Inspired by the fairy tale about a boy who never grew up, Erin Huckstadt plans to transform into Peter Pan’s trusty sidekick, Tinkerbell, for Halloween this year.

I saw a pair of wings that I was going to use, Huckstadt, a freshman in anthropology from Champaign, said. Then I’m going to get tutu netting and use that as her skirt.

Oct. 31 has always been known as the day on which people dress as ghosts and goblins and come out to play. But instead of opting for expensive store-bought costumes, some SIUC students use their costuming creativity to become funny characters or creatures of the night.

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Although Heidi Buzay, a junior in advertising from Downers Grove, is not sure what she will be for Halloween, she is collecting items to put together a unique costume.

Buzay bought a black antique umbrella from a thrift store and will use it as part of her costume.

It’s fun to find really ugly clothes and make a really unique costume out of it, Buzay said.

The Theater Department’s costume sale Saturday provided many students with the makings for Halloween costumes.

We’ve had people looking for aliens, Southern bells, vampires, hobos, hippies, cowgirls and dead brides, said Vicky Strei, an SIUC costume design professor. Someone bought a bad 70s prom dress and said they were going to pour fake blood over it and go as Carrie.’

Strei said some costumes are better when they come ready-made because there is less work and time that needs to be put into the costume.

We had a Las Vegas showgirl costume that was sold first thing in the morning, she said. The costume included a large headdress, a shirt and skirt that was covered with beads and fringe.

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Some people get unique costume ideas from observing costumes they have seen in the past.

Dan DeBartolo, a junior in radio and television from Niles, saw someone dressed as a beer keg last year and thought that would be a cool costume.

He took a 55-gallon plastic garbage can and painted it sliver, he said. Then he cut it in half and resealed it around his body, and he put an actual beer tap around his head.

Huckstadt said it is easy to get costume ideas just by watching other people.

Last year one of my friends dressed up as a cheerleader from a horror movie, Huckstadt said. She wore an old cheerleading outfit, put her hair up in pigtails and pored fake blood over herself. The costume looked like it was from a movie.

Buzay said she attends costume parties every year, and some costumes stand out more than others.

This guy went as a flasher, she said. He had a trench coat on, and he would walk around the party flashing people, except his body parts were fake and oversized.

A teacher I had dressed as a hospital patient. She wore a hospital gown, but the best thing in the costume was the I.V. bag she had that had a fish swimming around in it.

Valerie Corrigan, an undecided sophomore from Mendota, is searching for a costume that resembles the Chiquita banana woman.

I started looking in thrift stores just to get ideas, she said. But I couldn’t find anything. Then I saw the Josephine Baker movie, and I thought the costume would be cool.

For couples choosing to get in the Halloween spirit, costumes may be very simple. With a male and female combination, there is always the cross-dressing option.

Last year, my friend and her boyfriend dressed up as each other, Buzay said. He wore one of her dresses, and she wore a man’s suit.

Others have chosen to dress up as famous duos such as Bonnie and Clyde, Batman and Robin, and Superman and Lois Lane.

My parents went as Raggedy Ann and Andy a couple years ago, Buzay said. They made the polka-dotted dress for Ann and the overalls for Andy. They painted up their faces and wore the orange yarn wigs.

Sampson Dunn, a freshman in radio and television from Salem, said that during his senior year of high school, he and three other friends dressed up as the Power Rangers.

We just wanted to be something crazy and different, but still show that we were friends, he said.

Dunn and his friends bought the helmets for the costume and then added their own clothes.

We looked all over for ideas, he said. Then we found the masks and thought it would be a really original idea.

Halloween is a time when people can dress up and be something different from what they are every day, but being something different does not have to take a lot of money.

It’s too expensive to buy a costume, Buzay said. I just make them by hand or piece-by-piece.