On today’s post, I’m sharing photos of our time at a trunk or treat event in Metro Detroit, and the Halloween makeup look I created for myself (it was last minute, too)! Plus, find inspiration for trunk or treat car ideas if you’re looking.


Detroit trunk or treat
We had a great time at the Metro Detroit trunk or treat event in Auburn Hills, Michigan!
Slurpee trunk or treat car idea
Of course, Slurpees are a BIG favorite in our family! Since moving to Michigan, the kids have discovered a new love for this Detroit-favorite drink.

FIRST HALLOWEEN EVENT OF THE SEASON: METRO DETROIT TRUNK OR TREAT EVENT

Happy Monday! How was your weekend?

We had a fun weekend at our first Halloween event of the season! My friend Tiffany invited us to go to a Metro Detroit trunk or treat event at her church in Auburn Hills, Michigan.

I’ve never attended a Halloween event 25 days before Halloween so you know the kids were very excited to go trick or treating early this year. When we were getting our costumes ready, Zhen couldn’t stop saying over and over, “I can’t believe we get to go trick or treating early this year! I’m so excited!”

Zhen LOVES Halloween. Partly because her birthday is the day before Halloween. According to her, Halloween is a big celebration just for her! Lol 🙂

She’s also just an all-around big lover of holidays. Pretty much any holiday we tell her about, Zhen wants to have a celebration for it.

Somebody’s birthday? Let’s decorate the house and throw a party!

Christmastime? Let’s make holiday crafts, wear Christmas pajamas, and drink hot cocoa!

National Pizza Day? Let’s go out to a pizza restaurant and eat pepperoni pineapple pizza! (Hey! Before you say anything, pineapples on pizza is EVERYTHING!)

If it’s a holiday, then Zhen is celebrating!

I think she gets her love for holidays from me because I love celebrating a lot of holidays and I also love decorating for holidays and new seasons.

The great thing about having a daughter who loves CELEBRATING LIFE is that if I am feeling down, Zhen will also get me in the holiday spirit. Her love for life is very catching and inspiring to me.

halloween kid's costume idea: police officer
Zhen LOVES Halloween. Partly because her birthday is the day before Halloween.
DIY Bob Ross Halloween Costume

EASY + QUICK TRUNK OR TREAT DIY HALLOWEEN COSTUME IDEA

I thought of my tiger Halloween costume at the last minute. It was about 2 hours before we had to leave, and I was looking through my room for something to wear to the trunk or treat event.

I found a brown animal print cardigan so I thought I could create a cheetah Halloween makeup look.

Then I went to my closet to look in there and the first thing that caught my eye was my Detroit Tigers shirt.

“Be a tiger!” I thought to myself.

I grabbed the Detroit Tigers shirt and a pair of my favorite vintage mom jeans (I bought it at Salvation Army for under $8 btw). I headed downstairs and sat down to get started on my tiger makeup look.

I only had 2 hours to get it done so I pulled up a photo of tigers Halloween makeup on my Pinterest and got to work! I just freehanded my Halloween makeup look.

tiger Halloween makeup idea
This is my tiger Halloween makeup base. I used Halloween face paint from Spirit Halloween, animal ears (see next photo) from Dolla Tree, e.l.f. eyeshadow, and e.l.f. eyeliner for my DIY Halloween look.
tiger Halloween makeup idea
This is the FINAL LOOK of my tiger Halloween makeup look! I was pretty happy with it! It was my first time creating a tiger Halloween makeup idea. I think with practice, I could improve my details. It took me two tries to get it the way I liked. It was fun dressing up with the kids. They were excited to see me in my little DIY Halloween costume. That’s all that mattered to me! 🙂

MY PLUS SIZE VINTAGE STYLE + TIGER HALLOWEEN MAKEUP LOOK

For my DIY Halloween costume idea, I decided to wear my Detroit Tigers shirt (Walmart) with my favorite pair of vintage mom jeans (The Salvation Army). The jeans are the Lee brand, and they are VERY comfy to wear!

I also wore my FILA Disruptors 2 chunky white sneakers. Oh, and this jacket you see me wearing? I bought it at The Salvation Army Store for under $8, too. I’m not sure if it’s vintage, though. It may just be a person’s old work jacket from their job. Lol

halloween costume idea: detroit tiger
My last-minute DIY Halloween costume idea for our trunk or treat event turned out pretty good, I think! Saved me money and time. *praise hands*

But I feel like the jacket had a little of a vintage look to it so that’s why I bought it. It’s kind of a bomber jacket style, right?

It’s also really comfy to wear. I would only wear it in early Fall and the Springtime because it isn’t warm enough for colder weather.

I bought my clothes at a variety of stores. From Walmart to the thrift store, I think this vintage look is pretty affordable. For a thrifty option for my vintage style look, I recommend checking the thrift store first. You can easily find a pair of vintage mom jeans or high waist jeans, any graphic tee you like, and a pair of chunky white sneakers.

halloween costume idea: detroit tiger
Last-minute DIY Halloween Costume Idea: just look in your closet and see what you got! I pulled this Halloween makeup look and costume idea at the last minute.
halloween costume idea: detroit tiger
Oh, and I also brought my 90s vintage purse along, too! 🙂

WHERE I BOUGHT MY CLOTHES

CREATIVE + CUTE TRUNK OR TREAT CAR IDEAS

I loved all of the trunk or treat ideas I saw at the event. Everyone was creative with their trunk or treat decorating skills. It seemed like the kids were just bouncing from car to car to explore the different trunk or treat vehicles.

Zhen told me she liked the unicorn car and the kids’ diner trunk or treat theme.

