Last Minute Halloween Costume Ideas

R2D2
 The small and thin know what's "in" for a last-minute SCI-FI classic
 costume. Just get one of those trash cans with the rounded dome top
 and the big flap on the front. Put it over your head and climb inside,
 bring along your cell phone and start dialing to make those audible
 "beeps" and "boops."
      Voila -- you're the beloved "Star Wars" droid R2D2!

ANTARTICA
 Are you Portly? Pleasingly plump? Big-boned? Just plain overweight?
 Halloween was meant for you! Simply throw that white sheet over
 yourself, and you're the continent of Antartica

BAKED POTATO
 New parents! Are you confused about how to dress your infant for
 the Halloween party?  The answer is as close as your kitchen!
 Simply wrap the offspring in aluminum foil
                                -- and the kid's a baked potato!

UNIVERSAL BAR CODE
 Get a child's growth chart with the lines and numbers on it, then
 affix it to your body from head to toe. Every shopper will
 recognize you as a price in Universal Bar Code!
 This costume will also protect your anonymity: No one can tell
 what the real price is, just like at the grocery store!

PILLOWS
 A simple pillow can provide any number of last-minute costumes.
 Tuck it into the upper back of your shirt -- you're Quasimodo!
 Or move it around to the front -- you're Arnold Schwarzenegger!
 Now drop it lower -- you're Helen Hunt last season on
   "Mad About You!"  [pregnant]
 Don't discard that pillow case -- put it over the top part of
   your body and you're a Chicklet!

UNPROGRAMMED VCR
 Get a long and shallow cardboard box.
 Cut a rectangle in the front.
 Climb inside it, then put a sign that reads "12:00" in front of
 the rectangle. Yes, you're an unprogrammed VCR -- the kind that
 60 percent of the public owns!

COTTON CANDY
 Energy-conscious but short on time for a clever costume?
 Race up to your attic and roll up some of that pink fiberglass
 insulation you put up there to conserve heat. Wrap the paper side
 toward you and you're that favorite circus treat, cotton candy!
 [ED NOTE: I'm not sure how safe that is, you decide]

LOST TV REMOTE
  Art imitates life once again with this cumbersome but easily
  identifiable costume. Simply remove two large seat cushions from
  your sofa, and affix one in front of you and one behind you.
  You're an item familiar to all -- the lost TV remote control!

WASH-and-WEARWOLF
  Here's a new twist to an old Wolfman mask.
  Take an old laundry basket and cut out the bottom so you can stick
  your head through. Wrap sheets of fabric softener, bedsheets and
  odd socks around the rest of your body.
  You're a Wash-and-Wearwolf!

MOUNT RUSHMORE
  Get three friends.
  Take one white sheet, and cut four holes in it.
  Whiten your faces and hair with make-up, powder or flour. Then line
  up and stick your heads through the sheet, and enjoy your monumental
  costume -- as Mount Rushmore!

PORTABLE CLOTHES DRYER
 Got an old diving or snorkeling mask?
 Stick some old baby socks and a handkerchief in the lens and put it
 on. Now move your head up and down, and you're a portable clothes
 dryer!
   (Hey, these are last-minute ideas! We didn't say they'd be good!)

RADON GAS
 Go to a party dressed as you are.
 When asked what you're supposed to be, say "Radon gas!"
 Then when asked, "Where's your costume?" say, "Where else? In
 my basement!"

CELEBRITY LOOK-ALIKES:

SPICE GIRLS
 Ladies! Want a quick costume that'll make you as trendy as the hip
 kids on MTV? Raid your kitchen cabinets and take every bottle of
 seasoning. Now tape the bottles all over your body.
     You're one of the SPICE GIRLS!

DENNIS RODMAN
 Guys, here's a way to be environmentally conscious with your
 Halloween costume! Recycle your old costumes to make new ones!
 Find that old green hairspray from the once-trendy "Joker" costume
 everyone had after the first "Batman" movie came out.
 Then, dig up that Scarlett O'Hara gown your girlfriend wore.
 Combine 'em, and you're NBA superstar Dennis Rodman! Tattoos and
 body piercing are optional!

SIEGFRIED AND ROY
 Does your child have one of those huge plush lions or tigers?
 Stuff a glove with cotton or paper and glue it hanging out of
 the animal's mouth. The result: An instant costume with true
 Vegas glamour -- you're Siegfried and Roy!
 We'll let you choose which Vegas animal trainer to be!

DAVID LETTERMAN'S TEETH
 You and a friend each get a large appliance box and paint it white.
 Put them on. Stand close together with a slight space between you.
 Behold! You're David Letterman's front teeth!

IDEAS FOR PARTIES YOU'D RATHER MISS:

CABLE TV INSTALLER
 Call the host and say you're coming as a cable-TV installer.
 Then, don't show up until a week after the party, at a time when
 the host isn't home! Make sure you leave a pre-printed generic
 "Sorry we missed you" note!

MARIS
 Ladies, you can avoid parties you'd rather not attend.
 Just call and tell them you're going to dress as Maris, the
 well-known wife of Dr. Miles Crain on "Fraiser."
 Then you don't have to go. As regular viewers know, Maris
 is never seen on the show!

INVISIBLE MAN
 The best last-minute idea for a party you'd rather not attend:
 Tell the host you'll be coming as the Invisible Man.
 Then don't show up!