2014 Coolest Halloween Costume Contest Winners

$1,500 in Prizes Awarded

What an incredible display of creativity and workmanship this year’s contest brought our way. Judging the entries required near superhero powers. There were just so many great ones. As many as half of the costumes that didn’t win are so memorable that they deserve at least an honorable mention, but with over 2,000 entries that isn’t an option. So, the judges painstakingly narrowed down the costume submissions to 300, then 100, and finally to 18 winners overall.

Every costume entry was reviewed by each of our judges from the writeups to the photos and videos. All of these details provided insight into the costumes and their creators. We also took into account social media and statistical parameters from “likes”, “shares” “tweets” and “repins” to page views, comments and everything in between. That said, the winners were NOT chosen based on number of “followers” and “friends”. They were chosen based on human judgement and meticulous attention to every detail of the submissions. Prizes were awarded to those entries that the judges found to have an extra dash of inspiration or something unexpected.

Congratulations to all of our 2014 winners and to every other costume maker that contributed to this year’s contest. Together you have helped build the largest source of homemade costume ideas online. Your costumes will inspire millions of home grown diy costume designers for years to come and that’s something you can all be proud of.

$500 Halloween Costume Contest Grand Prize

A Royal Pair by Patricia

This year’s Grand Prize winning costume is sure to become a classic. Not only was it well executed and creative, but it’s the kind of costume that costume makers from novice to professional can replicate. We can already envision some of the spin off ideas that might be launched from this entry and with a price tag of under $50 it’s not only a WINNING idea, but also a budget friendly one.

Patricia’s favorite time of the year is Halloween and she’s made many costumes in the past. She quickly discovered just what a crowd-pleaser her Royal Pair costume was though. Everyone from adults to young children loved it. “Photographers especially dug it; the frames and the makeup really pop on camera.” In fact, the costume was such an attention grabber that Patricia and her husband were offered a spot in the coveted costume contest at Prague’s biggest Halloween party. They made it to the final round only to lose to a group of “rowdy young men in (rented) cow costumes” (sigh).

Though we sympathize with them on their loss, we’re thrilled that they expanded the reach of their amazing costume by entering our 2014 Homemade Costume Contest. We think this $500 will go a long way toward making that consolation prize bottle of Jaegermeister a distant memory.

$100 Halloween Costume Contest Prizes

There are hundreds of costumes worthy of a prize this year, however, only a small fraction can make it to the final cut. View those that came close in our Editor’s pick section. If your costume did not win, please know that we are seriously impressed with your creativity and sincerely grateful that you took the time to share your costume(s) with us. There are no losers when you consider the inspiration your submission(s) will provide to the millions of people who visit the site looking for homemade costume ideas every year. Also, media opportunities arise frequently and many costumes have been showcased on tv, in magazines, on popular online media sites and more. With the exposure your costume gets on our site, you never know whose eye your costume(s) might catch.

Navi from Avatar by Aaron

This costume is epic in every way. The attention to detail is incredible and we love how Aaron hid the stilts. His interpretation of an Avatar Warrior was so impressive that it caught the eye of a Baltimore Sun photographer who captured it in print at the Baltimore Comic-Con costume contest. Though not every costume maker will be able to achieve this look, the instructions Aaron provided certainly make it a possibility for those with a few skills. He even included a pdf with detailed instructions. Now that’s classy!

Banksy’s Flower Thrower by Lawrence

We love the originality of this costume idea. Lawrence “hit one out of the ball park” … or should we say flower garden, here by bringing Bansky’s famous Flower Thrower stencil to life in his Halloween costume. As a graphic artist, illustrator, and fan of Banksy’s work, Lawrence was thrilled at the thought of manifesting one of his most famous works as a DIY costume. In his words, “The challenge of creating work in a completely different medium than what I am used to was a breath of fresh air.” We think it’s incredible how accurately this costume mimics Bansky’s stencil art. We think you’ll agree.

Groot by Eric

Eric’s son wanted his dad to dress as Groot for Halloween and Eric did not want to disappoint. After all, what else could he be if his son was going as Rocket Raccoon? We think you’ll agree that this is an exceptional costume, but more important than that, it was the catalyst for creating a father son memory that will last a lifetime. The Groot costume was a huge hit! In Eric’s words… “Everyone was stopping me to take pictures and ask me questions about the costume. My son was so excited he answered most people’s questions for me.” Want to create a father son bonding opportunity of your own? Eric provided plenty of photos and instructions for making his masterpiece.

Taxidermy Group by Elizabeth

This group costume really caught our eye. We’ve seen thousands of costumes and this one is truly unique. We’ve never seen another one like it. Besides the originality of the idea, the uniformity of the presentation and the great makeup make it a stand out all around. Kudos to Elizabeth for managing this project and pulling it together into a cohesive look. In her words… “The idea was simple– a hunter’s trophy wall of animal heads, but the execution had to be perfect! We met about 5 times as a group to make the accessories and I put in additional hours making the plaques and helping people execute their ideas.” We love this idea Elizabeth!

Pixar Lamp by Darcy

Darcy has shared a ton of excellent kids’ costumes over the years. We love how super adorable and yet easy to make most of them are. Parents around the world have been able to dress their kids in winning costumes thanks to Darcy’s inspiration. This year was no exception, but one of her entries stood out in particular. Her Pixar Lamp costume is in one word… WOW! Is that really a costume? It looks so real. Special thanks to Darcy’s granddaughter who loved “Luxo” the cute and quirky lamp from Pixar pictures so much that her grandmother just had to capture it in a costume for her.

