Creative Maternity Halloween Costumes

October is the perfect time to use your pregnant body to your advantage with a creative Halloween costume. However, with so many other new-baby things on your mind, it can be hard to get those creative juices flowing and come up with that perfect costume idea on your own.

I tried for weeks to come up with something this year, and spent hours online looking for ideas. Unfortunately, there aren’t many sites out there with costume ideas specifically for pregnant women. But never fear, my fellow mothers-to-be, because I’ve compiled the results of my research below to save you time.

For those of you who are proud of your bulging belly and want to show it off, here are some costumes that involve painting your bare belly and using it as an accessory. All of the following costumes will require you to cut a large hole in the front of your shirt that will let your beautiful belly pop out. You’ll probably need help from someone else for the belly-painting (preferably a decent artist), and make sure that the paint is non-toxic before applying to your skin—no costume is worth harming yourself or your baby!

1. Classic Jack-o-Lantern—paint your belly orange with a classic smiling face. You can wear ordinary street clothes, or overalls with a flannel shirt and a straw hat.

2. Fish-Bowl—paint a fish and some bubbles on your belly, then wear a light blue or white outfit.

3. Watermelon—paint stripes on your belly in 2 different shades of green to look like a watermelon, then dress like a farmer.

4. Bun in the Oven—paint a loaf of bread on your belly and dress like a chef.

5. Peek-a-Boo—if you know a really good artist, you could have them paint your belly to look like your baby is peeking out. Ordinary street clothes would work fine with this costume.

6. Crystal Ball—paint your belly white or light blue, and dress like a gypsy.

7. Pea Pod—paint your belly green, then wear all green and cut a vertical slit in your shirt to let your belly show through.

8. Basketball—paint your belly orange with black stripes, and dress like a basketball player.