I’m not a big Halloween fan, however if we have an event that we are attending, I definitely jump into “DIY costume” mode. Two years ago, I was pregnant with our daughter and my hubby and I attended a party as Chuck (Tom Hanks) and Wilson from the movie Cast Away. My hubby just needed tattered clothes and I drew a volleyball on my t-shirt and my belly was the volleyball! Simple, yet fun.
This year, it was a Halloween walk through a local historical village and since it would be dark out anyways, us “old farts” didn’t get into costume, but I definitely wanted something sweet for our little one to wear! We love to read books in our house and she has grown to love the series of “Ladybug Girl”. It’s about a girl who dresses up as a ladybug and plays with her friends in the “Bug Squad.” Cute book with fun pictures, and she just loves it (especially “bumbabee boy”, as she likes to call the little boy character).
Seeing as any “Frozen” character would be totally over used by the general public this year, we decided to put “Elsa” or “Anna” on hold for another year and went with a ladybug. I searched Pinterest and found a few costumes for inspiration but ended up having to pretty much wing it myself (wing it…haha…wow I crack myself up). But, do not fear! This is a super easy costume- it could even be “no sew” if you wanted!
DIY Ladybug Costume
You will need:
2 pieces red felt (I used some from a craft pack that were approximately 9″ x 12″)
scraps of black felt or fleece
a piece of black ribbon, cord, or string
a head band
2 black pom poms
2 red/black pipe cleaners
red or black tutu
red or black shirt, pants, shoes
For the wings: First draw a basic wing shape on a piece of paper, then use that as a pattern to cute our two wings from the red felt.Then cut out a few small circles ( I made four circles per wing, but any number will work), out of the black material.
At this point, you have some options: sew the black circles onto the wings, or use hot glue. Either will work. Once your spots are attached, slightly overlap the wings and either sew or glue in place.
Then, fold down the top little section and glue or sew in place; make sure to leave a little channel open so that a ribbon can be inserted.
Next, slip some ribbon, cord, or string through the opening and voila!
Just tie the wings around your child’s neck (because this is tiedaround the neck, please make sure the child is SUPERVISED while wearing this costume!) and you’re done. Well, almost.
For the antennae: Take your pom poms and hot glue them to the ends of the pipe cleaners. Then wind the opposite end of the pipe cleaner around the headband. You can glue them to the headband but I didn’t want this piece to be permanent so I just wound it around to secure it. You can leave the pipe cleaners straight or wind them around your finger to create the curly look. Since its cold here already, we used the headband over a hat, but it’s cute either way.
Putting it all together: Next you have to put it all together! We already had a red shirt and some red and black pants (we ended up using the black over the red for added warmth) as well as some little black shoes. I sewed up a simple tutu with supplies I had. There are many tutu tutorials on the internet that are very easy to follow so definitely Google it before you go buy one! Put it all together and you get a sweet little ladybug! We didn’t have a blackcoat but it was too cold to go without, so the wings went over a brown coat. She liked it and we all had fun at the Halloween walk so I think it was a success!
What is your favorite, simple, costume that you have either worn or dressed a child in before? We would love to hear from you in the comments below!