DIY Starbucks Halloween Costume for Couples

    Growing up, Halloween was not a holiday that my family chose to celebrate. My sister and I didn’t dress up in cute costumes or knock on our neighbor’s doors for candy, although looking back I missed out on a ton of free treats! However, no hard feelings and I turned out quite alright. J I don’t think I am quite convinced of the reason why it earns a place on my yearly calendar, but that’s just one discussion I don’t care to mull over tonight. I have fun seeing families dressed up in their costumes of choice and I don’t mind the perks of an excuse to eat more chocolate. Duh, isn't that why all adult women play along anyway on the 31st?!

     Derek decided that he would volunteer us to decorate one our trunks for our church’s annual Trunk-or-Treat activity at the fall festival this year and with little time to spare I had to act quickly to brainstorm an easy and little-to-no-cost costume and trunk idea. So, the natural thing to do would be to show up as one of your favorite things! For me, that just so happens to be coffee. On a run to get a yummy latte one morning I had an aha! moment when the barista handed over my steamy drink. Thus, the idea to do a Starbucks theme was born. I mean it doesn’t get much cuter than your honey dressed up as a barista and getting to be dolled up as your favorite hot beverage. I studied my cup for a little bit, looked up some images on Google, and then attempted to make my own version from the different pictures and ideas I researched.

     I did a little bit of "in house" shopping through the different closets in our condo to see what I could pull together before heading to our local Hobby Lobby store. Spending more than $10 on a costume was just not a negotiable for me this year. I mean, I can better spend the extra bucks for my next coffee run. J You can make this costume as expensive or cost effective as you choose to. My pretty receipt cha-chinged to a total of $8.04 with my goodies in the bag. Don’t forget your store coupon either!

These are a few things you will need for your costume that you can (probably) find around your house:

Sheet of copy paper

Black Sharpie marker

White Christmas shirt gift box

Cardboard box

Piece of green construction or scrapbook paper

Fabric glue

4 cut out Starbucks logos (printed off web)

Ribbon

Hobby Lobby goods:

Black apron

White t-shirt

Black poster board

Box of white chalk

Barista costume: Derek pretty much left the costume designing up to me so I went through his closet and pulled out a warm black sweater for him to wear, khaki pants, black shoes, and a black hat. Regardless of what kind of shirt or pant style you choose, make sure that your honey wears a black or white shirt (preferably collared), khaki pants, black shoes, and a black hat. Buy or use your own black or green apron and print off two Starbucks logos from the web. Cut out the logo and tape or glue one onto the hat and the other onto the apron. That’s all. J It was fun to hear people think it was an authentic apron... hehe.

Starbucks cup costume: I bought an oversized white t-shirt so that it would flare out a little on the bottom. However, you could be a snug, fit looking coffee cup with a smaller shirt size. J I cut six square boxes from my sheet of copy paper to use for the drink order slots that have the coffee specifics written inside. I used my Sharpie marker to outline the paper boxes in black and wrote the corresponding words in order as they appear on an actual Starbucks cup:  decaf, shots, syrup, milk, custom, and drink. I then filled in the details with my marker for the coffee that I have been ordering recently. "PSL"=Pumpkin Spice Latte in the Drink box; "S"=soy milk in the Milk box; "WO" with a dash through it means no whip in the Custom box; an “X” in the Decaf box means that it is not decaf; "½" in the Syrup box means half the pumps of syrup used; and “2” in the Shots box means two extra espresso shots. We had a friend there last night who works for Starbucks and she approved of my labeling- whew! I used fabric glue to paste these onto one side of my shirt. Voila! The hard part is done for your ready to wear, DIY specialty drink.

     Next, I used a brush and black paint that I found in a drawer to add the “Starbucks” name that runs alongside the boxes. For a little extra detail, I added my name with a smiley face up by the collar because let’s be real, I get a kick out of seeing my name hand-doodled on my cup too! Also, I added the line “Careful, the beverage you are about to enjoy is extremely hot” to the left bottom corner of the shirt. Have you ever noticed that little line on your cup?  Some of the adults that came by thought that the “hot” part had double meaning. Haha J For the cup “sleeve” I took a cardboard box from my mom’s house while visiting on Monday and cut off a strip to wrap around my waist. I used a large office clip to hold it in place and pasted another Starbucks logo to the front. Easy! PS. I wore a long sleeve white shirt underneath because it was a bit chilly. Feel free to omit the extra shirt.

     I paired this Starbucks cup with black leggings and black flats. For the “lid” I used the top half of an old Christmas shirt gift box I had lying around and bent the edges to give it a more round shape. I cut a slit on the top and rolled a green polka-dotted piece of scrap book paper to slide in for my Starbucks signature straw!

Trunk: I bought a plain black poster board sheet from Hobby Lobby and picked up some white chalk to make my “menu” that we tied to my trunk. I glued my last logo cutout and got a little silly in writing what was on the night’s menu: CANDY! But, you can write whatever you’d like. The idea is to have a coffee house chalkboard menu. I also grabbed two Grisham books, a cozy blanket, night stand lamp, a coaster and Starbucks mug that we have and added these to our trunk décor. I filled the mug with the candy and handed it out from there. Just a little touch to add to the Starbucks feel. I wanted to have actual coffee being served for the parents, but didn’t get the chance to gather those resources. So, if you do this please add that extra touch! I am sure you’ll be the favorite trunk of the year. At least to the parents walking by with their tiny tots you will be. ;)

     This costume turned out way better than I had expected. More than that, I was so excited that my hidden creative juices didn’t fail me. Take that Pinterest, I didn't need you this time! It was fun to hear some of the kids call out what we were too. Who knew that kiddos these days would know what Starbucks was? I obviously underestimated their sophisticated taste. ;)

     What did you dress up as this year? I hope that you give your pearly whites a break from their sweet enemy. I am working on it… My candy jar just reached a whole new level of full though.

Until next year’s craft costume wonder, toodles!