the itsy bitsy spider: a last minute kid’s costume that’s easy and cheap (and no sew!)

Last year’s Halloween costume was a disaster. I won’t go into the details because I don’t want any of you to attempt such a thing, but let’s just say it involved sticking a highly unwilling infant in a fruit basket surrounded by vegetables.

This year had to be better as last year was pretty much rock bottom. In the quest for the perfect costume that was easy, cheap, homemade and darned cutie-pa-tootie, I was quickly running out of time. But that turned out to be okay because this costume only takes about 30 minutes to put together once you’ve gathered the supplies.

So, without further ado….

introducing…..

The Itsty Bitsy Spider
aka Baby Octopus (with minor adjustments)

To make this DIY costume you will need:
a warm black shirt or sweater
warm black pants
6-8 black knee socks
a pile of fabric scraps
6-8 black saftey pins
60-80 small size furniture pads (opt for octopus variation)

To make this costume:

Decide if you want to make six or eight stuffed spider legs/ octopus arms. I suggest doing six if your baby is not yet mobile and will be sitting; make eight if you little one is a toddler that will be standing and walking around, thus obscuring his own legs. You want eight total legs to be visible.
Stuff the socks with all manner of rags. I used washcloths, cloth napkins, cloth wipes (clean I promise!), other socks, and even some old underwear. You aren’t going to see it, so it doesn’t matter what it looks like. Stuff them to about the height of your little one’s legs. If you make them too long, she might trip on them. For the octopus variation, attach two rows of furniture pads on each sock. If you have a baby that loves to pick at things, you might want to attach these with a hot glue gun.
Attach the stuffed socks to the black pants with saftey pins. Stuff any extra sock inside the pants.
Dress your little one in the black shirt and carefully pull on the pants.
Step back and admire. Do a victory dance for making such a cute costume at the last minute. Maybe sing the Itsy Bitsy Spider song.