Dr. Pepper & Hawaiian Punch: Punny Halloween Costumes for Dynamic Duos

Anyone else share my affinity for corny “dad jokes”?

How about “punny” Halloween costumes?

And what if those costumes involve the whole family (including a chubby-cheeked baby)?

I see those head nods! Well, my friend, you are in for a “trick-or-treat” today. Because we have all those things and more. Let’s get to it!

A Brief History of Punny Halloweens

8 Halloweens.

My family and I have been dressing up in costumes that bring a silly pun to life for 8 Halloweens straight.

The tradition began our first fall in Florida (in the B.K. era…”before kids”)…and as our family has grown from two to three Lankers and now four, we’ve brought up our offspring in the way they should go–the way of the pun–because good golly, it’s fun!

Plus, we’ve enjoyed seeing how many of YOU appreciate visual humor, too. “Dad jokes” aren’t just for the dads it turns out. I’ve found a slew of fellow word-nerds out there who also get a kick out of two “groan-ups” dressed up like hashbrowns, playing tag. (Hash…tag…get it? #Hashtag!)

In fact, before we officially reveal our 2019 punny Halloween costumes, here’s a quick overview of all 8 years of Lanker family pun-madness!

(The collage below is clickable, so you should be able to click on each image to visit the blog post about each costume…or you can use this link list: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 )

Having trouble clicking the collage? Check your answers here:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Dynamic Duo #1

This Halloween, we have a new little Lanker to inaugurate into our punny Halloween costume tradition: Pepper. And not only did she join us in our punnery, Pepper was the spark of inspiration behind this year’s “beverage” theme!

I give to you our first dynamic duo, Mark and Pepper as..

…wait for it…

…Dr. Pepper!

These two are soda-mazing! {Yuk yuk.}

Yep. We totally dressed up Baby Pepper as a red chili pepper. Which means this costume is like a double pun. Because Pepper is literally a pepper and Mark happens to also be a doctor in real life. So these are puns within a pun. It’s like the inception of punny Halloween costumes right here, folks.

It’s almost too much pun for one photo! Then again, is there such a thing as “too much pun?” I think not!

This costume is just what the doctor ordered. {Grin.}

A Pepper a day keeps the doctor…nearby! {Aw.}

The Pun-spiration

So, how in the world did we scheme up such a clever costume? {Wink.}

Well, I have to give my SIL Jodi credit for this one. We were chatting about punny Halloween costume ideas back in July (as one does) when she was inspired by the little baby Pepper in my arms and the Dr. Pepper t-shirt I was wearing.

“You have a doctor…and you have a Pepper! Oh you HAVE to do it!” Jodi declared. And do it we did! It was just too perfect not to.

I found a barely used “Babystyle” brand red chili pepper costume on the resale app Mercari, but here’s a link to similar one on Amazon. (*Note: I’ve included affiliate links throughout this post for your convenience. Thanks for supporting The Thinking Closet.)

To “bell” you the truth, the costume exceeded even my greatest expectations once we zipped Baby Pepper into it. I mean how precious is that chubby little face popping out beneath that stem of a hat?! I can’t even deal.

Our sweet n’ spicy girl.

We saved money on Mark’s costume since he already had everything he needed, fresh out of the laundry from work last week. He “scrubs” up real nice! {Tee hee.}

Don’t these two look “sick” together? {Ba-dum-ching!}

Sorry, we find puns REALLY “humerus.” {Eye roll.}

For those of you wanting to take on this costume on yourselves, there are also plenty of great doctor costumes online if you don’t mind being “patient” and waiting on shipping. {Wink wink.}

Or you could probably find some scrubs “hangin’ out the passenger side of his best friend’s ride….” {Okay, Lauren…enough!}

Here’s a pin-able image of this “Dr. Pepper” Punny Halloween Costume idea for my Pinterest pals:

Dynamic Duo #2

I love a good “theme” when it comes to our costumes, and so I decided to piggy-back off of the beverage motif we had going on for Juniper and me.

Can you guess what sweet drink we’re giving a nod to….?

…wait for it…

We put the “pun” in a “Hawaiian PUNch!”

This costume is a “total knock-out.”

“Mama said knock you out!”

The Pun-spiration

This is one of those Halloween costume ideas that has been on my radar for 7 years now…every since I wrote the blog post, 20 MORE Punny Halloween Costume Ideas.

The reason I latched onto it this year, though, is because I wanted to scheme up a costume for Juniper that she’d enjoy wearing just as much as she did her “Minnie M & M” costume last year.

