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Costume ideas for a walker

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For people with a medical condition requiring them to use a walker, finding a good Halloween Costume can be a challenge. We’ve put together a few ideas below to help you or someone you love out. The costumes range from quite simple to very elaborate depending upon your inclination and time. We also have pages for more handicapped costume ideas, ideas for costumes for people using walkersand costume ideas for people using wheelchairs. The Halloween.com Forums also have sections to discuss these type of costume ideas.

  • * Go as a grocery shopper. You could use the walker as part of a shopping cart and be shopping.
  • * Or cover the walker with brown butcher paper and BE the groceries in a bag!! 
  • * Putting on a Texas Ranger (or other cowboy type costume) costume and going as “Walker, Texas Ranger”.
  • * Use pieces of cardboard to build a haunted castle or haunted house and you can dress as frankentstein or a ghost or witch etc…looking out the window.
  • * A robot which includes the walker which would take account of limited mobility.
  • * Build it up into a haunted tree and you could be an owl.
  • * You could also put some mountainous pictures on the walker and when people ask what you are, you could say “The Walker Mountains in Antarctica of course!” Or some pictures of a lake and go as “Walker Lake” – there are a number of Walker Lakes out there.
  • * Get a large stiff piece of cardboard to attach to the front, shaped and painted or colored to look like a coffin with a small opening for you to look out of. Old fashioned coffins used to have a little window, sometimes shaped like a bat with screening in it!
  • * How about french fries and a drink? The fries are the walker and the drink is you.
  • * You could be a Christmas present. The box is opened and you are coming out as a doll or jack-in-the-box.
  • * Put a little model of a city on top of the walker, then dress up as Godzilla or some other monster coming towards the city about to CRUSH it.

If you have more ideas or want to talk more about it, come and see the Halloween.com Forums costume section.

Some other great inspiration is shown below:
Photos of costumes from the Bridge School: from a fireman in a fire truck (the wheel chair) to an ice cream stand to a flower in a garden to Alladin on his magic carpet to a biker and babe! These are some wonderful costume ideas.The MDA also has some pictures of more costume ideas.And finally, there are more great ideas are on this page.

Halloween House Decorations

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Many people keep certain holiday decorations from year to year, then add new ones.  There’s the Christmas tree, ornaments for that, and perhaps a few well decorated and artificial pumpkins, Jack O’ Lanterns, and large black spiders for Halloween.  Families often have a pumpkin carving fest and kids get a real kick out of creating those transitory pumpkins which are great for a week, then soften into a green and malodorous puddle when they start to decay.  There’s room for permanent and temporary decorations for all seasons and holidays.

Craft stores have numerous basic pumpkin shapes made from either Paper Mache or Syrofoam  Where these types shine is in a lovely mantel or window display which you can make yourself.  After Halloween or Thanksgiving is over, pop the display into a plastic bag and seal it up, then store in a dry place.  Dried gourds can also be used but they are nature’s own and eventually will deteriorate. For the mantel or window display, measure your space and cut a length of board to fit.  Cover it neatly and totally with brown felt (fabric store) and fasten to board in back and at ends, kind of like a long, skinny package.

Choose either a few differently sized pumpkins and fall “greenery” and small picks with scarecrows on them etc., or a few Jack O’ Lanterns and black cats and a haunted house pick or two.  One can be for Thanksgiving or you can do a combo.  If there is an outlet near to where you are displaying the pumpkin diorama, then string some mini orange or purple lights along it and plug in.  This is great for a front window.  Don’t forget to turn the lights off at night or if you are out.

Haunted houses are popular at Halloween so you can create one in your own home, or even  perhaps just the entryway.  This will use several components which can be packed away or discarded each year when Halloween is over with.  That stretchy spider web material is great for corners and very realistic.  Guests may even think it’s real!  In a dark upper corner you can place a large black spider and one of those that is animated and has glowing red eyes is super freaky and kids get a real kick out of them.  Other rubber or plastic spiders can be placed around various locations, but make sure that pets don’t get hold of them as they can swallow them, and may get sick.

A favorite each year is a candy or treat bowl, so purchase a large black cauldron (plastic is fine or else it will weigh a ton), and if you can get s small electric glowing fire simulator and place it under the cauldron, so much the better.  When Halloween comes you can place some dry ice hidden in your display so it seems to be bubbling over.  Be careful about the dry ice as it can freeze the skin so keep it sway from treats.  You can set up your cauldron and put treats in front of it as this would be the safest method.

