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I’m one of those people that loves scrolling through the news on my phone. I wake up in the morning and check in to see what’s gone down while I was asleep. I scroll the feeds as I eat my lunch. Before I go to bed I read to see what happened that I might have missed as I was working in between reading the alerts that popped up on my computer. To be sure, it has become an obsession.
I guess it was back in June that as I scrolled I noticed an article announcing the cast for the new Addams Family movie. Like, super stoked, I clicked over to start reading the casting and as I read through I continued to get more and more excited. Then I finally got down to the “photo” of the cast and realized that it was an animated movie. Meh. I like animated movies sometimes, mostly rewatching movies from my younger days, and I’m more into live-action but I got excited and decided to rewatch the movies from when I was a kid starring Christina Ricci as my favorite character, Wednesday Addams.
It turns out that Rob never watched the TV show or the movies and didn’t really see what the fuss was about. And way back in summer I notified him that he would be dressing up as one of the characters with me and he just sort of shrugged and went about things.
Now, to be honest, this whole thing was kind of a disaster because nothing that I tried to DIY for this costume wanted to work out. Like, it was the freaking pits. Since I found some alginate in my craft stash I decided to make this costume a trio by adding Thing. Remember him? He was the disembodied hand that I couldn’t understand like, at all, how they filmed. Since I wanted the hand to be kind of life-like I didn’t want to cast it with plaster, I wanted to use latex. In came a bunch of caulk I’ve got in the garage. But guess what? It didn’t work. I totally didn’t think about how long it would take a whole tube of caulk to dry in an alginate mold. Like, the stuff is still goopy. And the mold is drying out and isn’t meant for this long of a cure. Bleh.
It would have been cool if it had worked (and FREE because I already had the stuff) but it didn’t even kind of work out. I did find a decent enough latex hand for less than $12 on Amazon that I would have strongly considered IF I had the time to wait for it to arrive in the mail. It’s 2-day shipping and all but I’m flying to play nursemaid (eep!) in just a few days and if I wanted to share this costume idea with you with enough time to actually make it happen for Halloween, I decided I needed to just get on with it. In all honesty, I think a disembodied hand on the shoulder of Pugsley would make this costume perfection, but it is an added cost you may or may not want to tack on.
Dude. Look how great that “Thing” posture, too, was I watched SO MANY videos on Youtube trying to figure that business out! :) And I repeat, bleh :)
The hand wasn’t the only thing that didn’t work out. *sigh* Because Wednesday Addams has a collar on, I decided to buy a white collared men’s shirt from Goodwill. I got it for only $1.50 because its color of tag was half off, I think, but it turned out that the collar wasn’t actually big enough to look very Wednesday-like and I ditched it for a different DIY version. Luckily I did because I am super digging the look of my fully DIY version.
Missteps aside, this couple’s costume really is super easy to make and uses things you might very well already have in your closet. And if you don’t they’re kind of basic enough items that it’s possible you might welcome them into your wardrobe which is pretty cool, right? But I suppose I should stop talking about it and start getting on with it.
How to Make Addams Family Halloween Costumes on the Cheap
For a Pugsley Addams costume you will need:
- Black and white striped tee
- Black shorts
- Black socks
- Black shoes
The most recognizable thing about this costume is that black and white striped tee. Initially, I was just going to spray paint black stripes on a white tee shirt I snagged at Michael’s. The plan was to use wide painter’s masking tape to create the lines and cheap $1 a can black spray paint to stripe it up. I figured it wouldn’t be super comfortable but it would be wearable for one night as a costume and then it might even soften up enough to be worn around the house after a few washes. Since I got the shirt for $2 on sale and had everything else, it was a cheap enough plan.
But when I ordered a pair of jeans for myself from Everlane I just happened to pop over to the dude’s clothing to see if there was anything Rob couldn’t live without when I found a black and white striped tee for $13. Can you say win? Since Rob actually really liked the idea of a black and white striped shirt I went ahead and got it for him so the DIY became unnecessary. BUT it’s easy enough of a thing that you can DIY your own if you want to. Or you can buy that striped tee at Everlane (buy 3 things and shipping is free and right now this boxy cropped sweater is my life and I’m getting it in more colors ASAP)
Next, you’ll need a pair of black shorts. These are black cotton workout shorts that Rob wears to the gym. I did get him a new pair so the color would be a nice, crisp black since his shirt was so nice but I got them for $7 and since they’ll be worn, like a lot, I didn’t feel bad spending the money on them.
