OMG! Halloween night is only a week away and there are those of us who don’t even have our costumes yet. WTF? Don’t worry, this happens every year and our retail stores know it, which is why we’ve got these pretty tables with colors to help you order up to the last possible second. That is if you want to get your second or third pick for the best costume ever.
That’s right, the best costumes are selling out faster than you can sing “Grim grinning ghosts come out to socialize.”, so the sooner you order the better.

Buy Costumes:

As always, Buy Costumes gives us the most leeway. You can order as late as the 27th and they will still guarantee delivery by Halloween via Ground/economy shipping.

*Only available for locations within a valid UPS Saturday Delivery Zone.

Get 10% off your order $50+ at Buy Costumes with coupon code ZOMBIE50 (Offer expires 10/31/08)

Spirit Halloween:

It’s too late to order with Ground/economy shipping BUT Spirit is offering free shipping upgrades until the 27th. Awesome.

Shipping SALE: 3 day shipping is now being offered at Ground shipping rates. Get your costume fast, without paying any expedited shipping fees. (Offer expires 10/27/08)
Buy One Get One 50% SALE No coupon code needed, just load up your cart. (Offer expires 10/27/08)

Hey Halloween fiends, it’s time for another contest. Zombie Pumpkins offers its own breed of unique pumpkin carving patterns that are definitely a cut above the rest. Every year many new stencils rise up and the website itself even transforms with a new design and theme. This year’s theme is “Night of the Zombie Pumpkins“. In honor of these recently reanimated creatures, 5 lucky winners will get a full membership to the Zombie Pumpkins stencil library. That’s nearly 200 spooky stencils for your pumpkin carving and other artistic activities.

There are 2 ways to enter the contest;

• Head to the Zombie Pumpkins stencil library and pick your favorite patterns. Leave a comment here and let us know which stencils you’re digging like a grave.
   
• For another chance to win, leave a comment anywhere on 365Halloween.com and sign off as “Night of the (your name)”. You can comment on the blog, the costume ideas, rotting recipes, spooky decoration tutorials, or any of the exciting extras. Just make sure that you do so as Night of the Roger, Night of the Franny, or whatever your rad name is.

Contest runs October 23 – 27, 2008. Get your comments/entries in by midnight PST on 10/27.

Fine Print: 5 winners will be chosen at random. Be sure to use a valid e-mail address so we can contact you if you win. Your privacy is important and no one but 365 Halloween and Zombie Pumpkins will have access to your e-mail address. Winners must respond within 48 hours or that prize goes to the next person. And leave genuine comments if you opt to enter with method #2. Spam and one word comments are not eligible.

For more chances to win Zombie Pumpkins goodies, be sure to submit photos of your carved creations to their annual contest!

I’ll bet your potion cupboard could use a little added mystery. Whose doesn’t? Download these magical and menacing potion labels from Love Manor and have your glue stick at the ready. Transform your spice jars and empty booze bottles into such concoctions as Life Renewal Potion, Scrumptious Earth Worms, and our favorite, Snake Oil. They all have a gorgeously designed, decaying vintage look.

For a next to free alternative, some Dollar Tree stores have a ghastly collection of potion labels, too.

Today is a huge day for costume sales so many of us are out shopping for the perfect outfit for ourselves and/or for children. But before you make your final decision, know what lurks behind that store bought costume. Our friends at Green Halloween have some great tips to share;

• Look for costumes made from 100% natural materials such as cotton. Hemp and burlap are child and Earth-healthy and make great costumes.
• Wool is naturally flame retardant (as opposed to many costumes which are sprayed with chemicals to keep them “safe”) and is naturally water repellent, which comes in handy if you live in colder climates.
• Dress infants in themed cotton onesies with matching hats instead of in polyester costume buntings.
• If you do buy a costume off the rack or from thrift or consignment stores, be sure to wash well before allowing your child to wear it for the night.
• Costume jewelry and accessories such as pumpkin treat carriers often contain chemicals such as lead (a neurotoxin). If you are unsure as to whether an item is safe, have it checked by an expert or find an alternative.
• Avoid masks that cover the face and accessories that go in the mouth, such as fake teeth.
• Avoid most store bought face paints, even when labeled “non-toxic”. An easy, make-your own recipe can be found in our new book, Celebrate Green.

By Corey Colwell-Lipson, Green Halloween founder & director
Copyright 2008, Green Halloween

Be sure to visit the Parent’s section for more green costume tips and links to green online costume retailers.

organic cotton
animal print tights

cotton animal costumes

cotton cloaks

We recently featured some costume makeup video tutorials to help the ladies win those costume contests. This time around we are featuring some video tutorials for the guys to get creepy with.

Zipper Eyes

Joker Makeup

More Dark Knight Joker makeup tutorials;

• Joker Makeup Search on YouTube
• Joker Prosthetics
• Creating Joker: Complete Costume

Ghoulish Makeup on a Budget

Not sure on your costume just yet, or want to get some more gruesome makeup tips? Try a simple search for top rated Halloween makeup videos on YouTube to get more ideas than you can shake a severed arm at.

Still deciding what to be for Halloween? Let’s see what ideas the Internet has so kindly assembled for us. First stop is American Apparel, the Los Angeles based manufacturer of tons of fair labor clothing items. Their super simple, single color clothes are perfect for creating costumes from. Seen to the left are the “nudist colony” group costume idea and a hipster “cyclist”. There’s a handy Flash based viewer on their site with several more costume ideas based from their clothing line, but you can easily use stuff from your own closet.

AA is also holding a DIY Halloween Costume Contest. Win $100 store credit with your own homemade costume or just rate all of the photo submissions.

Another fantastic resource is Polyvore. The site “lets you mix and match images from anywhere on the web” to create a digital collage graphic. Using this great feature they been posting lots of creative costume ideas on their blog. Here are a few highlights; vintage-modern vampire, Jem, modern Snow White, and DC comic Catwoman.

It’s mostly women’s costume ideas, but you’ll find a few good men’s costumes as well. Polyvore’s blog is one of my favorite sites right now for gathering costume ideas because of the incredible variety and unique takes on classic costume ideas. Definitely worth going through all their posts.

And if you just don’t feel like making a homemade costume, use the coupon below to get 10% off at Buy Costumes (plus free shipping on orders $65+)