By Indi Rooney
Hello, business owners and managers! It’s Halloween time!
Is your staff in need of a quick morale boost? Could your post-work happy hour use a little spark? Autumn is a good time to perk up the office in general and Halloween is a great excuse to get a little wacky. Here’s how you can piece together a makeshift Halloween costume with stuff in your office.
Are you ready, Dr. Frankenstein? Peruse the trusty supply closet for the components of an epic costume made entirely of free stuff from work. (Disclaimer: NPP does not condone stealing office supplies from your employer… maybe put it on a teambuilding budget 🙂
Paper and duct tape are MAGICAL
It goes without saying, you can make anything when you have paper, duct tape and an artistic vision. Full ball gowns have been made from less. Dive in and tape yourself up a go-go dancer dress or add some bubble wrap to create an outer space sci-fi fantasy ensemble.
For the knight in shining armor, you could cover cardboard in silver duct tape and fashion a sword or a shield. For bonus points, add some chain mail made of paper clips hooked together. Uh-huh, you can feel the creative juices now.
Re-visit the old-school mummy with toilet paper, paper towels, gauze and… wait for it… a little white duct tape to hold everything in place.
Visual jokes for FUN
How about a clever use of those Hello My Name Is stickers? Write random names on the stickers and cover yourself with them. You’re “identity theft.” Get it?
Strap some cardboard wings to your back and slap a social media logo on your chest and you’re a “social butterfly.”
If you’re in a pinch, a clipboard hung around your neck with a punny or funny saying on it works well, too. Ever seen someone fully dressed with a “Nudist on Strike” sign around their neck?
Cardboard boxes can be AMAZING
You could go as a recycle bin by painting the box blue and having crumpled up paper stick out of the top. Don’t forget the recycle symbol in white. Oh, and when you’re done – recycle it!
An oldie but a goodie is the robot. Cut out arm and head holes. Use Post-it Notes and dot stickers to stick on your buttons and lights.
Repurpose carboard as a human-sized pizza box or cut a giant triangle adorned with colored copy paper “pizza toppings.” Heck, get a group together and now you’re a pizza party! Which brings us to our next topic…
Group costumes are TEAMBUILDING
Price is Right contestants are always a crowd pleaser. Build the contestant row stand out of cardboard and don handmade t-shirts with cheesy/tacky sayings on them.
Teams can make their own poker hand by wearing giant cards made (again) from cardboard. Who doesn’t dream of a Royal Flush? Who gets to be the king?
If you’re really at the last minute and your supply closet is mostly empty, your team can wear all black, cut out white dots and lines, tape them accordingly and go as dominoes -OR- dress in solid colored t-shirts, stick an M on the front and go as M&Ms!
We hope this blog inspires your creativity this Halloween. A little supply closet arts and crafts can get the whole office excited. It’s way better than donning uniforms for work or conducting conference calls. Throw in some chocolates and candy and you’ll really have an attitude adjuster. It may even seem like a group vacation… if only for a moment. Happy Halloween, everyone! Have fun and, remember, safety first!