Dressing up for Halloween can seem like a financially (and creatively) daunting task when you see what some costumes are being sold for.

But fear not. You can rock a great Halloween costume using clothes, items, and makeup you already have. We asked Farah Griffin, AMD’16, and Rebecca Price, AMD’17, veterans of the Department of Theatre’s costume shop, for homemade Halloween costume suggestions that go beyond poking two eyeholes in a white sheet and dressing up as a ghost.

Puns on puns on puns

Griffin pointed out that the easiest costume to make is to take what you wore last year, and transform it into the “dead” version this year. “If you were Ariel from The Little Mermaid last year you could be ‘dead’ Ariel this year,” Griffin said.

Other pun-themed ideas include:

Quarterback – Tape a quarter to your back

Ceiling fan – Write “Yay Ceilings!” on a white T-shirt

Use yourself as a canvas

One idea that Griffin is stealing from a friend is dressing up as a vending machine, which entails taping various snacks and prices to your shirt. “I thought it was so lame until we put it together,” Griffin said.

You could also tape “trash” to yourself to be a dirty floor; tape images of different apps to yourself and be an iPhone; or wear a white top and red pants and go as Tylenol.

Group costumes

By simply wearing jeans and solid colored T-shirts, friends can coordinate group costumes to be M&M’s or Skittles. Couples can make it more simple, with one person wearing jeans and a white T-shirt and the other wearing jeans and a black T-shirt and going as salt and pepper.

The essence of the character

Price noted a Tumblr page called Disney Bound that highlights distinct colors and styles that represent different Disney characters, which you can wear rather than going out and buying an actual costume.

“You wear the representation of the character without actually being the character,” Price said.

Where’s Waldo?

The most clever costume suggestion was for anyone who can’t make it out to Halloween festivities with their friends. In the days leading up to Halloween, tell everyone you have a top-notch Waldo costume. And when they realize you aren’t out celebrating with them, they’ll get in touch with you to ask where you are.

Makeup pointers

Griffin, a self-taught makeup artist,  likes Spirit Gum and Spirit Gum remover, which will help attach items to your body and then remove them with ease. If you want to enhance your M&M’s or Skittles costume, use Spirit Gum to attach the candies to your face.

“And you can literally paint on any design with black eyeliner,” Griffin said.

If you need more pointers or help with Halloween make up, Department of Theatre teaching professor Frances Nelson McSherry is hosting a workshop on Tuesday from 4 to 5 p.m., in 334 Ryder Hall.