Halloween DIY: Bonnie’s Little Mermaids
It can be so hard to decide how to dress your family for Halloween. Do you have matching outfits? Should you have a theme? Or do you all kind-of do your own thing? This mama decided on a theme, and a fun one at that!
How did you decide what costumes to dress your family in?
We’re Disney fans —BIG Disney fans. My husband’s dad is an Imagineer, so it’s in his blood to love all things Disney.
We love going to Mickey’s Halloween Party and they expect you to wear costumes.
My father-in-law just finished working on The Little Mermaid ride at Disney’s California Adventure Park and Anna, my four-year-old, was obsessed. She begged to be Ariel, so how could I say no? My husband actually brought up the idea of being King Triton, so it made sense for me to be Ursula. We dressed Allie like Sebastian.
Where did you get all your materials?
I ordered a really cheap “Tarzan” costume from Amazon to modify into King Triton. I bought a wig and beard from eBay. I bought Anna a nude long sleeved leotard and a red haired wig, also from Amazon. I bought myself some tights and a pettiskirt from Party City. I bought all the remaining fabrics, thread and notions from Jo-Ann Fabric and Crafts and used coupons. I paid about $120 total for all of our costumes.
How did you save costs?
Making the King Triton costume saved us about $100. Mer-man costumes are pricey. I used coupons and searched for the cheapest deals online.
How long did the costumes take to make?
It took me about ten hours total.
Can you describe the steps you took to make the costumes?
For King Triton I cut off the “Tarzan” loin cloth. Then I made a skirt using aqua sequin fabric.
I cut out fins using the same fabric. I made gold wrist bracelets out of gold fabric, gold puffy paint and a snap press. I made a crown out of boning and the same gold fabric I used for the wrist bracelets.
For Ariel, I made Ariel’s bra out of purple cotton fabric, glue, poly-fil, purple glitter puffy paint and a snap press. I made a skirt out of the same aqua sequin fabric that I used for Triton and attached some tulle to the bottom.
I made my Ursula costume by using black panne velvet to make a tube top dress with elastic at the top. Then I made tentacles by sewing strips of fabric together and filling them with poly-fil.
Allie’s Sebastien costume was the only costume I purchased ready-made. It was $20 on eBay and I knew I couldn’t make it cheaper.
Was it less expensive than buying a costume?
Definitely! The Ariel costumes available didn’t meet my standards and were more than $40. With accessories and fabric I spent about $25.
King Triton costumes were going for $150 and up and I spent $45 making one.
The Ursula costumes cost about $50, but they don’t make my size. I spent $30 making mine.
This crafty mama made almost all of these incredible costumes and her family looked perfect! Nice work Bonnie!
By Sarah H.
Sarah is a homegrown Canadian girl who currently lives in Alberta with her hubby and sassy little miss, Georgia! Now at 20 months into her career as a mom, she has realized she and Gia are the same sassy, rambunctious people and somewhat has a handle on things, although there are many surprises at every turn! When Sarah is not chasing her firecracker of a daughter, she is working on household DIYs, home decor, and working at her day job as an HR Practitioner for Canada for an Oil & Gas company (fun!). She loves being outdoors and in the summer she and her family are actually hard to find at home. Sarah can't cook or clean very well but she can handle large power tools and change your oil so she figures that makes up for her lack of domestic qualities! 
Added by Sarah H. on September 15, 2012.Saved under diy for babies, diy for kids, real diy, real holiday diy
Tags: costume, DIY, halloween, Real DIY
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Lindsay
So cute!
C
Too cute!! Great idea since this is our costume theme this year, courtesy of our 4 year old.
Allison
I love these costumes–so much cuter and more cost effective than buying at the store! You did a great job!