Here's What You Should Be For Halloween If You're A Cancer

If you were born under the sign of Cancer, you may be somewhat ambivalent about Halloween. Cancers are all about home and family, so Thanksgiving and Christmas find you in your natural element. You also love nothing more than a warm-weather get-together, best of all if it takes place near the water, so you're probably a fan of the Fourth of July (this holiday, after all, falls within the Cancer date range). Halloween, though ... well, you're not super into spooky stuff, nor are you all about big, noisy parties.

Halloween is a multi-faceted holiday, however. Even if you don't see yourself at one of those "adults only" parties where everyone dresses as sexy witches and vampires and knocks back neon-colored cocktails with names like corpse reviver and coffin nail, you probably have fond memories of childhood trick-or-treating and costume parades. If you're lucky enough to have young kids of your own, you're probably going to love every moment of accompanying them on their candy-collecting rounds even if your costume consists of nothing more than a down parka over a sweater and your heaviest jeans (these may be necessary by late October in certain parts of the world). If you don't have kids, or the ones you do have are too old to want you tagging along, you may feel like you need to get out of your shell and make some attempt to celebrate the holiday grown-up style. First step: a costume that suits your Cancerian nature.

Cancer is the sign of the crab, and a crab costume is not only cute but not too difficult to throw together. First of all, you need to decide what kind of a crab you're going to be. If you're super-introverted, why not portray your inner hermit crab? Coolest Homemade Costumes used a red sweater as a base, with crab claws added to the sleeves and eye stalks to the hood. They used foam to sculpt a shell for the back, but you could go with a simpler cardboard cut-out instead, or else be a hermit crab that's chosen to make its home in an abandoned can.

If you want to be a non-hermit crab, the basic elements are going to be the same as above, minus the shell. If you're not the crafty type, you can easily purchase "claw" mittens as well as a hat or headband with eyestalks attached. If you're going the DIY route, though, you don't need to stick to a red color scheme. You could, instead, be a blue crab, a species whose scientific name, Callinectes sapidus, is Greek for "tasty, beautiful swimmer" (via The Florida Times-Union). Seeing as how it's Halloween, though, consider being a ghost crab. While these camouflaged crustaceans are actually sand-colored (via Chesapeake Bay Program), you could always do a funny (and easy) mashup costume consisting of a white sheet worn ghost-style and topped off with a pair of crabby eyeballs.

Cancer, like Pisces and Scorpio, is a water sign. While all water signs are naturally drawn toward any body of water, be it a creek, a lake, or a river (even a swimming pool, if that's all that's available), Cancers are particularly partial to the ocean. A Cancer dream vacation nearly always involves sun and surf and maybe a few palm trees. Why not let your Halloween costume take you to your happy place?

Perhaps the simplest of costumes would be just to go in your bathing suit with sunglasses and a bottle of suntan lotion, but Cancer isn't the most exhibitionistic of signs, plus this costume might only be suitable in late October if you actually do live in a tropical climate. If you can sew, or piece something together through lucky thrift shop finds, you could always adopt an "old timey" bathing costume of the full coverage variety. You could also go for a beach bum look with baggy board shorts and a Hawaiian shirt, perhaps one big enough to hide a thermal undershirt underneath if need be. Another cute costume idea might involve wearing a wetsuit (or just black leggings and a long-sleeved top) accessorized with a scuba mask, snorkel, and flippers. Scratch and Stitch has a tutorial for such a scuba diver costume if you want to do a slightly more elaborate DIY job.

While every sign of the zodiac is said to have its ruling planet, Cancer's isn't really a planet at all. Instead, it's the moon, that most mysterious of satellites. Well, mysterious to us here on earth. While the prosaic science of astronomy tells us that the moon itself doesn't change its size or shape, from where we sit it appears to wax and wane and, at times, even disappear. Metaphorically, the moon stands for (or perhaps may even influence) Cancer's ever-changing moods, and a moon-themed costume could pay homage to this planetary ruler.

You could go as the moon itself, perhaps with something so simple as a cardboard cut out moon affixed to a black sweatshirt worn over black pants. You could also go for a glamour moon vibe in a silver gown accessorized with a headband featuring a large, glittering crescent moon (here's a Flickr pic to give you an idea). Another moon-themed idea would be an astronaut costume. Instructables has an easy(ish) version using painter's coveralls accessorized with various spacesuit-thingies made from stuff you can buy at the hardware store. You can go with a store-bought helmet or make your own from papier-mâché, a plastic bucket, or a paper bag and a couple of oatmeal boxes (via WikiHow). If you don't want to be a generic astronaut, however, why not tell people you're portraying a space pioneer such as Sally Ride, Mae Jemison, or Ellen Ochoa (via Encyclopedia.com)?

One thing about Cancers is that they come in every shape and size imaginable, as witness the many famous Cancers (via On This Day) who made their mark on the world doing all manner of things. Cancers number among their ranks world leaders, authors, actors, sports stars, business tycoons, and even notorious gangsters. The trouble with going as a celebrity or historical figure for Halloween, however, is that not all that many of them have instantly recognizable characteristics, particularly if they're not making current headlines.

One of our favorite famous Cancers, however, had a very distinctive style, and she's actually been back in the news recently due to the 60th birthday that she sadly never got to celebrate. We're talking, of course, about Princess Diana. Imagine dressing as royal wedding Di! While only the most skilled seamstress could hope to duplicate that elaborate gown, you could always fake it with a super poofy vintage wedding gown or white prom dress from the early 1980s, or else emulate her pretty in pink honeymoon look, her famous floral frock, one of her signature red dresses, or any of her many other fashion-forward (yet royal eyebrow-raising) 1980s and 1990s looks. If you want a step-by-step guide, PureWow walks you through one particular bike shorts and sweatshirt outfit from 1995 complete with links to Amazon products (the shoes are no longer available, though, nor are the bike shorts in the appropriate shade of orange).

When it comes to fictional characters, we don't always know their exact birth date as this isn't always a detail that the author supplies. This doesn't stop us, however, from speculating about which iconic characters best fit the characteristics of each star signs. We don't have to guess who'd make the best fictional Cancer, though: in an episode of the anime series that bears her name, Sailor Moon, the schoolgirl superhero, was seen to be celebrating her birthday on June 30th (via CBR). This birthdate, therefore, is canon, and has been declared International Sailor Moon Day by the franchise's numerous fans.

Sailor Moon is a fairly easy character to cosplay because of her popularity. There are no shortage of Sailor Moon outfits and accessories for sale, but if you want to DIY the whole thing, YellowZebra Sports noted that you'll need to make or find the following costume pieces: a white leotard, a blue sailor-style collar, a short pleated skirt, a red bow, a red choker (a simple piece of ribbon will do), knee high red low-heeled boots, elbow-length white gloves, and a gold v-shaped forehead crown with a red jewel (cardboard and paint can work here). To finish off the look, you'll need long blonde pigtails, whether you get them from a wig or use your own natural hair if it's the right length and color (or you're willing to go that extra mile by bleaching it).