With the arrival of Harry Potter- wizards, Potter look-a-likes and all things magic are back in fashion. Mr Potter himself is pretty easy with the basic look achieved with a pair of round spectacles and a long black cape. I have made a simple cape for my kids (without a sewing machine!) See instructions.

Without stressing over the whole lycra-suit effect, a super hero can be achieved again with the trusty cape, perhaps made in red or bright blue, depending on the superhero of course. The not-so-secret accessory is the eye mask which you can either make with colored card and elastic or buy from just about any craft store for a couple of dollars.

A pirate is a great and stress free costume because it can generally be made without having to go and buy a whole lot of stuff! The basics are a big white shirt- fashioned at the waist with a scarf or length of material and black pants. A pirate hat, or otherwise another bandana, tied up at the nape of the neck.

Accessories can include a vest, sword, parrot, telescope, some pirate treasure and some pirate stubble- if your child will sit still long enough for you to dot a whole lot of brown eyeliner onto their face!

If your child is not keen on wearing a costume they might prefer to have all of the effort go into areally dramatic face to make them look completely ghoulish! To finish a monstery face they can just put on their favoriteblack clothes- no fuss necessary over 'daggy costumes'!