Viral Awards

Every year we see some costumes go viral, so we’ve allocated prize money to recognize a couple of those costumes. We never know what costumes will take off in popularity or why, but often they are not even one of our winning costumes. Something about them just strikes a chord with a lot of people. It could be a trending idea, the simplicity of an idea or any number of other reasons. This year’s awards are as follows.

$75 Sister Skulls by Rebecca (Submitted in 2012)

Rebecca’s sister costume was submitted in 2012. It is Super Most Popular costume with 133,000 pins from the website page alone. It’s a great example of how you can win a prize even years after it is shared. The costume is both easy and cheap to make, but the final look is really cool.

$50 Sexy Sugar Skulls by Grace

Grace’s Sugar Skulls costume was Most Popular across all Social Media for 2014 with 22,000 pins from our website page for 2014 alone. This costume is sexy, reasonably affordable and moderately easy to make. The costume didn’t make the final round of costume judging, but it won the 2014 viral award hands down. Proof again, that there is always a chance your costume will win a prize.

$50 Halloween Costume Contest Prizes

Anti-Gravity Machine by Maria

Get ready to travel into the next century in Maria’s cool anti gravity machine. What kid wouldn’t LOVE this costume? Take a minute to watch the video and see if you can figure out the illusion. The best part is you don’t have to break the bank to recreate it. It’s relatively inexpensive. Maria rates it as moderately difficult to make, but don’t worry… she’s provided step by step instructions. What a great concept and illusion!

Chicken by Audra

This authentic looking chicken costume is prize worthy in and of itself, but what really stood out to us was the story behind it. The making of the costume included some hilarious moments. Audra’s write up is a must read. You’re sure to chuckle at least once or twice. Word of warning though… we are not responsible for how you clean your feathers.

Cinderella Pumpkin Stroller by Danielle

Meet CindeRiley and her adorable homemade pumpkin stroller. We love that this costume is not too difficult to make and yet has a gorgeous final result. With the help of her creative father Danielle was able to bring this fantasy costume to life in less than 24 hours. Awww! Creative and cute.

Batman Wheelchair by Karen

Holy Batmobile! Is this one of the coolest wheelchair costumes ever, or what? The design is so sleek and attractive. We absolutely love it. According to Karen the construction supplies are simplistic. Maybe so, but it looks like dad must be some kind of a master carver because the foam pieces he carved to achieve this look are impeccable. Kudos to Connor’s superhero parents. Love shines through every detail of this costume.

The Invisible Man by Alisha

There were a few cool invisible man and invisible woman costume submission ideas this year and they were all unique, but we chose this one. Alisha’s rendition looks incredibly believable and we love that her son’s creative play time inspired the idea. Wouldn’t you do a double take if you saw this costume walking by on the street?

$25 Halloween Costume Contest Prizes

Corn Dog by Donna

Cuteness and comfort make Donna’s dog costume a winner this year. Her dachshund, Dewey, appears quite relaxed in his sweet corn on the cob outfit. Though his face shows possible concern about the pat of butter on his back, we’re pretty sure he doesn’t have to worry about being added to anyone’s menu. You’re so handsome in your costume Dewey and that bandanna and straw hat almost had us fooled into thinking you were an authentic farm dog.

Crazy Baby Octopus by Nicole

For any mom whose ever wished for more arms, Nicole’s costume might be the answer… or maybe not! Regardless, her idea for a mommy baby costume is pretty cool. “The concept was an octopus with flailing tentacles attacking a snorkeler.” Nicole even included a video to demonstrate her concept in action. For a cost of next to nothing she pulled off a great costume and baby looks to be enjoying the whole experience snug and safely attached to her mom.

Headless Lego Man by Nic

Lego costumes were extremely popular this year and there were a number of truly amazing Lego man and Lego family costumes submitted. Though this costumes was not as lifelike and detailed as the others, we loved the creative twist of blending two popular costume ideas, a headless theme and Lego. Plus, how convenient that the “head” doubles as a candy container.

Interactive Wooly Willy by Jesse

This costume is brilliantly executed and would be hard to miss at a Halloween party. It’s an authentic looking life sized version of the Wooly Willy game that’s eye catching, fun, and nostalgic. We love the interactivity of this costume, as well as the originality of the idea and how simple it is to make. Of course, to replicate one as real as Jesse’s you may have to shave your head. Great idea Jesse! A one of a kind original idea for sure.

Bud Lightyear Wordplay by Audrey

Audrey’s costume idea incorporated a clever play on words in such a cool way that we’re pretty sure her concept is one that will be replicated often in the future. There will be those who will produce new and advanced iterations of her concept, but it’s an all around winning idea. It’s also a great conversation starter that works perfectly for the bar setting it was created for and as Audrey noted, she and her friends reaped the benefits of free drinks throughout the evening. Bonus: The costume is reasonably cheap to make.

That’s it for this year’s Halloween costume contest. Once again, congratulations to all of our 2014 Halloween costume contest winners and a BIG thanks to all of you who shared your costume inspiration. We’d also like to say a special thanks to the 20+ judges who helped us judge this costume contest.

Happy Holidays to you all and don’t forget to submit your costume to This Year’s Halloween Costume Contest…

By Elad, Tamar and the Coolest Gang