Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays. What’s not to love, you get to dress up, throw spooktacular parties and eat lots of candy! And when it comes to costumes I’m a sucker for cute, DIY costumes that are different than what you can find on the shelf at the costume store and one of my all-time favorite costume ideas is this DIY Octopus Costume.
I love homemade costumes and this DIY Octopus Costume is all kinds of fabulous! Did I mention it’s no-sew, quick and affordable?
I’ll admit, I’m somewhat of a costume snob. So when the Hub Network asked me to share a DIY costume for kids I was thrilled. You see I have a really hard time buying those cheap polyester costumes at the big box costume stores and I am sure I have my super creative mother and even grandmother to thank for it.
I remember having some of the coolest costumes as a kid, my mom would tell you we had a homemade costume because she was frugal but I still remember that cute little pumpkin costume and who could forget the year I went as Pippi Longstocking! While brainstorming ideas with my mom she mentioned that one of her favorite Halloween costumes was the year she was an octopus. Bingo. I decided to recreate that costume idea for my ocean-loving daughter.
This easy handmade costume took me less than an hour to put together.
Supplies:
-
- 4 pairs of tights in your daughter’s size
- Matching long sleeve shirt
- Matching hat
- Belt
- White and black felt
- Cotton Batting
**I purchased the tights, shirt, and hat from Old Navy for $30 and once Halloween is over she’ll have a new outfit to wear!**
How to Make DIY Octopus Costume
1. Begin stuffing 3 pairs of the tights with cotton batting. I learned that you want to stuff them to just above the crotch area of the tights, that will give the fullest look and it won’t bunch in that area when you put them on the belt.
2. Next, lay your belt flat and begin wrapping the top part of the tights around the belt. Secure in place with a safety pin.
3. Cut out two large ovals and two small circles for the eyes. Use double-stick tape or glue to attach them to the hat. **I used double stick tape since this is a hat my daughter will wear again and we didn’t want to ruin it.
4. Have your daughter put on the unstuffed pair of tights and the coordinating long sleeve shirt. Wrap the belt with the stuffed tights around her waist and fasten.
5. Put on the hat to complete the costume.
There you have it a super easy, sassy DIY Octopus Costume that is sure to be the talk of the “ocean!”
If you are looking for other creative costume ideas for girls be sure to check out these great costume ideas.
Princess Leia Costume with Free Pattern & Tutorial
Girl’s Tie-Dyed Skeleton Costume
so cute!
SO CUTE!!! Love how easy it is but looks like a real costume!
OMG that is amazing!!! <3 it!
Super cute. She looks adorable!
Oh my goodness, are you kidding me?! SO cute and original.
Super cute costume!
Thank you Courtney!
I love this costume…what a great idea…you are so amazing!!!
Thank you Autumn, it really wasn’t hard to do but I’ll take it. 🙂
OMG! I love it.
This is the cutest costume I think I’ve ever seen. I just love it! 🙂
What a cute idea! I must confess when I first saw this I thought there was no way I could put together something like this. But your easy insructions you may have me looking like the “cool” Mom at this years Halloween parade afterall. 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
It really is super easy, but you don’t have to tell everyone…you can just soak in the cool mom moment. 🙂
O saw that and said “OH that’s SO CUTE” about 10 seconds later “HEY I know her!”
🙂
ADORABLE! You are so talented, girl!
Awww you are too sweet, thank you Rachel!
Super cute — my daughter wants me to make her one for this year. After last year’s peacock, I think this looks much simpler and far less time consuming! Do you recall how much cotton batting you had to purchase? Is it in bags or by the foot? And did you get it at Michael’s or JoAnn’s? Thanks!
Thanks! My other daughter loves peacocks, I bet that costume was adorable! I used 1 big bag of cotton batting and purchased it from Hobby Lobby. I would suggest finding it at JoAnn’s though since I know they sell it for sure. Good luck with the costume, and of course send us pictures if you do make it! 🙂
Thanks for responding! I will post a pic if I can convince my daughter that she does NOT want to be a “sea monster” after all….wish me luck! I don’t even know what a sea monster looks like! Plus, I do NOT sew, so if I cannot glue-gun it, which typically results in 3rd degree burns and subsequent scarring, or Superglue it (resulting in fused fingers and/or adherence to whatever it is I’m making), then I cannot accomplish it!!!
Turns out that I am going to be the octopus! My one daughter is a jellyfish (super cute!) and the other is a dolphin. The dog is a sea monster, so it made sense that I be the octopus, since it’s so cute and I couldn’t talk one of them into it! Perhaps I’ll save it and one of them will want to use it next year?!
Jackie, that sounds adorable! Send a picture or share it with on my FB page if you get a chance, I’d love to see it!
Love this costume. I am looking for ideas for me to take the kids trick or treating. I think something like this will be simple but cute for walking around.
Nicole @ HoldtheOffice.com
Amazing and so creative!! I think I could actually make this too. ha! Thanks for sharing on Living Creative Thursday ~ featured you today! http://www.livinglocurto.com/2013/10/diy-halloween-costume-ideas/
Super cute… Sharing on FB!
Thank you Desiree, it’s been one of our favorite Halloween costumes and so easy!
absolutely cool!
thanks for sharing your tutorial! i set a link and hope you agree.
best wishes, doro von Hand zu Hand
Thank you thank you! I have just used this to make a costume for my Octopus loving daughter.
Awesome, we would love to see how your costume turned out. Feel free to share a picture and tag @Giggles_Galore on IG and Twitter. 🙂
Is there something missing from the directions? There is no 5. step
No Cici, sorry about the confusion it was just a typo in the directions. It should have been a 5 instead of a 6, there really are only 5 steps.
Thank you for posting this! I found it almost 10 years later and used it for my creature-loving kid. Our family costume was sea-themed this year with this octopus, a jelly fish, Dory, and Nemo. My son loved the octopus and told everyone I made it for him
Oh my goodness, I love hearing stories like this, thanks for sharing! I am so glad you loved the octopus costume as much as we did.
thank you