And with Hawaiian Punch, I realized that if Juniper took on the “Hawaiian” part, she could wear elements of a Moana costume. {I see that knowing nod from all the parents of toddler girls out there.}  We’re deeeeeep into a Disney princess phase right now, so Juniper was over-the-moon excited the first time I let her try on her “Moana” costume.

Her costume actually a combination of elements from three different costumes that I’ll “sPacifically” “lei” out below:

• grass skirt and shirt from THIS Moana costume
• necklace and pink orchid hair-clip from THIS Moana accessories kit
• lei bracelets from THIS Hawaiian hula dancer costume

And my boxer outfit was a purchase from Spirit Halloween. Here’s another one on Amazon.

I just wore a black tank and sneakers, put my hair in braids, added a sweatband, and busted out my theatre stage makeup to create a nice “shiner” on my left eye.

Just call me Lauren “Left-Eye” Lanker.

Have I “hooked” ya on punny Halloween costumes by now? They sure do “punch” ya in the stomach with laughter!

Here’s a pin-able image of this “Hawaiian Punch” Punny Halloween Costume idea for my Pinterest pals:

What I love…

What I love about this year’s costumes is that they were SUPER easy to pull together with a few clicks online. To everything a season, right? Last year, I was in a season where gluing hundreds of spray-painted lentils onto Minnie ears was no problem.

This year? That would’ve driven me to an early grave.

I needed something low-touch and easy to pull off last minute and without “de-lei”…and these punny Halloween costumes fit that bill perfectly!

Another thing I love about these costumes is that this is the first year where each of us “make sense” on our own. Walking down the street on Halloween night, folk will simply see a red chili pepper, a doctor, Moana, and a boxer. Wonderful! There’s zero pressure at all for us to explain ourselves…

…until of course we decide to pair up and give our neighbors the challenge of solving the pun!

And just like that, we’ll transform into Doctor Pepper and Hawaiian Punch before their very eyes. That’s the kind of Halloween magic I love!

Not a duo? No problem!

Okay so a third thing I love about this year’s punny Halloween costumes is their versatility. They could easily be pulled off by one person instead of two.

Add boxing gloves to your Hawaiian costume for Hawaiian Punch! Maybe even a nice shiner to go with it?

Or add a few leis to your boxer costume. That works, too!

As for Dr. Pepper…you could be drinking a can of the soda and rocking a “Dr. Pepper” nametag on your white coat…

…or add a stethoscope around the neck of your red chili pepper costume for an “im-pulsably” cute look.

The Dr. Pepper is in!

Family Photo Shoot

Here are a few more of my favorite photos from our sunset photo shoot that I can’t resist sharing….

I “lava” these photos of my island girl.

We had a “fineapple” time taking these photos.

Sorry for the corny “punchlines.” We’re a little “coconuts!”

(Wishing I had gotten a few pointers on boxing stance from my friend Gina who is actually a competitive boxer.)

We often start to “glisten” during these outdoor photo shoots each because…well…we do live in Florida after all. When we started to feel parched, we knew we each had have a few sips of our signature drinks themselves!

Junie did enjoy her Hawaiian Punch. I only wish I could have served it to her a dixie cup as a throwback to snack time at my church growing up. I know my fellow children of the 80s can relate!

And here’s Pepper, trying her first sip of soda….

Just kidding. No soda was consumed by Pepper in the making this photograph. She’s only 5 months old. We won’t introduce soda until next month. {Sly grin.}

That deadpan expression above is everything. Her costume was like one big cozy sleep sack. It lulled her into a trance!

Yum…a PhD in deliciousness.

How far will we go for the “poi-fect” photo?

There’s no limit!

To “the line where the sky meets the sea!”

Special Thanks

First of all, a huge thanks to Mark for being game for whatever wacky costume idea I throw his way (8 years and counting!)…even if it means dressing up in work clothes and taking a TON of photos in the humid evening air. Thanks for being “soda-pendant” as my partner in punny-crime.

Also, big virtual hug to my gal pal Darling who helped us out with our group shots and most importantly, getting those adorable smiles from Juniper! No one can make Juniper giggle quite like Auntie Darling.

And lastly, thank YOU for reading along. I hope our punny Halloween costume ideas put some “pep” in your step today. And kicked off Halloween week with a “punch!”

See ya “lei-ter.”

Hungry for more Puns?

If you’re eager to check out more punny ideas that involve your precious littles, I have 20 more for you to peruse:

And the pun doesn’t stop there!  Here are the other collections of clever and punny costumes I’ve gathered over the years.  So many of these ideas are great for last minute and can often be pulled together using items you already have lying around the house.  Dig in!

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The Lanker Four wish you a Pun-derful Halloween!

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