Monday, December 31, 2012

DIY Jellyfish Halloween Costume


About a year ago, my 4 year-old-son became obsessed with the deadly box jellyfish which is native to Australia.  We read, and re-read, the book from the library.  We watched documentaries.  Everything was jellyfish.  He decided that he wanted to be one for Halloween, and though that was about 9 months before Halloween, he did not change his mind.  So, I assumed the task trying to create a jellyfish costume.  I did find a tutorial here, which was incredibly helpful. I made some adjustments and, I think, was able to make it with fewer supplies.

Here are the supplies:

A Sombrero from Party City
Spray Paint  (I used metallic which I already had)
Small bubble Bubble Wrap
Large bubble Bubble Wrap
Shiny, iridescent, see-through fabric (1 yard)
white streamers
4 small touch LED lights from Target and batteries
foam board
glue gun or regular glue
scissors
pencil

1.  First I spray painted the sombrero with metallic spray paint that I already had.  I think you could use white or pearl--whatever would cover the colorful stitching.

2.  Next I put the sombrero on top of a piece of foam board.  I traced around the bottom of the sombrero with a pencil and tried to trace under the area where one's head goes.  Basically you will draw what looks like a toilet seat.  Then using scissors I cut out the toilet-seat patterned foam board.

3.  Using a glue gun, I glued the foam board to the top of the sombrero.


4.  Next, cut a section of the small bubble bubble wrap and folded it in half then wound it around the edge of the hat gluing it to the top and the bottom.


5.  Then, I continued to wind the bubble wrap around the sombrero gluing it as I went.  I tried to keep it full and "fluffy" looking.


6.  I forgot to take any more pictures after this point!  I kept adding bubble wrap and glued it to the bubble wrap already there.  I had to go to the store to buy more bubble wrap to make it fuller looking so, I added large bubble bubble wrap the second time.  Once I had a nice "bell" on the jellyfish.  I took one yard of iridescent fabric and put it over the bell gluing the fabric to the bottom of the sombrero--I left some spots unglued under the brim (that is, I didn't glue the fabric completely around the bottom), so I could get my hand into the sombrero to add the LED lights.

7. Lastly, I glued white streamers to the bottom of the hat.

*Note:   The adult sombrero was too large for my 5 year-old.  I might have thought of a better idea had I not waited until the last minute, but I had him put-on a baseball cap before putting on the sombrero.  That helped, but I still had to lightly hold the back when he walked.







Thanks for reading!
Carson