Always think safety of children, adults and pets first on Halloween, whenever you make a decoration or wear a costume.  It’s a fun time and kids love to dress up.  There are realistic skeletons on the Web and also in some pop-up Halloween stores.  They are usually molded from plastic and some can be inexpensive but the most realistic ones are expensive. They will last  a long time so think if you’d like to invest in one.  You can hang one from a chandelier if you have a very high ceiling, like the one in Disney’s Haunted Mansion.

An incredibly inventive scene and one which will be talked about in the neighborhood, is if you have a cubicle in your house or a very small room, you can create a Halloween scene in it – graveyards are popular, then stretch a scrim (muslin) cloth across the front which will screen off the room.  When lit, people will see the scene suddenly and have a great time laughing about how it made them jump out of their skins!  This is exactly how it’s done in the theatre and you can make these scenes fairly easily.  An old fashioned parlor with a skeleton sitting in a rocking chair, a dusty tiffany lamp, and spooky music playing is a good scene to start with.  If you can get the rocker to rock back and forth, then so much the better.

The World of Pirate Halloween Costumes

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It is hard to believe one type of holiday disguise could have its own niche, but pirate Halloween costumes have managed to do just that. While this has always been a popular holiday personal décor choice, the recent love of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies has certainly upped the desire. It can be a fun choice for those who like to go as a character a little bit ruthless, but not in the realm of spooky creatures like devils, ghosts or vampires. So while you may not look like Johnny Depp no matter how great the costume and makeup are, it can still be fun to try.

Pirate Halloween Costumes for Men 

Aside from pasting the Jolly Roger flag of skull and cross bones across your “ship,” in other words car, you’ll be glad to know there are varieties of pirate looks. Of course, the most popular pirate Halloween costume for men right now is the Captain Jack Sparrow. This comes with everything you would envision Johnny Depp’s character wearing and can include optional accessories. If you don’t feel like investing in boots, no worries matey, there are pieces that slip over regular boots to create the same look. The thinly beaded dread wig isn’t optional, though. What would Captain Jack Sparrow be without his lovely locks?

There are other styles of men’s pirate costumes, such as the “cutthroat.” This look usually includes the red and black striped leggings, an eye patch and the curved sword symbolic of this style of pirate. There is the Captain Black Heart look, which comes with the ornate red, velvet ¾ length jacket and matching hat. An optional bottle of booze can be explained to others as simply part of the costume.

Of course for most of these looks an earring, hat, eye patch sword and parrot do so much to complete the look. You will be glad to know there is even a peg leg option. This piece attaches to your pants and hangs down over your camouflaged leg for the appearance of a peg leg.

Pirate Halloween Costumes for Women 

These tend to be much more revealing and appealing, as well as low cut in the top and high slit in the skirt. There is no reason why women can’t also look like they are ready to do some looting and acquire some booty, even if there weren’t typically female pirates sending others off to walk the plank. Same optional accessories apply, though a popular one for just the gals is the thigh-riding garter belt complete with faux saber.

There’s the classy pirate look that comes with a velveteen ¾ coat, and not much underneath. High heel pirate boots and of course a more feminine hat are the finishing touches on this style of pirate. Another look for female pirates is more of the lower class, but still as lovely, working class pirate. Not quite a swabbie, or deck member to mop the deck, but not far above either. So for this, picture a corset top over a tight fitting pirate blouse paired with an jagged cut skirt and there’s the look. Well, that and sexy boots and a sword, of course. Fishnets don’t hurt the look either.

Don’t Forget the Children and Pets

That’s right, the pirate Halloween costumes aren’t just for adults. Plenty of children planning to make their rounds trick-or-treating or to Halloween parties think “it’s the pirate look for me,” although maybe not the life in this case. The same general ideas apply, as it’s all about the ability to not look like a land lubber. Plenty of striped leggings, ornate hats, fake swords and of course, the skull and cross bones symbols. There are even costumes for babies and toddlers. No person is too small or too young to be a Jack Sparrow in his younger days.

To Buy or DIY

The thing is, the price of some of these costumes can really add up. When possible, rent the look and save some cash or borrow from a friend who already hit the Halloween parties. Find anything you have at home to dress it up, such as a scarf, excessive jewelry or large, ornate belt buckle. If possible, too, make items by hand especially for children and pets.

Of course, it is required to learn some cheesy pirate terminology to overdo it in front of your friends. While some costumes don’t really invoke much character to come with it, this is one that requires some proper hamming it up. When opting for pirate Halloween costumes for the holiday, bring some of your personal flair with it.