Kmart shopper wows with 'adorable' $35 DIY Halloween costume: 'Super easy'

No matter how great your child’s Halloween costume looks, chances are they're never going to wear it again. Whether it’s because the outfit will become outdated, your child’s interests will change, or they’ll simply outgrow it, parents have started to avoid spending an excessive amount of money on a single-use costume during the cost of living crisis.

Instead, they’ve been creating their own custom ensembles at home that are not only affordable but also super easy to make. Content creator Annie Nguyen (@anniesbucketlist) has gone viral on TikTok this week after she shared a video explaining how she created an iconic Halloween costume for herself and her son using items from Kmart.

She said she only spent $35 in total to make the mum and son duo costume, which was a sushi roll and a bottle of soy sauce.

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What do you need?

Annie shared that she bought a kids’ black t-shirt and a women’s black t-shirt for $2 each, as well as a $1 glue stick, $2 tacky glue and $8 hot glue gun. She also spent $2.75 on a large sheet of cardboard and $17 on a 60-pack of textured cardstock paper, which was the biggest expense.

To make the sushi roll, she drew a large circle on the sheet of cardboard and glued shapes of coloured cardstock paper to resemble the various sushi fillings. She then used packing peanuts she already had at home as rice and glued them onto the cardboard, which her son was able to assist with, before using the hot glue gun to stick it to the shirt.

For the soy sauce costume, Annie simply cut out black and yellow letters using the cardstock paper, used the hot glue gun to stick it to the shirt, and let it dry overnight. She then stapled a piece of red cardstock paper to make her hat to complete the look.

Annie's advice

Annie tells Yahoo Lifestyle that the DIY sushi costume took her “less than two hours” to trace, colour, cut and glue the items together, in addition to letting everything dry overnight.

“You really don’t need to splurge on Halloween costumes, especially for kids that will outgrow them the next time Halloween comes around,” she says. “This means you can use simple things like craft glue and cardboard to make something that will last the day - but may not last forever!”

She asserts that she doesn’t often do DIY projects but the costume was so easy that anyone could make it happen.

“If I can do it, anyone can,” she remarks. “I don’t do a lot of DIYs but my son wanted to be sushi and I wanted to match him as soy sauce without splurging on a costume we’d only wear once. This DIY was super easy, fast and he LOVES his costume!”

'Best costume pairing ever'

Annie’s video has already racked up over 100,000 views and received plenty of comments from fans applauding the “adorable” costumes.

“This is the best costume pairing ever!” one person wrote, while another said, “This is possibly the cutest duo costume, great work Mum!”.

“Well done! You both look fantastic,” a third replied, followed by someone else who commented, “Great job at making this costume!”.

“I was a sushi when I was little it’s a great easy and cheap costume,” a different user remarked.

What are some other Halloween costumes from Kmart?

If you decide you don’t want to create your own Halloween costume this year, Kmart has plenty of options that should still work with your budget. For kids, you can buy pumpkin, skeleton, ghost, clown, witch and zombie costumes for under $20.

There are also other outfits that aren’t necessarily Halloween-themed like pirate, superhero, ninja, astronaut, unicorn, and mermaid costumes for $15, or licensed Disney, Star Wars, Bluey, Harry Potter, DC and Marvel costumes for around $19.

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Meanwhile, if you just want to buy accessories to complete your DIY looks, Kmart stocks a range of masks, headbands, fangs, temporary tattoos and stick accessories for $2, wigs and hats for $5, and fake blood for just $1.

As for adults, Kmart has a handful of costumes that are sure to make you stand out if you’re attending a Halloween party or simply handing out lollies from your front door. These include capes for $6, a Friday the 13th-inspired hockey costume for $16, and inflatable alien and reaper costumes for $39.

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