50s diner trunk or treat
Isn’t her poodle skirt adorable?! And the black leather jacket was a nice touch, too!
50s dinner trunk or treat idea
I loved this Kids’ Diner Trunk or Treat idea! The girls looked so cute in their 50s diner outfits.
trunk or treat 50s diner
Zhen loved the girls’ 50s-style Halloween costumes, too. 🙂

TRUNK OR TREAT DECORATION INSPIRATION

Here are the different trunk or treat car ideas we saw. Maybe it can help you if you’re working on a trunk or treat idea for a church event?!

  • Toy Story
  • Starbucks
  • 50s Diner
  • Coffee Stand
  • Captain America + Wonder Woman
  • Pirate Ship
  • Noah’s Ark
  • 101 Dalmations
  • Car Wash
  • Spider-man
  • Snow White and the Seven Dwarves
  • Super Mario Bros.
  • Unicorns
  • Christmas with Santa and Mrs. Claus
  • Aloha Hawaiian Island
  • Football-theme (Detroit Lions and MSU Spartans)
  • Starbucks
101 Dalmatians trunk or treat
This 101 Dalmatians trunk or treat idea is really cute! I don’t think my kids got the movie reference, though. Lol I, however, recognized it right away!
trunk or treat car idea: noah's ark
I really loved this trunk or treat Noah’s Ark idea. The inflatable animals for the 2 by 2 Biblical reference was a great idea!
trunk or treat snow white
This couple who created a trunk or treat Snow White theme was just adorable.
trunk or treat car idea: snow white
There was another Snow White trunk or treat car.
trunk or treat car wash idea
This trunk or treat car wash idea was a cute idea!
trunk or treat car idea: car wash
Zephaniah loved the bubbles on the trunk or treat car wash station.
trunk or treat car wash
They even had the “Car Wash” song playing.
Detroit trunk or treat event
Zephaniah wouldn’t leave the bubbles at the car wash. Lol I had to go over and pick him up.
trunk or treat car idea: Starbucks
She is speaking my love language: COFFEE! Loved the trunk or treat Starbucks idea!
trunk or treat car idea: football tailgating
They really went all out with their trunk or treat football theme! They had an (unlit) grill with candy inside and the man would lift up the lid for the kids to get the candy. The tent was set up like a tailgate party and they turned the green rug into a football field.
trunk or treat football idea
Another cute trunk or treat football idea for the MSU Spartans.
trunk or treat super mario bros.
Trunk or Treat Super Mario Bros. She even had the Super Mario Bros. theme song playing in the background! Zhen and Zechariah got excited when they saw the Super Mario Bros. car because they like to play the game on our Wii at home.

TRUNK OR TREAT IS OUR NEW HALLOWEEN TRADITION

The trunk or treat event was a lot of fun! We plan on attending another Detroit trick or treat event like this one later this month. We normally go trick or treating on Halloween, so this was an exciting, new Halloween event idea for us!

I like the concept of decorating your car or truck for trunk or treating. I also like that trunk or treat events are a safe way for children to enjoy trick or treating.

Many churches make their trunk or treat event unique by adding a fun carnival or activity tables and concessions for families and friends.

At this Metro Detroit trunk or treat event, there were concession stands, a few kids’ activities, and a fun photo booth.

Tiffany and her husband own a Metro Detroit-based photography business. For their trunk or treat car idea, they decided to decorate their SUV as a Halloween photo booth.

They also had fun Halloween masks for the kids to use in their photos. Families were able to receive a free digital copy of their kids’ cute Halloween photos. It was a really sweet idea!

When we lived in Clarksville, I remember there was a church that hosted a carnival with hot-air balloon rides at their trunk or treat event!

So I guess trunk or treating can get pretty serious depending on the church!

Detroit trunk or treat
Photo of Tiffany, her cute baby Nathan, and me at the Metro Detroit trunk or treat event!
trunk or treat activities
Tiffany created a fun trunk or treat activity idea: a Halloween-themed photo booth!
trunk or treat activities
Say, “Candy!”

MORE TRUNK OR TREAT PHOTOS

Detroit trunk or treat
There was a cool American flag classic car at the trick or treat event.
trunk or treat activities
This trunk or treat idea was created as the Wizard of OZ.
Metro Detroit trunk or treat
Zhen loved the fake vampire teeth. Haha
Detroit trick or treat
“Open, Mommy!” says Zephaniah.
trunk or treat car idea: snow white and the seven dwarves
Detroit trunk or treat
trunk or treat Christmas
Zhen was a little unsure about it.
trunk or treat Christmas idea
Candy from Mrs. Claus
Good Life Detroit
This was such a cute moment!
trunk or treat Detroit
The kids LOVE puppies. They’ve been asking if we can get one, but Travis and I want to wait until we are settled in a house.
Detroit trick or treat
trunk or treat Detroit
Trunk or treat car idea: Monsters Inc.
“We scare because we care.” Monsters Inc. trunk or treat car idea
trunk or treat bumble bee
A cute bumble bee trunk or treat idea

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All photographs are courtesy of Jennifer Hamra for Good Life Detroit.

Written by

Jennifer Hamra

Freelance creative Jennifer Hamra created her blog Good Life Detroit in 2015 after relocating from Tennessee to Southeast Michigan.

Inspired by her love for personal blogging and photography, Jennifer likes to share her favorite Detroit things, from cool places to visit (the hidden gems are her favorite!) to the amazing people she has connected with over the years.

When she's not busy juggling family life and her creative projects, you can find her at an art gallery, community event, farmers market, or spending quiet time at home with a good book and cup of tea.

Jennifer lives in the metro Detroit area with her husband Travis and their six children.

Connect with Jennifer on social media @goodlifedetroit on all social media platforms or via email at [email protected].