The countdown to Halloween is here and the unofficial ambassador to the holiday, Heidi Klum, is sharing a few details about her top-secret costume.
“This time it’s going to be very cute,” Klum tells PEOPLE about her look, which she always keeps under wraps until her annual Halloween party. “It’s not gonna be scary; it’s going to be very, very cute.”
It’s also going to be a stark contrast from her werewolf get-up last year (she recreated Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” music video).
Klum, who says she starts planning for the next year’s costume starting Nov. 1, shared a sneak peek of a mask being made in a workshop last month.
She says she’ll give fans a few more teasers on social media but for the most part, she “wants to keep them guessing.”
The shortlist of people who get to see her costume before Halloween includes her four kids, daughters Leni, 14, and Lou, 9, and sons Henry, 13, and Johan, 12.
“My kids know; they always know,” she says. “They always wonder how it’s done, and I have fittings and people come over when I have to try different pieces on. So a lot of the times they are a part of the process and they see it happen.”
Her new boyfriend, Tom Kaulitz, is also involved in the planning process this year and Klum is helping him get suited up for her epic bash too. “He’s planning on going all out, which is a lot of fun,” she says.
This year marks the 18th anniversary of her legendary Halloween party (which is being hosted by Party City and Svedka Vodka) and a lot has changed from the days when she made her costumes herself — from scratch.
“In the beginning stages, I didn’t know about these professionals yet and I did my own hair and makeup, and I had some people who would help me put the clothes together,” she says.
RELATED PHOTOS: See All of Heidi Klum’s Insane Halloween Costumes!
She recalls her Lady Godiva costume being one of the hardest to nail on her own. “When I did the Godiva, I ran around all over town trying to find a wig that was all the way down to my ankles, which was hard to find,” she says.
But it was her corpse costume in 2011 that changed everything: she called up the prosthetic master from the Body Worlds exhibits to create her look. “I met these amazing people who do this for a living,” she says. “I don’t know why I hadn’t though of that earlier.” And ever since, she’s committed to over-the-top crazy costumes – her favorite being the 95-year-old woman she turned into in 2013.
And despite years of experience (and months of planning), she’s still nervous that something could go wrong the day-of.
“When you do prosthetics and all of this stuff, I’m always having my fingers and toes crossed that it actually does work out on the day because there was no dress rehearsal,” she says. “Because we can’t actually glue all these things down and see if it actually really works. So it’s always a bit nerve-wracking for me, too, that it actually does work out in the end. Usually it does, but you just never know until the day comes.”
When asked if she ever has a back-up costume ready in case a mishap occurs, she has the best response.
“No, absolutely not,” she says. “I’m gonna go with Tim Gunn’s line, ‘Make it work.'”
So if you’re still planning your costume and are seeking inspiration, Klum has three suggestions: go all out, think of a creative theme and don’t wait until the last minute.
“It’s always good to come up with a theme and then really don’t settle for halfway,” she suggests. “Have a unique idea and then follow through with all of the details because I think details are always really important. I think we’ve all seen the sexy nurse and sexy police officer a thousand times. Do you really want to be one of five million sexy nurses? If you wanna stand out a little bit more or you want to have a little bit more fun, be a little bit more unexpected, you have to put a little bit more time into it.”
You know what that means: We all have two more weeks to make Heidi proud!