Sticking to our easy-only Halloween mantra, we challenged ourselves to create costumes -the majority of the items being found in our closets or handmade! They might not win any awards, but our boys love rocking them, and we’re pretty proud of the effort versus reward ratio, too!
Check back all this week for the rest of our costumes, but today we have Hayes and Cal’s! Emily is a major book worm, (with a Bachelor’s degree in literature to prove it) and in turn spends a lot of time with books peppered around her and her boys. One author that sparked her love of literature at a young age was Roald Dahl, and so she picked a favorite character, James, from James and the Giant Peach for Hayes. Mr. Dahl might still be a little over the boys’ heads literally, but they sure love the movie! Here’s what you’ll need:
A (mismatched) navy suit that Emily thrifted for $4 was a great place to start! Then she cut the pants off just above the knee, using Iron-on adhesive to give them a no-sew hem.
Then assembling items from Hayes’ closet like a white church shirt, long socks (or how about Baby Legs from the old box of baby clothes?) and a classic tie – this one is from here – and you’ve got yourself a costume!
For easy additions you can pick up virtually any color of colored hair spray, Hayes’ bright orange was $2 at Wal-Mart, and then using an eyeliner pen to draw on some James-style cartoon-y freckles. Then tie on an orange mylar balloon with cardstock cut-outs in brown for a stem, and green for a leaf, and you’re good to go!
Thrifted Suit (similar here) // White Oxford // Trendy Ties Tribal Stripe Tie // Baby Leg Warmers (similar here) // Converse Chuck Taylor high tops
Next up is Cal!
One book they all love to actually read together is Stuck by Oliver Jeffers. Floyd is the problem solving, relentless main character with super-human strength, who will stop at nothing to remove his kite stuck in a tree. The book is illustrated in a very handmade and messy feel, every stroke is visible and everything feels very youthful and fun! This makes creating a costume in its likeness easy, because the rough handmade feel matches perfectly!
Here’s the rundown:
A pair of brown leggings, simple sneakers, and a white long sleeve t-shirt is all you need for the costume. To create the oversized gingham checks you can use acrylic or fabric paint to freehand rows of alternating blank and filled in squares. Then to connect the squares you simply paint diagonal lines. Easy additions are a card stock kite, with BBQ skewers to brace it, baker’s twine for the tail, and ribbon or card stock bows attached down the tail. The orange hair spray would’ve suited this costume as well, but spraying a squirming two year old seemed like a unworthy risk!
Walmart Tee // Old Navy Leggings // Converse Chuck Taylor low tops
Check back the rest of the week for more Small Fry costumes, but if you’re free, see last year’s Costume Parade Party for more ideas and an awesome Costume Contest Award printable!
9 Comments
Rebecca Lately
October 14, 2013 at 6:35 amI love the Floyd costume! That book is one of our faves.
Dear Lizzy
October 14, 2013 at 12:07 pmThese are so creative… and turned out super cute!
Love Haysie’s smile☺️
Robin Plemmons
October 16, 2013 at 2:05 pmAdorable & creative. Such a big fan of Oliver Jeffers. Found you guys through his facebook page. You have a new fan.
kid costumes : the sandlot | Small Fry
October 14, 2014 at 6:01 am[…] last years’ costumes here: James and the Giant Peach, Floyd from “Stuck”, Gnomes, and Vector and Minions from Despicable […]
danielle @ this picture book life
October 29, 2014 at 1:47 pmThese are sooo great!!
19 Book-Inspired Halloween Costumes for Kids and Parents | Brightly
October 5, 2015 at 7:10 am[…] James (James and the Giant Peach) All Roald Dahl fans are rejoicing with this costume. Poor James isn’t quite as popular as Charlie (and he doesn’t get to visit a chocolate factory either), so if you love an underdog, this is the costume for you. Plus, it’s no-sew! […]
20 Fantastic Book Character Costumes - Everyday Reading
October 15, 2018 at 2:55 am[…] Costume details at Small Fry // James and the Giant Peach book […]
Save Money Making a Book Character Costume - Children's Library Lady
July 8, 2019 at 2:01 am[…] […]
Valentina
November 28, 2022 at 5:39 pmThe only one I loved was the Ms. Nelson one.I also think you should have more options.