The calendar is about to flip to October, and that means it is well past time to start planning this year's fabulous Halloween costume.

I may love Halloween a little too much, but I usually believe that the best costumes are ones that are homemade. Anyone can go buy a costume off the store rack, and doing that automatically cuts the uniqueness factor of your get-up in half. If you really want to knock it out of the park in the costume category this Halloween, how's about a little homegrown inspiration?

Illinois Inspired Halloween Costumes

Whether you want to pay homage to your home state or just make fun of the mess that it appears to be right now, here are some fun 'Illinois costume ideas we came up with. (Yes, I know most of these pictures are of costumes you can buy, but I challenge you to view them as a starting point to create something similar, yet way more fabulous, all on your own).

Let's start with the most obvious 'Illinois' costumes and then venture into some more creative and funny options...

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