DIY Jellyfish Costume
A few years back I kept seeing the cutest jellyfish costumes. I had high hopes that one of my girls would consent to BE a jellyfish for Halloween. And Kenna said yes! I have to admit - this is one of my favorite costumes that I’ve ever put together.
This jellyfish costume is quite literally a big old HAT! Just add some comfortable leggings and a long sleeved t-shirt and you’ve got it. Kenna added her butterfly rain boots - but any old shoes will do.
What You’ll Need:
- Straw sombrero (these are super cheap and can be found at most party stores)
- Bubble wrap (like the stuff you use to ship)
- Satin material (the cheapest stuff in your favorite color - I used less than a yard)
- Lots of miscellaneous ribbon or other “sea looking” stuff that will hang down (I used fabric ribbon, strings of beads, strips of bubble wrap, and curly ribbon like the kind you use for gifts
- Hot glue gun and glue
Step 1
First we’re going to line the inside of the brim of the sombrero with the bubble wrap and secure with some hot glue. You’re looking to make the top all rounded. I just stuffed it in there. It definitely doesn’t have to look perfect because all that wonderful satin material will hide the mistakes or bumps.
Side Note: I really like working with hot glue on stuff like this because it dries so fast. Hot Glue = Awesome!
Step 2
Now wrap the satin material around the top of the sombrero. Glue each fold as you go. Don’t worry about where you’ll attach the dangly things because we’ll create a “rim” of fabric to hide those attachments.
You can see that the inside of the hat is kind of a hot mess…but that’s okay. It’ll all be hidden!
Step 3
Glue those dangly things on! It helps to have the person who will be wearing the costume around so you can ballpark how long the strands should be. You’ll want it to be pretty darn long on him/her. Also, as you’re gluing these around the brim, don’t forget to leave a spot to see through! I didn’t initially and Kenna had a hard time seeing until we did a little trim job.
Step 4
Last - we’re going to create a “rim” around the hat to hide the glued on strands. I didn’t start out meaning to do this, but Kenna hates stuff rubbing on her skin so I needed to glue the dangly bits on the outside of the hat. As you can imagine, that didn’t exactly look great. So I came up with this rim to hide the ugly glue bits.
I simply cut a strip of the satin material that was long enough to go around the brim of the hat and folded it in half (you can iron this so it stays put better). Then you simply glue all along the outside of the hat.
That’s it! One easy, lightweight, inexpensive, kid-friendly jellyfish costume all in under 30 minutes.
What do you think? Would you make this jellyfish costume?