Tips to Make Your Halloween Costume REALLY Rock This Year

...Or your kid's Halloween costume. There's a few things you can do to make a costume one of the best, and make people think you're a creative genius.

1 - The Idea: Choose something unique for the costume. Anyone can be a cat, a bumblebee or anything like that. Go for a more specific animal, object, or person. If you're thinking "cat," pick a specific cat like Garfield, Puss in Boots, or Tom from "Tom and Jerry." Same goes for specific people. If you were thinking "doctor," put together a costume that represents a doctor from TV or a movie like Gregory House from the TV show "House," or any of the cast members from "Scrubs."

2 - Create Your Costume: Keyword "create." Anyone can go to the store and buy a costume in a bag. Spirit Halloween or those other costume shops are a great option for pieces of a costume, not the whole thing. Thrift shops are a good bet when looking for specific colors, vests, patterns or whatnot. It really adds that "spark" to your costume, and people will think you're pretty crafty.

3 - Accessorize: A costume isn't complete unless you include the little things. Does your character wear a necklace or even a ring? Make sure you include that into your costume. Don't skimp on the extras, those will REALLY make you stand out.

Naomi Lynn/TSM

4 - It's All About the Little Details: This goes hand-in-hand with #3. A few years ago, we spent a good hour-and-a-half coloring an old pair of shoes red, with a sharpie marker. That was because the character had distinctive shoes. Spend a little time and effort on the costume. And yes, that's yellow duct tape on those thick tights in the picture above. We couldn't find tights or leggings with those specific colors so we improvised. The closer you can look to your character, down to the little details, the more people will notice, and be impressed.

And finally, to just add more fun to your Halloween outing (or your kid's), play the part. Does your character have a catch-phrase people will recognize? Is the person you're dressed up as always moody or crying? Act like that. It just ties everything together.

We hope these little tips and tricks help. Happy Halloween!