DIY Halloween Costume: Cliche Instagram Girl

Happy Halloween dudes and dudettes!

I made my own costume again this year and it was the shhh****.

We all have at least one of those friends on instagram.  Posting her pumpkin spice lattes, nutella snacks, selfie after selfie.  In the parlance of our times, a Basic B%!$#.  Calm yourself, I didn’t make up the term.

Halloween is a chance to be someone or something that you’re not.  So I went as a Basic B%!$# Cliche Instagram Girl for Halloween.  And it was cheap, and fast, and easy.  Unlike me.  This costume, for me, required a shirt and a prop.  You ready?

DIY Supplies:

• Cotton T-Shirt (I used a men’s mossimo size M – so comfy!)
• Cardboard
• Spray Paint
• Letter Stencils
• Newspaper
• Foam core poster board
• Colored “holiday” plastic wrap
• Tape

First: the outfit.  Skinny sweats, Uggs (faux and borrowed), and DIY’d t-shirt.  I chose the phrase “THAT FILTER LOOKS GOOD ON YOU” for my tee.  Because c’mon, Basics, you know that’s #truth!

The process is pretty straightforward.  I used a little cardboard t-shirt thing to keep my spray paint from leaking through the shirt.  I also used several pages of newspaper to protect my work surface, and to protect my shirt from too much over spray on the other letters on the stencils.

Anytime I do a project that involves lettering, I like to start my stencil or template in the middle of my surface to get things as centered as possible.  This takes some planning since you’re writing things out of order.  I recommend writing your phrase out on paper to use as a reference, just in case.  That way you don’t misspell something and facepalm.  My result with this tee wasn’t 100% centered but the choppy-ness (real word alert) really lends itself to the grungy-hipster-graffiti feel I was going for.

No one needs to see tons o’ progress pictures of how I did it, so I made a fun little gif for you.   You’re welcome, friends!

Second: the prop.  What Basic instagram post is complete without a filter and frame, #amiright?!

This part was even easier than the shirt.  I cut a piece of black foam core board into a square and then cut a smaller square into it.  I’m going for the Mayfair filter / frame combo here, Basics.

Then I taped red “holiday” plastic wrap to the back to create those subtle Mayfair pinkish tones we all love.

That’s it, friends.  Done.  Selfie’d.  Grammed.

This better win me a PTO day at our costume contest at work…

Pro Tips:

• Don’t get offended by this blog post if you’re guilty of Cliche Instagram Girl posts.  This costume is a satire and I am most certainly guilty of some of the Basic Behavior I’m poking fun at.  See: pic in top left-hand corner.
• Use Valspar flat spray paint.  They have that “any angle” spray can, which is ideal when you’re working on a flat surface and need to spray from directly above.
• When you’re done spray painting your shirt with whatever design, use newspaper edges and your paint to create a look of over-spray on a large stencil.  It makes the whole thing more cohesive.
• Wear disposable gloves or get spray paint on your hands.  Your choice.
• Treat yourself on Halloween.  I’m not much for candy so I’m going with an adult bev or four.
• Boo!

xo