To finish the basic look, you’ll need a pair of black socks and black shoes. I’m thinking most men have at least one pair of both for either work or funeral purposes and will likely be something you can just dig out of the dresser and wardrobe!
Now I’ve been working in a bit of a frenzy and I meant to buy a fake knife cleaver for him to hold but when I got to the Halloween aisle I bought a lot of other crap instead. What can I say? I’m a sucker for the holidays :) For this pic I made him hold one of our kitchen knives which he would never, ever actually take in public but it’s late and I’m tired and I’m not running to Walmart dressed like Wednesday Addams in September. People around here already think I’m weird enough :)
For a Wednesday Addams costume you will need:
- Black dress
- Felt Collar (free printable pattern or free free printable pattern)
- Black wig
- Opaque black tights
- Black shoes
For me, this costume was cheap, cheap! Since my hair is short and red I bought a wig. I was so worried if I used one of those sprays that it wouldn’t come out and I’m going to my grandma’s and even if I am in my thirties she would NOT be happy :) Plus my hair just isn’t long enough to braid.
Since I was getting into this well before the Halloween aisle was set up at local brick and mortar stores, I snagged the cheapest wig I could find on Amazon that was black and had a decent amount of length to it.
As it turns out since I’ve had a bob for almost my whole life, I have no clue how to make braids. I literally cried in front of the mirror I got so frustrated. And then I felt like a moron and socked that wig in my closet and went back and got it done another day after my second try :) My wig was only $7 and it was sort of layered, which made the braiding more difficult, but I found a better one with what looks like a really blunt cut at Target plus it’s like ten miles long. BUT the Target wig is a lot more expensive and I am so cheap that I’d rather cry than spend another $13 :)
My cheap Goodwill collared shirt turned dickey was a total failure, but luckily I’ve got lots and lots of inexpensive acrylic craft felt on hand. Want to make a Wednesday Addams collar? First, you’ll need tofree printable pattern OR if you have a cutting machine, you can snag the free SVG cut file here.
Using good, sharp scissors, or a rotary cutter and straight edge, cut out 2 collar pieces out of white felt. Depending on the size of your neck, you might want to add a bit of length to the rectangular shape (it’s the part that will wrap around your neck) so keep that in mind. I think I have a mostly average sized neck so it will probably work for lots of y’all as is :)
Overlap one of the pieces just slightly over the other, like above, and tack down with a few stitches of white thread. Alternatively, you can also use glue, but this is the sturdiest option and just takes a few seconds.
To secure your collar, wrap around your neck like a necklace and tack shut using a safety pin. No fancy findings or anything required!
To start, toss on your most simple black dress. If you’re in the market for one, this one is actually less than 20 bucks on Amazon. It’s so soft and so comfy you’re going to want a whole bunch more colors and, luckily, it comes in a whole bunch! Now I got mine this summer so it’s short sleeved, but they also have a long sleeve option if it’s chilly where you are and you’re buying a dress anyway… I LOVE THESE DRESSES for real, y’all. LOVE.
Oh, and if the collar of your dress is a bit wide or low, you can place a piece of black felt under your dress, held in place by the cups and straps on your bra to “fill in” the gap of skin that might show. It’s not hard, just a weensy bit itchy :) Once you’ve got your dress on add a pair of opaque black tights and whatever black shoes you have. There’s so much black that they won’t be super noticeable unless you’ve got chunky white soles on them or something really obvious. I just rocked a pair of ballet flats from Walmart because it’s what I have anyway.
Round out this costume you’ve got that DIY black pigtail wig (wouldn’t you know that I just found a Wednesday Addams wig on Amazon ready to go, who knew!?!) and then your DIY felt collar and this look is pretty much done. Oh, and since Wednesday Addams is young and fresh-faced you don’t even need to put on makeup which I was super okay with today and why I look so pale, ha! I’m actually quite pasty without any foundation :) But it works for Wednesday, right? Right! Okay, okay so I put on a little swipe of clear mascara but that’s it! :)
Isn’t that just the cutest pair even if Pugsley isn’t really supposed to smile much? :) All in all, I had two irritating craft fails, and I would have LOVED to have a Thing hand in the mix, but I’m still SUPER happy with how our costume turned out. It was cheap. It was easy. It’s based on one of my favorite movies of all time. All hail Wednesday and Pugsley Addams, a simple and fun Halloween couple’s costume!