Halloween DIY: Laura’s Charlie Brown Gang

Posted on September 15, 2012 By Sarah H. diy for babies, diy for kids, real diy, real holiday diy

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I love to dress up and play “fantasy.” Laura and her family had fun with their costumes last year and dressed up as some pretty familiar characters!

How did you decide what costumes to dress your family in?

My first concern was picking a costume that would be comfortable for my baby to wear. He was only ten months old and I knew he wouldn’t tolerate anything bulky or binding.

We went with Charlie Brown because I knew it mostly consisted of normal clothes, so it was very functional. Plus we have always joked about his round head reminding us of the cartoon character!

Where did you get all your materials?

Most of the costumes consisted of normal clothing that I found at basic stores like Walmart and Target. I picked up the last couple odds and ends (feathers and fabric paint) at Michaels craft store.

How did you save costs?

I saved costs by painting the zig-zag t-shirt myself. I was surprised to find how expensive it was to buy it ready made. A bottle of fabric paint is only a few dollars!

How long did the costumes take to make?

I would say I didn’t spend longer than 30 minutes altogether.

Can you describe the steps you took to make the costumes?

I took a plain yellow shirt in my son’s size and laid it out on the counter. I used a bottle of fabric paint and drew the zig-zag. I had to let it dry then flipped it over to repeat it on the back.

After dressing him in the shirt and pants (if it had been warmer, I would have put him in brown shorts more like the character wears) I used a black eyeliner pencil to draw the cartoon hairline on his forehead.

For my costume as Charlie Brown’s pal Woodstock, I put on a yellow shirt and used hair ties to bundle my hair in a faux mohawk. Then I stuck yellow feathers into my hair to mimic the cartoon bird’s spiked feather coif. I added a little yellow makeup around my eyes for fun.

For my husband’s outfit as Snoopy, I put him in a white shirt. Then I cut ears and a collar out of five cent pieces of black felt. I attached the ears with safety pins to a white baseball hat and wrapped the strip around his neck for a collar. I used white face paint and black eyeliner to give him some cartoon doggie features.

Was it less expensive than buying a costume?

This was definitely less expensive than buying costume, plus almost everything was reusable. He looked very cute in his Charlie Brown t-shirt months later.

I didn’t want to spend a lot on this Halloween since he was so little and would only be going to one or two houses. It was more for us than him at this point, of course.

What a fun family costume! I can’t wait to see what they do this year!

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!