It’s Halloween and you need a costume. Maybe you want to be a little more creative than the store-bought cookie-cutter outfits that are offered at a lot of the major retail chains. To be a hit at your costume party, or to simply make your child stand out when trick-or-treating, a mummy costume might be the way to go.

Creating a mummy costume will require time, but not a lot of time. You are probably picturing the fancy, purposefully antique-looking dark monsters from mummy films you’ve seen and thinking it would be impossible to recreate something like that. Actually, it’s a lot easier than you think.

Don’t get overwhelmed. The creation of a mummy costume can be broken down into simple steps, all of which don’t have to be completed at the same time.

1)  First, gather the materials. You’ll need white everything. Get a twin set of white sheets, a pair of white pants or jeans, and a long sleeve white shirt or sweatshirt, preferably a turtleneck. All of these materials can be collected from a thrift shop for under 10 dollars.

2)  Next, color the whites to achieve that rustic, having-sat-in-a-coffin for centuries look. To do this, dye all of these white materials in black tea. Add black tea bags to warm water in 3-5 gallon buckets, add the materials, and steep for about 4-6 hours. After soaking in the water, lay the now off-white clothes out in the sun to completely dry.

3)  First you’ll need a lot of mummy bandages. Start with the white sheets. Cut 2-3 inch slits down one side of the sheet. It doesn’t matter if it’s the long side of the short side. Then tear the strips up the length of the sheet . You’ll find that the strips will tear evenly and also have a very authentic looking frayed edge.

4)  With the turtleneck shirt laid out on a flat surface, wrap the mummy bandages around the shirt loosely up to the level of the armpit. To hold them in place you can use safety pins. Then, using a sewing machine, sew the strips to the shirt. This can be time consuming, but keep in mind that all you want to do is make sure the strips don’t fall off. Also, the more sloppy and haphazard you can do this will make the costume look better in the end. Feel free to overlap the strips and make some look longer than others. Avoid perfection at all costs!

5)  Now the arms. Cut along the inseam of each of the sleeves up to the armpit with a pair of scissors. Spread out the sleeves and then wrap around the mummy bandages in the same fashion. When finished, turn the shirt inside-out and sew the sleeves back together.

6)  For the pants, rip or cut the inseam all the way up to the crotch. Spread the material out on a flat surface and wrap or cover with more mummy bandages. Start from the bottom and begin sewing strips onto both legs. You can stop at the crotch because the shirt will cover the rest. Then turn the pants inside out and sew the legs back up again.

7)  At this point you’ll be running out of mummy strips. With any that are left-over, cover your face.

8)  When you’re wearing the suit, sprinkle baby powder all over for that ancient mummy effect.
That’s it! Simple! Now have fun!