There’s not going to be many years that my family can dress up together for Halloween, so I want to take advantage of this opportunity before it’s too late. I’m sure in a few shorts years Ben is going to be so over his mom choosing his Halloween costume. 

But, I didn’t want to spend a lot of time or money making this coordinating effort happen, especially since we are knee-deep in the middle of a chaotic kitchen renovation. The solution? A DIY Chicago hot dog Halloween costume that was super easy to throw together and very affordable too!

Chicago Hot Dog, anyone?!

Would you believe me if I told you I spent LESS than 50 bucks on our family’s entire look and threw it together one morning when Ben was down for his nap? It’s true! And today I’m breaking down the steps for anyone who is looking to recreate the entire look, or maybe even one part of the look. Let’s start with the cutest member of the group, shall we? (And no Matt, we’re not talking about you… haha)

Baby Hot Dog Halloween Costume

Baby Ben makes a pretty cute Chicago hot dog, doesn’t he? Chicago is known for hot dogs, more specifically, they are known for hot dogs with mustard. Putting ketchup on a hot dog here in Chicago is a big NO, NO! I sometimes sneak some ketchup on, but don’t tell anyone!

So since Chicago hot dogs are notorious for NO ketchup, we had to run this little hot dog through the garden with no ketchup, of course.

Baby Hot Dog Halloween Costume – Supplies

• Nude Onesie (finding a nude color onesie was harder than it sounds, but this one is SO soft)
• Felt
• Brown (hot dog), Yellow (mustard), White (onions), and Green (relish), Felt
• Scissors
• Hot Glue

Literally, all I did was freehand cut all of the “ingredients” and hot glue them to the hot dog. Then I hot glued ONE half of the hotdog to the side of Ben’s onsie. I didn’t want to glue the entire thing or we wouldn’t have been able to button him up into it. So instead, when he put it out, we simply used a safety pin to pin the other side of the hot dog down to the onsie. We made sure the hide the safety pin under the hot dog so no one could see it.

This entire outfit took me about 7 minutes to throw together.

Adult Mustard Halloween Costume

Now let’s chat about Chicago’s go-to topping, the mustard.

Adult Mustard Halloween Costume – Supplies

• Pie Tin
• Yellow Paint (I used spray paint for easy coverage)
• Headband (I picked mine up at Michaels)
• Yellow Construction Paper
• Hot Glue
• Yellow Dress

I simply painted the pie tin using the yellow spray paint and let it dry overnight. The dry time was the most time-consuming part of the entire project!

Then I used this tutorial to fold, cut, and glue together the mustard top. Mine was far from perfect, but it turned out that it didn’t even matter!

Then all I had left to do was hot glue that mustard top to a cheap headband and I was done!

I paired it with this $16 (!!!) dress from Amazon (I sized up to a medium just to be safe on the length). The original brains behind the DIY mustard paired this with a ketchup, which would be adorable for a couple or even a BFF pair because they’re SO darn easy to recreate. Maybe I’ll save this mustard costume for next year and Casey can be ketchup?? (Brings me back to the year we were emojis…loved that easy costume!)

Hot Dog Vendor Halloween Costume

Now let’s chat about that adorable hot dog vendor.

Here’s what you’ll need to recreate Matt’s look…

Hot Dog Vendor Halloween Costume – Supplies

• White Box (or any old box you can paint! I bought a shipping box from Target)
• Black Stickers (bought these oversized ones at Michaels)
• White Spray Paint — only need this paint if you don’t have an all-white box
• Black Ribbon
• Napkin to cover the inside of the box (optional)
• Red Bow Tie and Suspenders (I scored these for under $10)
• Hot dog Hat (borrowed from my parents, but you can buy one here!)
• Apron (optional)
• White Shirt

Like I just mentioned, I bought a shipping box for $3 and folded the top into the box so it looked to be an open box. Then I spray painted over the text that was printed on the box. Because the box started off white, I didn’t have to spray the entire thing… just over some words.

Once it was dry, I added stickers to the front of the box.

Then I poked holes on the side of the box and fished black ribbon through them so that Matt could hold the box around his neck.

So easy, right?!

Easy & Affordable Hot Dog Halloween Costume

For others who are looking for an easy and affordable costume for the entire family, you still have time to throw this together! Plus, if you have other members of the group, you could add more hot dogs or even other condiments, like ketchup (Sorry, Chicagoans!).

I know matching family Halloween costumes won’t last forever, but for the remaining few years we have, I can only hope that the costumes will be just as easy and affordable to throw together.

Is anyone else dressing up this year? I’d love to hear your ideas!! And if you’re still not sure, there’s still plenty of time to decide. This costume Casey and I wore a few years ago could be thrown together in a few minutes… it’s that easy.

Bridget