Reusable bags are probably the most popular way that people are “going green” right now. Everybody has them! It’s no wonder because it’s a simple switch and it saves tons of resources, energy, and pollution. Trick or Treat Bags are generally reusable, but disposable plastic bags are also a popular choice.

This year you have another option for a reusable trick or treat sack from ChicoBag. 12 year old Estefania won an ChicoBag art contest and her design is on their limited edition Halloween bag. Even if you’re not going out to collect candy this year, the bag would make a good lunch tote for work or school or as a regular old reusable shopping bag.

Perhaps the sweetest part is that ChicoBag donates 10% if the proceeds. The money goes to Treeswing, which are the fine folks behind the amazing eco-friendly, family oriented GreenHalloween.org. It’s an awesome organization and besides “greening” Halloween, they’re doing a lot to bring imagination back to our beloved holiday. Check out Green Halloween for some great tips and fun ideas.

It’s finally here: our list of the hottest costumes for this Halloween season! We’re always one of the last Halloween websites to publish our Top Costumes list because we factor in a few more details that take time. You’ve probably noticed on a lot of these lists that the choices can seem pretty random. I mean Bacon and Eggs as the “hottest couple costume”? Poodle Skirt Girl as the most popular women’s costume? What the heck?

It’s been our experience that many of these lists are full of the worst sellers from last year and retailers are hoping to get that old stock sold quickly by labeling it a “top costume”. Other lists go just for the obvious choices like characters from blockbuster movies. Neither are very helpful when you’re looking for a great costume idea or are just really curious about trend forecasting. We’ve spent the last couple months gathering info from actual top selling costume sales reports, online communities, all sorts of articles, and of course our extra special Halloweenie senses. It’s been a lot of work, but tons of fun! So we present to you our super awesome picks for the 2008 Top Halloween Costumes. We hope it gives you tons of great costume ideas. Enjoy!

PS- For new visitors to 365 Halloween, yes, Mables.com is our other website. If you make a costume purchase through a link on Mables.com, you’re supporting 365Hallowen.com. Thanks for your help to keep these sites up and running!

Any costume ideas that promise to be “easily put together from either thrift stores or your friends’ closets” are always going to be winners. Especially when they’re movie costume ideas and the how-to is jam packed with amazingly styled photos. Check out these fun and detailed costume ideas from the BrightestYoungThings:

• The Royal Tenenbaums
• Home Alone
• Beetlejuice
• Heavy Metal Parking Lot

Every home haunter can use help transforming their walls and doors. Faux cobwebs and black trash bags can only go so far, right? Not very many pre-made options exist, and none of them look as cool as these Dramatic Double Doors. Phantom Moose Films shows us an easy tutorial using cardboard, a glue gun and some spray paint. They needed this prop for a castle scene in one of their short films, and necessity was the mother of invention. Isn’t that always the way?

Good luck with the project and have fun storming the castle!

Welcome ladies and gentleman to Dr. Snake Oil’s Internationally Acclaimed Traveling Exhibition of Medicinal Wonderment! Here you will find the most amazing tutorial, designed especially to show how you too can create a traveling Medicine Show costume! We’re reviving the classic Snake Oil Salesman that used to travel the country selling a magic elixirs along with a host of fantastic circus and sideshow acts.

It’s an easy one (like most of our tutorials) because we know you don’t have gobs of time or money to spend on a Halloween costume. So step right up and take a taste of Dr. Snake Oil’s magic elixir…