How to Make a Halloween Costume for $3

 When children ask their parents for the best Halloween costume ever, parents do not necessarily need to run to the mall and spend lots of money.

  Holly Cleeland is the author of "Glue & Go Costumes for Kids: Super-Duper Designs with Everyday Materials." Cleeland recently came to the Huntley Area Public Library to give parents, grandparents and children a number of ideas on how to make homemade costumes.

  Cleeland asked her audience to use their imaginations when creating costume materials from ordinary, inexpensive items. A few paper cups clustered together, for example, can become a honeycomb. Crepe paper folded in a certain way can become a flower. While the pull-tie of a plastic garbage bag can become a waistband, the bag itself can be cut and made into a skirt.

 When you are trying to decide if something might be good costume material, Cleeland suggested that you should hold it up and view it from all angles. She also said that imagining items in different colors might bring about an inspiration for a certain costume.

 As part of her presentation, Cleeland drew the names of three attendees and dressed them up in homemade costumes for an impromptu parade through the Huntley library.

The winners were Janet Potter of Huntley, who came to the library with her daughter, Maddie, 11; Briana Quiles, 9, of Lake in the Hills; and Valerie Terdina, 8, of Bartlett, who came to the library with her grandmother, Gail Miers of Huntley.

 Potter portrayed a Hawaiian dancer, while Quiles was a lobster and Terdina was a bunch of grapes.

 "The lobster costume was a cool and scary costume," said Quiles.

 "The grapes costume was my favorite costume from the very beginning (of the presentation)," said Terdina.

 The grapes costume, which is made out of balloons, was the first homemade costume that Cleeland ever made. JR, one of the little boys in her neighborhood, wanted to enter a contest that had 350 entries. Cleeland used balloons to turn JR into a bunch of grapes. She said JR was very happy when he won first place.

 Cleeland grew up in Burbank, California. Her grandmother, Alice Marr, was an actress who appeared in the film "The St. Louis Kid," which starred actor James Cagney.

 Cleeland's mother, Arden Cleeland, was a costumer for many famous movie and television stars. She worked with famous designer Edith Head on the movie "The Sting" that starred actors Paul Newman and Robert Redford. Through her mother's work in Hollywood, Cleeland met actresses such as Elsa Lanchester, Susan St. James, Dyan Cannon and Stella Stevens.

 "My mother took me to movie and television sets," Cleeland said. "She took me to the set of 'The Munsters,' a popular television show."

 While she attended high school, Cleeland made money by painting T-shirts, designing store windows during the holidays and drawing portraits. After attending Los Angeles Trade Tech and the Pasadena Art Center, she began creating and selling outdoor holiday displays known as Lawn Cheers.

 Cleeland has appeared on the "Rosie O'Donnell Show," "The View," NBC's "Weekend Today," and  "The Rachael Ray Show." She is currently on tour to promote her new book that is selling worldwide. The book is also available at the library.