Working for a creative company has its perks. When we asked our employees to submit some imaginative Halloween costume ideas, we knew we would hit pay dirt. And we were right.

Here are their costumes plus a description of how they were made.

Xbox: Minecraft Creeper by Project Manager David Hose

“I used Adobe Illustrator to create each of the five panels; then created a high resolution JPEG of each. I sent these to Costco for large photo format printing. Then, I put together some cardboard panels and adhered the photos to the cardboard box; cut out the eyes and added a black mesh to them. Presto, a ‘Creeper.’”

Edward Gorey character with a 1920s flair by UX Designer Naomi Davidson

“I made this one in 1999. It was an Edward Gorey-themed Halloween birthday party for a friend. My character is inspired by various Edward Gorey characters with a 1920s flair. I used a damask curtain from my living room as my dress, which I draped strategically and held with various pins. I used a piece of black velvet for my turban, and found a very long pearl necklace and other jewelry at a thrift shop. The purse acted as a pulley system to lift my train off the floor. People didn’t even recognize me!”

 

Seahawks Fairy by Project Manager, Chloe Surdyk

“I went to Oakland for the Raiders vs Seahawks game ON Halloween Day. I dressed up like a Seahawks Fairy. I was a little anxious going into enemy turf with my costume on, but it was all for naught. Raiders’ fans are a helluva lot nicer than FortyWhiners fans! Sadly, the Raiders won 33-3.

Costume is: fairy wings from Goodwill, green and white striped over the knee tights (from welovecolors.com, blue pullover shirt, tutu (handmade out of about 7 different kinds of fabric and ribbons), headband (made of left over ribbons and I also tied on some macaw feathers), fairy wand (wiffle ball bat, wrapped in aluminum foil, with ribbons and macaw feathers), big sunglasses.

My friend’s mom has a bird rescue and she provided all the macaw feathers for my costume.”

Cosmos and Weather Girl by Visual Designer Shawna Swanson

“I tried to simplify Halloween last year – wasn’t going to spend $200 on the Chiquita Banana Lady my daughter wanted – ended up with a Cosmos (flower) and a TV Weather Girl. Which didn’t end up simplifying my life at all, but they were fun art projects for mama and the talk of the trick-or-treating town, haha.”

Cosmos

“I cut pink petals and painted the inner part to give depth, laminated each petal to protect from rain. I then cut the yellow center circle, laminated and attached pom-poms for texture, assembled everything with hot glue, attached to her head with yellow hair bands attached to the back. Green clothing makes up the stem and petals. It was a great project, until the ill-fated Ellensburg winds kicked in and the poor oversized flower started coming apart. Laminate + hot glue = bad combo. Thankfully, we started off the evening trick-or-treating the downtown businesses, so while the girls grabbed candy, I grabbed for the stapler.”

Weather Girl

“Individual panels of black foamcore were hot-glued together to form the TV box, and a laminated KOMO TV4 weather map was inserted into the background, ribbons attached at the base to form shoulder straps (although she still had to support the box with her hands a little). Chloe was transformed from a sweet-faced 8-year-old to an 80’s-style glamour gal rocking the evening forecast. Again, a great idea until the wind threatened to knock the TV off her shoulders.

This year I’ll be escorting an Owl and Toucan, grateful that the wind won’t do more than ruffle a few feathers. Yay!”

Cowgirl, Frog, Golden Retriever, Hunger Games, M&Ms by Visual Designer Jennifer Jacobson

Frog

“I bought a green sweat suit and sewed big eyes on top of the hood and feet on the bottom of the pants and sleeves.”

M&M’s

“This was great because it kept the girls warm!”

Katniss

“I found the jacket at Value Village, bought the pin off of EBay, and made the bow and arrow out of a poster tube.”

Golden Retriever

“My daughter wanted to be our dog.  Not sure how well it turned out but it was cute.”

Cowgirl

“I had the red cowboy boots and jeans.  I made the vest and out of sparkly brown material and sewed fringe and shiny buttons on it.”

Do you have some creative costumes cooked up for this year’s Halloween?