Four ways to dress your little monster for Halloween without spending a scary sum

SPLASHING out on a Halloween costume for children to wear for one night gives most of us goosebumps.

Fear not, here are some tips on how to dress your little monster for October 31 without spending a scary sum.

PRE-SPOOKED: It’s not hard to find a secondhand ­Halloween costume online, which costs a fraction of a new one.

Facebook marketplace has outfits from £2. Or try eBay, and Vinted — just watch out for pricey postage charges.

It’s also worth searching online for local Halloween “swap shop” events where you can get a free costume in exchange for donating an old one.

DIY SPIDER: Homemade costumes cut costs and can be a fun activity with your children.

For a black spider oufit, you just need three pairs of old black tights.

Cut off the legs and stuff them with old newspaper then knot at the end.

Sew or safety pin three of the legs to the front of a black hoody — two just above the arms and one in the middle of the chest, then repeat on the back.

Kids can wear them with black jogging bottoms or trousers and black gloves.

MAD SCIENTIST: To create a mad scientist, you simply need an old white shirt and to let your child’s imagination run wild.

Try painting the shirt with fake blood, radioactive symbols or green “potion juice”.

Then grab some hairspray and give their tresses some extra volume.

A pair of goggles or specs completes the look.

FRIGHTENING FACES: For the skeleton look, buy white face paint — Wilko stocks tubes for £1.20 — and look at the bottom of your make-up drawer for an old black eyeliner.

Use the white as a base then using the eyeliner, draw eye and nose “sockets” as well as stiches off the mouth.

Find a tutorial online as a guide to achieving the face paint.

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