Every September as fall rolls in I think about Halloween and vow not to leave costume making to the last minute. However, every year on Oct 30th I'm scrambling to work my costume magic.

Luckily this year I have a very eager preschooler keeping me on track. So when Ben informed me yesterday that "Halloween is really soon mama!" I heeded his warning and hunkered down to do some brainstorming and research to figure out the perfect costume for our family. You'll have to wait till Halloween to see our final pick!

Do you need some Halloween costume inspiration?

Check out a few of our DIY family costumes from recent years, plus some other great links to costume ideas below.

Halloween 2011 - Olive Oyl, Popeye & Swee'Pea

Halloween 2012 DIY - Prince Ronald, The Dragon & The Paperbag Princess

Halloween 2013 DIY - A Family of Garden Gnomes

I love making DIY costumes because they save us money and often use repurposed & recycled clothing & materials which means less waste for our environment. Although I love to sew, I don't see the point in spending a ton of time sewing a costume that will be worn for a matter of hours, so my Halloween DIYs usually involve a trip to the local thrift store and the craft store followed by lots of pinning, stapling & glue gunning. Crafting at it's finest ;) Keep it simple and have fun!

If you need more inspiration check out these 32 Family Halloween Costumes That Will Make You Want To Have Kids , or these hilarious Sexy Halloween Costumes for Mom & don't miss out on these 34 Babies In Halloween Costumes The Whole World Needs To See.

- Care