Most of today's children who celebrate Hallowe'en, will probably head off to one of the shops to purchase a ready-to-wear costume, but if you have the time and want something that is a little original, then below are a few suggestions from www.makingfriends.com.

For the little girl in your life, a Princess Costume might be something on her mind.

To do this, no-sew costume, you will need a party dress and one yard of matching or contrasting fabric, which is 45 inches wide.

Other items are: Two Feet of one-inch Elastic; Large Safety Pins; Fabric Glue and an Iron.

To make the costume, make a casing for the elastic along the long side of the fabric. To do this, lay fabric out the long way on an ironing board.

¦ Press top edge down at least one inch.

¦ Fold over again and press down again.

¦ Run a bead of glue just under the folded edge closest to you. This will form the waistband of the skirt.

¦ Fold the skirt right sides together matching side seams. Run a bead of glue down one side and glue the sides together.

¦ Turn right-side out.

¦ Cut a length of elastic to fit securely around child's waist with a one-inch overlap.

¦ Pin safety pin to one end and use it to push elastic through the waistband casing.

¦ Gather waistband as you go so the other end of elastic does not feed into the casing.

¦ Use the safety pin to pin both ends of the elastic together.

¦ Adjust waistband to hide pin inside casing.

¦ If skirt is to long, trim.

¦ Glue hem if fabric ravels.

¦ Wear party dress over skirt.

To complete the ensemble, try a beaded tiara. .

You will need four, one foot Metallic Pipe Cleaners, 12 Red Translucent Pony Beads, 20 Pink Translucent Pony Beads, and 44 Crystal Faceted eight millimetre beads.

Instructions: Twist the ends of two stems together to make one 23" (approx.) stem that will fit around the princess' head.

Slide 20 pink and five red pony beads to the centre of the 23" stem according to pattern at right.

Slide a third 12" stem through the middle red bead and centre it. One one side, add three faceted beads, one red pony bead and three more faceted beads. Slide that end of the stem through the next red pony bead as shown.

Repeat, finishing that side by sliding under the last red pony bead. Repeat for other side.

Twist ends to secure beads.

Slide nine beads (four faceted, one red pony bead, four faceted) to the centre of the last 12" stem.

Bend gently. Push each end through one of the red pony beads on the top middle of the tiara.

Add seven beads to each side (three faceted, one red pony bead, three faceted) and push ends through the remaining red pony beads. Twist to secure. Trim ends.

Fit around child's head. Twist ends. The metallic stem works like Velcro with hair and will stay securely in place.

For the boys who are fans of Pokémon:

Pikachu Costume

You need: A piece of yellow craft foam measuring 12 by 18 inches. Red, black, orange and white craft foam. A low temperature glue gun and a Stapler. A yellow sweat suit or pyjamas. Visit: www.makingfriends.com to print out the pattern.

Instructions:

¦ Print out two sets of patterns for headpiece and tail.

¦ Tape them together at dotted lines.

¦ Staple the headpiece to yellow craft foam and cut out.

¦ Cut the ear tips, nose, eyes and mouth out of black foam, cheeks out of red, and eye highlights out of white foam.

¦ Glue on to headpiece. Cut two, two inch by 18" strips of craft foam, overlap the ends, and glue them together.

¦ Fit around child's head, trim off excess and glue.

¦ Glue face onto the front of the band.

¦ The tail will not fit completely on the yellow foam.

¦ Make sure the top and middle are on completely and fit as much as the bottom on as possible.

¦ Cut out. Cut the bottom part out of Orange foam.

¦ Line up and glue on top of the yellow part of the tail.

¦ Staple the bottom of the tail to the bottom back of the sweatshirt.

¦ Put another staple at the back of the neck to the tail to hold it upright.

¦ You can also paint orange stripes on the back of the sweatshirt.