Flock this way and check out Zoë’s DIY Flamingo Costume.

After over two years of being stuck at home during the pandemic, this Halloween sure feels extra special for Zoë. Physical school is finally back on, which also means actual Halloween parties in person, yay! This time Zoë wanted something girly, cute, and fun. When she said she wanted pink, I knew it had to be a flamingo. It definitely fit the bill!

Quick and easy, this costume took me less than hour to make. Yup, easy peasy! There was no sewing involved, too!

Materials Used:

• Pink feather boas
• Elastic
• Black felt sheet
• Pink felt sheet
• White felt sheet
• Pink & white striped socks
• White T-shirt
• White shorts
• Scissors
• Fabric glue

To Make the Flamingo Costume:

Step 1: Make the Feather Tutu Skirt

Make the waistband by tying the ends of an elastic together. This is pretty straightforward, just make sure it fits snugly around the waist, and double the knot so it stays in place.

Cut a strip of feather boa twice the length of how long you want the tutu skirt to be. So if you want the skirt to be 14 inches from the waist, cut it around 28 inches. Fold the feather boa in half and loop it around the elastic. Repeat with as many half feather boa strips around the elastic until you are satisfied with the fluffiness. I used a total of 6 feather boas for ours since the boas I had were quite thin, but you can adjust depending on how fluffy you want yours.

Step 2: Make the Flamingo Head and Neck

Cut out the beak shape on black felt, then glue on the detail using pink felt. I used fabric glue, but you may also use hot glue. Make the eyes by cutting out a big circle using white felt, and a smaller one using black felt, then glue together. If you have big googly eyes on hand, you may use that instead.

To complete the head and neck, take another long strip of feather boa and glue one end to the beak. Finish it off by gluing the eye, and you’re done!

Step 3: Assemble

With everything done and ready, it’s time to assemble! Put on your white shirt and shorts underneath. Slip on the feather tutu skirt, then drape the flamingo head around your neck while tucking the other end under the skirt. You may leave it as is, or secure the head to shirt with a safety pin, double sided tape, or by adding velcro like what I did.

Finish off the look with pink & white striped socks, cute & comfy shoes, and voilà, you’re all ready to flamingle!

Zoë’s one happy flamingo, all ready to go trick or treating with her flock!

** Warning: This costume is the cutest, but be warned, the feathers shed like crazy!

Check out our other DIY costumes:

• Paper Doll
• Monstera Deliciosia
• Claw Machine
• Gumball Machine
• Cutie Cupcake

This year, we’re making it fashionable! Zoë wanted to look colorful, pretty, and fab, so we made sure to get her all dolled up in a DIY Paper Doll Costume.

Check it out!

This paper doll costume is inspired by Zoë’s very own paper doll creations.

Zoë loves making paper dolls. She draws, colors, and styles them up, then narrates stories of adventure with them. The ones pictured above are just a few that she’s made over the years. I figured it was time to finally turn her into one of her creations, so this year’s paper doll costume was definitely the right fit!

Honestly, I was convinced that Zoë was done with our yearly DIY costume tradition, so I had no plans of making anything. She was already set on just wearing a Disney Princess costume, but when her friends started talking about Halloween a few weeks ago, she finally put her DIY thinking cap on. You can bet I was happy that she changed her mind—I don’t think I’m ready to let go of our Halloween tradition just yet. Plus, I was really itching to get my hands crafting. 😀

Constructed using minimal materials (an old Ikea cardboard box, an old headband, ribbon, and paint), this paper doll costume is probably the easiest DIY I’ve made. I completed everything in less than two days. This four-piece ensemble was a pretty simple craft of drawing, cutting, and painting. All Zoë asked for was to use her favorite colors, add a heart on the shirt, and give her bright pink hair. Cute, colorful, and girly, just the way she wanted it!

We completed the look with white tights and black shoes. Très chic! All ready and dressed to kill!

Zoë definitely approves her DIY Paper Doll Costume. She loves it from head to toe! We adore it, too. We reckon she looks like an absolute doll!

Check out our other DIY costumes:

• Monstera Deliciosia
• Claw Machine
• Gumball Machine
• Cutie Cupcake

Check out Zoë’s DIY Monstera Deliciosa Costume!

Funny how it took a pandemic for me to finally get into the plant craze. Having no choice but to stay home has led me to this new hobby. Buying plants, learning about light and humidity levels, formulating the perfect soil mix, and getting to know each plant’s needs, has given me time away from all the worries of the world. I’ve been so into plants that it has rubbed onto Zoë, too. So much that she was all in when I pitched her the crazy idea of turning her into a plant for Halloween!

Materials for our DIY Monstera Deliciosa Costume was pretty simple: an old cardboard box, green felt, soft wire ties, and some green ribbon.

This costume was actually inspired by A Beautiful Mess’ DIY Houseplant Boxtume from two years ago, and I followed their step-by-step instruction to make the plant pot for our costume. They made a pretty detailed tutorial on how to construct the base from old cardboard, so I followed it and just made sure to measure it to fit Zoë’s body. I finished it off by painting the cardboard pot a terracotta orange.

For the leaves, I used cardstock to make the template. I drew the leaf pattern with slits by hand, cut it out, then traced the outline on green felt. The goal was to make a lush pot of monstera, so I traced and cut about two dozen felt leaves. Using an X-Acto knife, I also added tiny holes to several leaves to give them those famous monstera fenestrations. To complete their look, I glued soft wire ties to the back of each leaf using strips of felt and hot glue.

