How to Make a Firefly Costume
Fireflies are fascinating creatures for children because of their ability to emit flashes of light in the night sky. With modern technology, creating a simple firefly costume for Halloween is not difficult and can be accomplished inexpensively. With a few items you probably already have around the house, and some small purchases, you can make a firefly costume at home for your child.
Things You'll Need
- Black Sweat Pants
- Black Sweat Shirt
- Black Socks
- Black Shoes
- Fairy Wings
- Fairy Wing Kit
- Tulle Material
- Needle
- Thread
- Battery operated Lights
- Scissors
- AA Batteries
- Clothes Hanger Wire
- Wire Cutters
- Glitter Glue
- Ski Cap
- Face make-up
- Black Gloves
Instructions
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Costume
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1
Purchase, or find, black sweat pants, a black sweatshirt, black socks and black shoes. Have your child put them on.
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2
Purchase fairy wings, or make fairy wings from a kit. The wings or kits can be found at most department, or big box stores. They should be the kind that have shoulder straps, so your child can easily put them on and take them off. An alternative to either of these is to make fairy wings. Use two yards of tulle fabric, double over the fabric and knot in the center. Fan each end of the fabric out, then sew the fabric, where the knot is tied, to the back of the shirt, using a needle and thread.
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3
Sew a string of battery-operated lights to the fairy wings. Extend the strand all the way out and start with the end of the strand, placing it at the farthest edge of the wings away from the battery pack. Use a needle and thread to sew through the edge of the fairy wing, go around the edge of the wing and light cord, and back through the wing again. Never sew through the strand of lights. Continue attaching the strand of lights to the wings, working your way toward the battery pack, then tie a knot at the end of the thread and cut the thread with scissors. If you are attaching the lights to tulle fabric wings, sew them to the knotted fabric portion of the wings only, as the tulle will not support the lights at the ends.
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4
Clip the battery pack on the waistband of the sweat pants and insert 2 AA batteries into the pack. The switch on the battery pack allows your child to set the lights to constant, flashing or off positions.
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5
Cut one long piece of clothes hanger wire with wire cutters. Coat the wire with glitter glue, squeezing the glue out of the tube and along the wire; allow the glue to dry. The piece of wire should be long enough for you to insert it into the top of the ski cap, then out again, giving the look of two antennas on the top of the head. Once you have your two antennas coming out of the top of the ski cap, sew the center of the wire into the ski cap with needle and thread to keep the antenna in place.
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Tips & Warnings
Complete the look with face make-up and black gloves, as desired.
