I Need Your Ideas Please ***UPDATE***

Dollar Tree! They have all sorts of princess items and cowboy hats in different colors. I bought a few of the items for my daughter to play dress up with.
Homemade ones:
Cowgirl-jeans, flannel boys shirt, Dollar tree hat and horse on a stick.
Zombie (if that is something they like)-Dollar Tree has make up crayons. If they are old enough, they can do it themselves LOL.
Movie Star-Fanciest dress they have. Add pearls and costume jewelry. Dollar Tree tiara.

Also, thrift stores have costumes very cheap. They might actually find what they want there.

When you update, let us know what they want to be and I might think of some roundabout ways to get there or a nice alternative.

UPDATE: For the superheros...Bat Girl wouldn't be too difficult. Total black outfit. Might find a black mask cheap at a Dollar Tree or Dollar General or even Walmart. Now, Wonder Woman (who is my fav!) is harder. You could dress her up in red, white and blue for the outfit and use aluminum foil to make the bracelets and tiara. I like some of the others for the youngest's outfit. Hope this helps! OH...just thought of another homemade one! Zoo keeper. Khaki shirt and shorts if you have them. Dollar Tree has little fuzzy monkeys that are adorable! Hair in ponytail if it is long enough. (I ought to know this one. I worked at a zoo for 4 yrs...LOL)

I am a mommy boutique owner, I sell TONS of custom Halloween costume, let me give you some EASY ideas!

TUTUs, VERY easy and cheap to make. Buy about 4 yards of tulle for the 3 and 4 year old's and about 6 for the 9 year old. It's all made by cutting and KNOTTING, no sewing required! (you may have to hand sew the elastic waist or you can also knot on a piece of ribbon)http://www.mommyblessings.com/2009/06/no-sew-tutu-tutoria...

pair with tights or leggings you already have.

as for tops...wonder woman, buy some felt sheets from craft store (.50 each) cut out the wonderman woman symbol and glue or use liquid stich or other no sew adhesive and glue to a red/blue shirt. same with batgirl.

plain black top for the ladybug/bee costume and get some ribbon and attach with the same liquid stiches :)

I remember when I was little some years my mom just kinda used what we had. I don't know how old your girls are but some of these ideas might work for you. Like one year I was a bunny. All my mom did was put me in pink p.j.'s drew a black nose and whiskers with eye liner on my face and bought pink bunny ears. So pretty cheap custom. Another time I was a beauty queen "Miss Mexico" ( I am half Mexican) I just wore a church dress, a play crown we already had and then she bought some thick ribbon, glue and glitter. She wrote Miss Mexico in glue and sprinkled the glitter on top. Then she just pined the sash around my shoulder and that was it. They could also be a cat again just put them black clothes, paint black nose and whiskers and just buy cat ears. Also I don't know if you have checked out walmart but I saw that they have costumes but then they just have pieces you can buy for cheap like wings for bees, fairies, angels etc. You could put them in dresses or clothes they already have and then just buy the wings. Or again just put them in purple & black, pink & black etc. and buy a witch hat. Really there are lots of things they could be that you can use what you already have and only have to spend a little.

Last year we went to the Dollar Tree and found lots of fairy parts (wings, wands, wigs, etc.) I let them choose 4 pieces each (each piece was $1)and they wore them over leotards and tights. Update We did bumble bee with $1 wings and a bright yellow turtle neck and electrical tape for the stripes. Dollar Tree also had (last year) super hero parts.

The goodwill! I don't know how yours are there, but I'll tell you our Goodwill's are chock full of near new Halloween costumes come the first of every October. Albeit, Halloween is a pretty big deal where I live. I've bought two costumes for my daughter, both in perfect condition. You can also find lots of inspiration there at just the right price. Just make sure you wash them well!

If you have a Once Upon a Child, or Kid to Kid near, they sell them gently used.

The ladybug or bumblebee would be easy enough to make---just velcro or glue some black dots/stripes on a red/yellow colored outfit.
Wonderwoman and Batgirl are tougher. I agree that you can get ideas from an online search.
Just a note--very cool that your girls want to be superheros! =) Lots of girls want to be princesses or something very age-inappropriate.

You could possibly find costumes at the Good Will or area Thift stores. Make some phone calls to area consignment shops. For accessories, dollars stores are great.

For the super hero costumes, check out the pajama dept. You may find some pj's, and you'll still be able to use the "costume" after halloween.

I made a bumble bee costume for my daughter when she was little. A yellow sweat suit. I cut some black material into strips and sewed (by hand) on the stripes. Don't want to sew, use glue, velcro, or even magic marker. I found a head band with attena at the dollar store. Her sister went as a ladybug, I just used a red sweat suit with black circles.

check thrift stores. they usually have them this time of year. I saw a church having a costume swap recently but I don't remember what or where it was but was in KC area. Check on craigslist or ebay. you may find something cheap.

for next year I suggest buying them after halloween when they are 50-75% off. I usually buy them for dress up clothes for christmas presents and they usually pick from something in their dress up box when halloween comes. I have got batman, robin, darth vader with the talking mask, a dinosaur, and other stuff, most of them for around 6.00, makes nice cheap Christmas gifts that they enjoy year round. I buy them like 2 sizes too big so they fit by the next halloween plus they usually shrink after being washed so playing dress up they get washed more often.

Our local Goodwill has a Halloween section - a VERY big one!! That's where I'd start. Craigslist too! If you are on Facebook, put a call out to your local friends as well.

Best wishes!
M.

Goodwill has lots. I was just in the 99 cents store and they have a ton of stuff for little girls. I almost considered buying some of it for dress up. They can also be cowgirls, which would be easy.
Painters would be easy, just find some old clothes, if they don't already have them, at a thrift store, buy a few tubes of paint and splatter them, add a few paint brushes and done.

go to the goodwill. they have loads of costumes right now and they are cheap. lots of them are new still in packages.

Cool on Familyfun.com , it is the web-site affiliated with the family magazine. They often ahve some great and inexpensive ideas on home made costumes. Good luck

Everyone else has some great ideas. There are also lots of websites that can give you ideas that you can make. Just search google for "homemade halloween costumes".

if you have not found costumes yet I suggest going to any spirit of halloween location or to party city sense it is so close to halloween every thing should be discounted. I actually made up my toddlers costume when I was in the store because she wanted to be a multi colored pixie and they only had fairy costumes so I got her a tutu some wings and flower crown I just need to get her a leotard or body suit. I'm sure you'll find something at any one of those stores.

good luck

garage sales, thrift stores, your local freecycle

join freecylce and ask for a costume.

Savers has a decent costume selection as well. I saw Wonder Woman there last night, but it was more a small adult size. There was a ladybug or bumblebee for a little girl. Didnt see any Bat girl though.