Once all the leaves were attached to their wire stems, I taped them one by one to the inner wall of the pot. The stems were flexible enough to be folded and bent, so I adjusted each leaf at different heights and pointed them to different directions. The result? A very lush-looking pot of monstera, indeed! Imagine how expensive this pot would be if it were a real monstera. Haha!

To make the costume easy to wear over the shoulders, I attached straps to the pot using 2 strips of ribbon. I just made sure to criss-cross the straps at the back, to prevent them from slipping off.

Zoë also requested for a monstera headband, so I made smaller monstera leaves using leftover felt, then attached them to a plain black headband using wire and hot glue.

Our little monstera! Zoë absolutely loved her DIY Monstera Deliciosa Costume! We started the month of October thinking that Halloween would be completely cancelled this year, but in the end, Zoë proudly wore her leaves for three virtual parties! We had a bootiful time, afterall.

Halloween may have been a little different this year, but I’m glad we were able to continue our DIY costume tradition.

Want to see our previous DIY costumes? Last year Zoë was a Claw Machine, three years ago she was a Gumball Machine, then before that she was a Cutie Cupcake.

This year, she wanted to be a claw machine. The truth? It was another project this DIY-loving momma took on with excitement.

Check out Zoë’s claw-some costume!

When we were conceptualizing and thinking of how to build the claw machine costume, our first concern was the size and weight of the final product. We didn’t want to make something too bulky or too heavy for Zoë to carry. Instead of using a regular-sized box, we used foam board and built the main box frame from scratch, making sure the size was just right for Zoe’s upper body. We made it small enough for her to be able to sit down comfortably on the floor.

Using foam board made it easier to cut out windows on three sides, as well as the prize compartment. We made sure to measure and cut out all the details before putting all sides together with some super glue and masking tape. With a generous coat of spray paint (red for the exterior, and silver for the interior), the main structure was done.

For the controls, we used random objects we could find at home. We glued on a small red box to the front, then added the button made from a white medicine bottle cap and a green plastic magnet. The joystick was made from a small red Christmas ball, glued to the cap of a gray Crayola marker. We secured it to the box with a square foam board piece, spray painted black. We then constructed the claw using foam board and string, spray-painted silver, then attached it to the roof of the claw machine.

For the finishing touches, we added some printed graphics and color changing mini LED light bulbs. The battery-operated plastic LED lights were an inexpensive find and definitely gave the whole costume more character.

Zoë’s favorite part? Choosing which stuffed toys to add to the costume!

To make lugging the costume around easier for Zoë, we added straps to the back panel and made it so she could wear and carry it like a backpack. She found the costume pretty easy to walk around in, and it wasn’t heavy, too.

Zoë loved her claw machine! She proudly wore it during her school’s costume day, and it was a huge hit with her schoolmates and friends! She even brought it along to two other Trick or Treat parties, and although she only put it on for a few minutes each time (she wanted to run around and play freely), she was so proud to show everyone her cool costume.

Come check out how I made this no-sew gumball machine costume, guaranteed to make the cutest, most colorful little outfit that’s perfect for some Halloween dress-up fun. No tricks, just treats; I promise that it’ll be quick and easy. Your little ones will be ready for all the fun in no time!

Materials Used:

• Clear plastic serving bowl (at least 11 inches)
• Ping pong balls
• Acrylic paints
• White felt
• White ribbon
• Velcro
• Red felt
• Gray felt
• Black felt
• Red ribbon
• Hot glue gun

To Make the Gumball Container:

To start off, I made colorful gumballs by painting two dozen plain white ping pong balls using acrylic paint. Once they dried, I placed them inside the clear plastic serving bowl.

Tip: You can save time and effort by buying colored ping pong balls, if they are available.

I then sealed the gumballs inside the bowl by hot glueing white felt over it. To keep it more secured, I overlapped and glued about a centimeter of the felt to the side of the bowl, before trimming off the excess.

Next, I hot-glued two strips of velcro on the side of the bowl with the white felt. I then glued the other side of the two velcro to the ends of the white ribbon. The gumball container is designed to be worn like a big necklace, so I measured the length of the ribbon around my daughter’s neck, just long enough for the bowl to hang over the belly.

The gaumball container should look like this with the white ribbon. The velcro allows it to be put on and taken off easily, and provides an adjustable strap, too.

To Make the Gumball Machine Base:

To make the gumball machine base, I opted for a simpler tie-back apron. I needed a costume that Zoë could move around freely in and run around with, so lightweight apron was the best solution.

I simply cut out the shape of the apron on red felt, and glued red ribbon on the top portion to make the apron string, making sure it’s long enough to tie around the waist.

For the finishing touches, I cut out the details on felt. A big rectangle with rounded corners on gray felt for the base plate. Circle coin slot on white felt, plus the ₱5 on black felt. Both black and gray felt for the turn handle. Four small black and gray circles for the plate screws. A big black semi-circle for the gumball hole.

I glued everything in place on top of the red felt apron, and voila, the gumball machine base is done!

I paired the gumball machine costume with red pants, a white shirt, then topped it off with a red hat, and Zoë was ready for all the colorful treats!

This deliciously fun costume was a treat to make. Let your little ones have a ball by making it for them, too!