Giant COTTON CANDY Costumes

Oh my gosh, this might be my favorite costume duo yet!
Lucy and one of her best friends Savannah said they wanted to be cotton candy for Halloween. One pink; one blue.
YESSSSSSS.
Who can say no to that??
My spray-paint, candy-loving heart was happy.

In fact, I ran into another mom at the hardware store also buying paint for costumes (Lighting McQueen and Sally were in the works) and we chatted for about 10 minutes about kids and making stuff, and the logistics of large spacial (obnoxious?) costumes, and how it was all going to come together in one short week.

I love how Halloween costumes bring the world together! Maybe that’s all the world needs—cute costumes?! Everyone dressed like donuts and ice cream cones, high-fiving each other? Okay that’s overly optimistic and simplistic. But seriously, watching these girls walk around the neighborhood last night as giant balls of cotton candy definitely brought joy to everyone around.

Want to be a real life, cotton candy ball of joy too??
Fun!
Here’s what you do…

Decide what kind of Cotton Candy you want to be.
Wouldn’t it be cute to have a whole GROUP OF COTTON CANDY? In all sorts of pastel shades?? Please somebody do it, and send me a picture.

The inspiration for the costume was our cousin Addison, who was cotton candy last year for Halloween, with fluffy bits of cotton candy (stuffing) everywhere. My SIL Nicole did such an adorable job! I just want to pick off some pieces and eat it! So this is one way you can do it. Spray paint a bunch of poly fill stuffing, and then spray-glue it to a shirt or sweatshirt, and add some batting inside too.
LOVE IT:

Or you could be a smooth rolled Cotton Candy ball:

Or you could do a “low volume” version for school, which is what Lucy wore during the day. Of course she got a few comments like, you’re a snow cone? Ice cream cone? Unicorn? So we should have added a bit of the pink batting to her shirt. Live and learn.

SUPPLIES:
Your style of cotton candy will determine what kind of batting you need. Just find what works for you at the fabric or craft store. Then grab some spray adhesive and spray paint!

The beauty of this costume is that it can look “messy.” My friend Katherine and I were sort of winging it with our girls.

Here’s what we did:

• We started with some of the dense batting underneath, which we spray-glued together in a roll around their body, arms out.
• Then we used a full package/roll of quilt batting in a bag. We kept it folded in 3rds or 4ths (however it came) and then wrapped that around them, with their arms inside. We started down below their bum, wrapped it around, made our way up and around the neck, and tucked the end into the front. We did a practice wrap first, then did it again and used spray glue as we went, to hold it together. Clothes pins helped hold it in place, as the glue dried.
• Then we cut small armholes, and pulled their arms out. We just used our hands to feel and gauge where the armholes should be.
• And finally (the fun part!) — we spray painted them! Spray from a distance and apply a few coats.

The costumes looked super funny drying out in the yard….like sugared cocoons.

And the girls looked even funnier wearing them in the car last night.

SOME TIPS/INFO:
• This is sort of a 1 or 2 time costume-wearing idea. It gets a little beat up and saggy after that.
• Some of the spray paint started to dust off after a while, not much, but some.
• It would be helpful to put more stuffing or a even a small pillow inside of the costume, to plump it out, and displace the space where their arms had been.
• Spray paint some extra batting that you can place and tuck around the neckline, if needed.
• Use safety pins to pin and tuck any areas together around the neckline or other parts.

FINISHING TOUCHES:
Now add a few more things and your costume is ready!

• Shirts – I could not believe that these shirts from Target came as a two-pack in cotton candy colors. PERFECT!  The day we made the costumes, it was 90 degrees and the girls were dying of heat. But then ironically on Halloween night, it was 35 degrees. So they wore sweatshirts underneath their costumes AND these t-shirts. And in the end, the batting made everything cozy and warm.
• White shoes – Grab a simple pair of white tennies at Target or Walmart. We really wanted to make pink and blue DIY saddle shoes…but ran out of time.
• White leggings.
• Cone Stick hats – info below

We were originally going to use poster board to make really tall hats like our cousin Addy’s pic above. But we worried that it would be hard to keep on…so we went for a bun-cone instead. We rolled a piece of cardstock into a cone shape and taped it together. Then we spray-painted some extra batting and hot-glued the batting around the bottom. Then we pulled their hair up in a bun, and placed the cone over it. It helps to snip around the bottom of the cone every 2 inches to create some flat areas. Then attach it with bobby pins to their hair, and pull the batting down over the pins.

After walking in the costumes for two nights of fun, they started to pull apart a bit at the seams (as you can see in the photo below). So just glue, pin, and tuck as needed.

And enjoy your Halloween!
The girls were totally a hit all night as we walked around.
Ahhhh. Look! It’s cotton candy!
Such a happy sight.

  1. 1) Anna

    These are adorable! Definitely using this idea. 🙂

    • 2) Dana

      Thanks Anna 🙂 Yea. I’m a little late posting it, so tuck the idea away for next year!

  2. 3) Sharron

    I love it! Genius!

  3. 4) Sarah

    So, so cute!!!! Great job!

    • 5) Dana

      Thanks Sarah! They were so fun to make. And I’m so glad it worked with the cold weather we had!

  4. 6) Susan

    Awesome idea. Thanks for sharing. Will keep this in mind for next year

  5. 7) Lauren

    These are so adorable! Definitely brings a smile to my face. 🙂

    • 8) Dana

      Aww that makes me happy to hear! 🙂

  6. 9) Collette

    These are so great. Halloween costumes are my favorite thing to make but I’ve got a 12 year old who hasn’t wanted to go trick or treating since he was 5! Of course, it SNOWED here in Chicago on Thursday so I was pretty happy about it then. 😀

    • 10) Dana

      Hahah. Wow. Maybe he’s an old soul 🙂 To be honest, I’d rather sit home and hand out candy and see all the trick-or-treaters that come around. I love seeing all the costumes! And yes, if it’s snowing….fahgettaboutit.

  7. 11) Cherry

    Hi Dana, I love your videos. I’ve seen them always before, and I still do. I didn’t find out up until now, you have a website. Someone in your Youtube comments said you have a website, so I’m checking it out. Thanks so much for your videos. They are very helpful, I use them on friends’ birthdays, and my siblings, and parents. I know they are so many people out there too, who will find your videos helpful.

    • 12) Dana

      Aw thank you so much! And thanks for watching the videos too! 🙂

  8. 13) Izzie

    Hi I tried this out and just did the head piece but instead I used batting. It turned out so cute!! Next time I want to make the main part too!

    • 14) Dana

      Oh awesome! Yay! It’s such a fun halloween costume. Yes, next time you need to do the whole ensemble! 🙂

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