It’s Halloween season and though the economy is bad, it doesn’t mean we have to forgo having a costume.

If you don’t want to spend a lot on a costume, you don’t have to. You just need to spend some time on putting a low-priced costume together. A lot of the items I’m suggesting can be bought for cheap, or borrowed from a friend.

For males and females who dare to be a little adventurous I have two fun costume ideas. Females can simply dress up like one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles by gathering the following items: cardboard, crafting materials (I.e. scissors), black spandex shorts, a plain green shirt, a scarf or bandana, ribbon or string, and a toy weapon item ninja turtles would use, like a sword.

Let’s say you want to be Leonardo from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Use any plain green shirt or tank top and use that as your top, then use black dance or volleyball spandex shorts for the bottom of your costume. With puffy paint, you may write the name of your Ninja Turtle on the front of your shirt if you want.

If you’re feeling risky, wear matching green tights with or without the spandex shorts. Get a plain blue scarf or ribbon (color will vary for each Ninja Turtle). Tie it around your forehead, and then cut ribbon pieces long enough to wrap around each wrist and glue them down with tacky glue. For shoes, you can either wear black sandals, beige or black jazz dance shoes, or brown or beige boots that resemble UGGs.

To resemble a turtle shell, get cardboard big enough to cut out a circle piece that will fit nicely with the size of your back. Paint the cardboard green, or draw your own shell design on it. Use a hole puncher or scissors to create two holes on each side diagonally from each other. Put string through the holes and tie it. Remember to use as much string as you need for your body size. When you’re finished, wear it like a messenger bag. To finish off the costume buy a toy sword from the toy store or a place like Wal-Mart.

The next costume idea, “God’s gift to women,” is for guys who love to joke around. What you’ll need is a standard sized box from somewhere like FedEx or your garage. Remember to get a box that will fit over you. Use Christmas wrapping paper to decorate the box. Just cut pieces that will fit each part of the box and glue it on with tacky glue, or multi-purpose glue.

Use white paper to write “God’s gift to women,” then cut out the words and glue it onto the front of the box. Cut two holes on two sides of a box, so you can fit your arms through them and wear the box like a shirt. Leave the top flaps open so you can get in and out of it easily, or cut them off if they bother you. Remember to cut the bottom flaps of the box. Next, get a girl’s headband and use tacky glue to glue on a bow or ribbon, then wear it on top of your head.

For people who aren’t afraid to show some skin, I have two simple costume ideas. Females can dress up like Eve from the story of Adam and Eve. All you’ll need is a nude-colored bra, and a nude colored underwear bottom. Buy foliage (leaves, flowers, etc.) from a craft store like Joanne’s or Michael’s. Stems with leaves can usually be bought individually, but it’s best to buy vine-like leaves, so you’ll have a string of them to cut from.

With tacky glue go ahead and glue the leaves or whatever foliage you have to the bra and bottom underwear. If you want the costume to last longer, it’ll probably be best to sew the foliage on. Get creative with the leaves and put them on anyway you like.

Males who want to show some skin and be silly, may easily dress up as Mr. Manhattan from “The Watchmen.” Just buy a plain blue Speedo or boxers. Cut out a circle from yellow construction paper and draw a happy face. Tacky glue the happy face onto the front of your Speedo or boxers. Paint any exposed skin blue.

If you want to make it look like you have abs get a darker colored blue and paint one vertical line down your stomach, then three horizontal lines. With black paint or a black magic marker, draw a small circle in the middle of your forehead and color it in. Then, draw a black circle around the colored-in circle. To resemble Dr. Manhattan more, buy white contacts or very light blue ones, but it’s not necessary.

Most costume ideas are easy and can be simplified. Here’s an example of my costume for this year as Hello Kitty from the early ’80s design. Use a plain, red, short-sleeved shirt, and a blue tank. Put the red shirt on first, then layer it with the blue tank. Wear blue jeans or jean shorts to make the shirt and jeans resemble overalls.

Get two big colorful buttons and tacky glue or sew them onto each front strap of the blue tank. With puffy paint, you may also write Hello Kitty in front of the blue tank. Regular cat ears can be found at almost any store, you just have to tacky glue on a red bow onto the side of it. If you have short hair, it’s best to just wear your hair down and flair it out.

Females who have longer hair should part their hair to the side and pull their hair back into a pony tail. I’ve found that if you have bangs, it looks cute to sweep them to the side, so it shapes your face more like Hello Kitty’s. To finish off the look use markers or paint to color in a yellow circle on the top of your nose, and then draw three black whiskers on each side of your cheek. Wearing red lipstick will also add more “oomph” to your outfit.

Jennifer Siopongco can be reached at [email protected]