captain? ;) ), and I bought a combadge pin from some catalog (yes I am a nerd). The costume worked out great, and I got a lot of compliments. I'm still damn proud of having made that costume myself, even though I will never be able to wear it again, as I've grown boobs and hips since then.

condensed with links to some of the steps, because it would take up a whole page with pics.

first, there was the muse.
then, what the industry calls a fiber drum. this one was cheap because it was used to ship garlic.
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c1...g/PICT0035.jpg
more base work.
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c1...g/PICT0039.jpghttp://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c1...g/PICT0042.jpg
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c1...g/PICT0048.jpghttp://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c1...g/PICT0051.jpg
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c1...g/PICT0049.jpg
http://c1.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/i...48c33dd67c.jpg

*this is my friend, jon weston.

Wow, you're a pretty talented artist. And clearly a lover of beer. Well done.

that is an impressive beer costume

I found an awesome website for homemade Halloween costumes!! It's http://www.coolest-homemade-costumes.com. You can search for stuff (gypsy, Elmo, whatever) or just use the links on the side. I think I'm gonna be a peacock this year! That section has some cool ideas, and I can't wait to do fancy purple/blue/green makeup. :D

I'm doing to 50s sock hop thing this year....and I found a great store on ebay with the accessories:

http://stores.ebay.com/heidishavetohaves

Thanks so much for the link, it gave me a great idea! My boy and I are going to be C3PO and R2D2, respectively. It would be fun to make, Star Wars related (a plus), and cute because they're best friends!

Alumiyum...I LOVE your costume idea...it just might have to go on my list of possibilities...:D

that costume website is awesome!
I got a couple of ideas from it that wouldn't be too expensive!

I found a dress for my peacock costume!!! It's teal and satin-y. My sister is going to figure out my makeup, and shoes are no big deal. I just have to order some peacock feathers online so I can make a tail.