With Halloween just around the corner it’s time to start planning for costumes and makeup. Halloween is the perfect holiday for face painting. A good costume doesn’t end with just the clothes and accessories. A painted face can make a true statement and define your look. Especially now that Halloween masks are prohibited at most all school functions, dances, and parties, face painting is a more comfortable, inexpensive way to finish your ensemble. There are minimal tools needed to get started and the quality of face paints have come along way for a safe, comfortable and long lasting wear.

The basic tools are face paints, 3 to 4 brushes and some sponges. From a ghost, butterfly, clown, vampire, or pumpkin there are plenty of Halloween Face Painting Ideas and that can give you step by step directions on how to paint on a disguise. Once you have decided what you are going to be for Halloween there will be plenty of ideas for a unique look. There are plain colored face paints, ones that contain glitter for a sparkle effect, and some have pearlescent effects added to them or even some ultra-violet light reflecting paints. You may also choose to add embellishment like stick on gemstones for an extra special sparkle design, a piece of painted puffed rice for a wart, or even temporary tattoos.

The options are limitless. I suggest starting with a basic concept, having a drawn out example or sketch and then use your imagination and creativity to make it your own. There are also face stencils if you don’t have a knack for drawing. There are many different techniques for blending, shading, feathering and many more. So I suggest starting with an easy how-to guide and in no time you will be a pro. Make this Halloween memorable and paint away.

Tim Croy is an expert when it comes to simple designs for face painting!

Read more about simple face painting designs at: Face Painting Ideas

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Create Your Own Pumpkin Costumes This Halloween

Pumpkin costumes are one of the traditional costumes worn during Halloween because of the major role played by pumpkins in the celebration of this holiday on October 31. Halloween is mostly a secular celebration but it is based on All Saints’ Day and the ancient Celtic festival called Samhain. The Irish immigrants brought this tradition with them to North America. One of the traditional symbols of this holiday is the jack-o-lantern that got its name from the legend of Stingy Jack. However, the tradition of putting a candle inside a carved pumpkin actually came from the practice of the ancient Celts of placing a carved turnip on their window sills to scare off any evil spirits.

In North America, Halloween coincided with harvest time and they soon noticed that the pumpkins are easier to carve than the turnips and that their size is closer to the size of a head. They also learned to carve a scary or comical face on the pumpkin. The carved pumpkin with candles inside it soon became a traditional symbol of Halloween. Thus, many families celebrate this holiday by putting the carved pumpkin with candles inside it in front of their doorsteps.

Pumpkin costumes are often used for infants although older children and adults can also use them. One example of a pumpkin costume for babies is an orange bodysuit with printed pumpkin and a matching headpiece that also represents a pumpkin. For adults and older children, an example of a pumpkin costume is inflatable and includes a jumpsuit, headpiece, and battery-operated fan.

While many pumpkin costumes are designed to be comical, on the other hand, some are intended to scare people. One example is a frightening Jack O’ Lantern mask that includes a robe that
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is provided with arm ties and a cape with a skull-shaped brooch.

You can also make your own pumpkin costume by using an over sized orange sweatshirt. If you do not have an orange sweatshirt, you can change its color to orange by applying a fabric dye. After putting on the sweatshirt, the next step is to crumple up several newspapers and put them inside the sweatshirt until it becomes round like a pumpkin. To ensure that the newspapers do not get out of the sweatshirt, you can tie a yarn or use a belt. You can also apply fabric paint to create a jack-o-lantern face on the front of your sweatshirt.

By: Thor Hanso

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Thor runs a costume website dedicated entirely to Pumpkin Costumes. Check out his site today for pumpkin costumes or other Baby Halloween Costumes.