How to Create a Sunflower Costume

Many little trick-or-treaters enjoy pretty flower costumes, and a sunflower outfit is one of the easiest to make.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Hobby Paintbrushes
• Hooded Sweatshirts
• Glue Guns
• Green Or Brown Felt
• Sewing Needles
• Silk Flowers
• Thick Threads
• Sunflower Seeds
• Face Paints

1. Find a sweatshirt or jacket with a hood ' preferably green, yellow, or brown, though you may be able to work with other colors. (You can also use a cap or hat, though the coverage may not be as good.)

2. Get some fake sunflowers from your local crafts store ' they will be smaller than real sunflowers and will probably come in a bunch, including leaves.

3. Remove the flowers and leaves from the plastic or wire stems; you should be able to do this by pulling or snipping carefully.

4. Hand-sew the flowers to the hood with a needle and thick thread. Try to sew through the plastic base of each flower, and make the stitches firm but not too tight, since you may want to remove the flowers after Halloween.

5. If necessary, sew through the petals to make the flowers lie the way you want them to.

6. Add some leaves to the hood, and scatter a few leaves and flowers down onto the shoulders and front of the jacket or shirt, stitching them loosely into place.

7. Dress your child in brown or green pants, and add a few large felt leaves, if you like.

Tips & Warnings

• Try painting a sunflower onto your child's face using safe makeup or face paints. The nose will be the flower's center, and the petals will radiate across the face, out to where the hood begins.
• Feeling ambitious? Make a mask out of a circle of cardboard with eye holes, and glue unshelled sunflower seeds all over it! You can also do this with a plastic mask, but make sure your child can see properly. Consider gluing the mask onto a stick, popsicle-style, so your child can hold it in place rather than wear it.
• If you don't want to use silk or plastic flowers, you can make large sunflower petals and leaves from yellow and green felt, then stitch or glue them into place. Use pipe cleaners or florist's wire to stiffen them.
• Make sure that the costume has no sharp wires or pieces of plastic that might poke your child.
• If your child is under 3 years old, watch out for small parts that could pose a choking hazard, and stitch everything firmly into place.
• If you don't like sewing, you may be able to use a small glue gun to attach the flowers ' but not if you want to use the garment again.