I was shopping at some store (can’t remember which one) and went down the Halloween aisle. I saw these freaking awesome trophies that are usually given out as prizes for Halloween Costume Contests. I also checked out Spirit and Halloween USA to see what they had to offer for costume awards. All of the stores had pretty ridiculous prices. (Something like $10 for a trophy and $5 for lame buttons that said “first place, second place, etc.)

Because the prices were ridiculous, I decided that I was going to look around Micheal’s to see if anything sparked my creativity. I LOVE making things myself – the items are so much more original, cheaper, and of better quality that what you can buy at cheap stores.

I’m not having a party… but heck! Why not give awards to random trick-or-treaters that I feel are deserving!? Yes. That is a great idea!

I did find some awesomeness at Micheal’s. Here is my tutorial for Halloween Costume Award Pins:

Materials Needed:

• Halloween Wood Cutouts (I bought a pack of 4 shapes at Micheal’s for $1) – You can also use foam cutouts!
• Paint (I used acrylic paint)
• Thick Paintbrush and Thin Paintbrush (Thick for painting the overall color and thin for painting details and the letters)
• Halloween Ribbon (I paid $1.50 for a ribbon spool at Micheal’s at 5/8 inches by 3 yards. This should exactly cover your ribbon needs for your 4 awards)
• Hot Glue Gun with Glue Sticks
• Pin Backs (So it’s wearable!)
• Construction Paper (If your cutout has holes in the middle)

Most of these materials I already had, so I only needed to buy the ribbon and the wood cutouts. Pretty awesome result for $2.50 and my time, right? Onto the instructions! I made the cat awards by using the default steps, but I’ve also included some Time Saver steps which I have used on my other awards (The pumpkins and the skulls) that turn out just fine!

Step 1: Paint the front side of the cutout a solid color. Then paint details after it’s dry. For lettering, I just free-handed it. You most certainly can use tracing paper with a printed out word if you aren’t comfortable with your writing. Some examples of what the awards could say are listed at the bottom of this tutorial.

Step 2: Cut 24 Ribbon Strips of 4.25″ in length if you want the ribbon looking like it is going in the same direction on the award.

TIME SAVER STEP 2: If you don’t really care if the ribbon is facing the same direction and want to save time, cut 12 ribbon strips of 8.5″ in length.

24 of these, or 12 of twice this length!

Step 3: Using your hot glue gun, glue the ribbon strips together facing opposite directions as shown below.

TIME SAVER STEP 3: You don’t have to do this step, because you already have the desired length!

Step 4: Glue the ribbons on top of each other in a star formation as shown. Make sure that you are gluing them centered!

TIME SAVER STEP 4: In order to find and glue the middles together without measuring, fold the ribbons in half, making a visible crease.

Step 5: Turn your ’star’ over, and hot glue each piece to the center of the star.

Step 6: Choose which side of the ribbon that you want to be in the front, and hot glue your cutout to the center of the ribbon.

Note: If your cutout has cutouts in the middle, you will need to glue construction paper to the back before gluing on the ribbon, so that your ribbon has something to attach to. Examples are shown with the pumpkin and skull awards at the bottom of this tutorial.

Step 7: Flip it over, and hot glue your pin back to the ribbon.

Step 8: Enjoy!

Questions? Comments? More award options? Other ideas? Make some of your own? Let me know!

Some Halloween Costume Awards Options: