Calculating Blessings: Random Acts of Craftiness #6

This year, I decided to try and make the boys Halloween costumes. Brandon isn't really into superheroes, and you can only be a tractor so many times. One night, I thought of the perfect costume for B...a tornado. (Trust me. It's perfect!) I sold B on the whole idea when I told him he could spin around. So I set out to make a tornado for my B.

Goodwill is having a creative costume contest, and I'm a sucker for a Goodwill contest. I knew I wanted to make a tornado, but I had to figure out how to make it from Goodwill supplies. I used a $2 Seally twin sheet from Goodwill.

Step 1: I laid Brandon down on the sheet and pinned out a tornado shape.

Step 2: I sewed up the sides of my tornado. It was at this point that I realized I forgot to make armholes even after I told myself to remember. Fail!

Step 3: Unable to find a quick and easy solution for my lack of arm holes, I just used more of the sheet to make another tornado. Good thing there was plenty of it!

Step 4: Tornadoes aren't typically white so I put some black and white paint in some water to make a grey dye. Just ignore those strings. That was my attempt at tye-dye. FYI it was a failure!

Step 5: I painted the stripes on my tornado. If I made it again, I would probably use painter's tape for sharper edges.

Step 6: I folded down the top and sewed a pocket.

Step 7: I put pipe insulation in the pocket to give the tornado support. I think it was around $2.50 for 4 pieces of the foam. I still have 2 pieces I will probably use as wreath forms.

Step 8: I hand stitched ribbons to go across his shoulders to hold it up. (This did not work well, and I would definitely sew a strap and sew it in place with a machine if I did it again.)

Step 9: I used glow in the dark dimensional paint to outline the lines on the tornado. I should not have done this. The glow in the dark paint wasn't that strong, and ended up being a waste of time.

I spent $2 for the sheet, $2.50 for the pipe insulator, and around $2.50 for the glow in the dark paint. I had all the other materials already. Total cost around $7.