3. To make the flamingo head: Cut out two pink felt circles 3.5 inches (9 cm) in circumference. Cut out beak shapes from the black and yellow felt. Place the beak shapes on top of one another and glue together. Cut an eye and an eyeball from white and black felt. Glue to the head.

4. Attach the felt head to one end of the remaining boa strip. Attach the other end to the back of the skirt.

5. Try the costume on the child to make sure the skirt fits and the neck piece is the right length. Adjust if necessary.

To make a tutu: Determine the length of your tutu. Tutus are meant to be full and short. Attach several layers of the tulle and gather together. Attach the open side with glue or sew in place. The waist doesn’t need to be finished properly since it will not be visible.

To dye a T-shirt to the coordinating pink color: Follow the directions on the box of dye. Remember to work carefully and not to use a lot of dye at a time. If the color is lighter than expected you can always dye the garment again once it has dried.

Inflatable Tube Man

This costume bends easily, and the impressive poses your tube man can make will have the neighborhood in stitches.

You will need:

• 6-foot crawl-through tunnel (for a child up to age 10–12; use a 9-foot tunnel for an older or taller child), plus the case it came in
• 1½ yards of material the same color as tunnel
• white, black, and red felt
• black mesh, tulle, screen material, or interfacing
• hot glue and duct tape
• permanent marker
• scissors
• needle and thread (optional)

How to make the costume:

1. Have the child slip into the tunnel in an upright position. (It’s important to make this costume with the child who will be wearing it on Purim.) Mark his eyes, nose, and mouth with small dots.

2. Mark off the area for the two armholes. (Note that the armholes need not be at the same height. If wiring runs through at some point, you can go a little higher or lower with one armhole.) Cut out the armholes and have the child slide his hands through them. Recheck the marks for his face. If the original markings are somewhat off, adjust accordingly.

3. Remove the tunnel from the child and cut out a complete “mouth.” This will be the area that your child sees (and breathes!) out of; it should encompass the entire area of his face.

4. Cut out the same mouth shape in a bigger size on paper and trace onto your black mesh. Check for visibility, but remember, you don’t want to see the child’s face too clearly from the outside. You might need to use several layers of the mesh to accomplish this. Glue the mesh onto the inside of the tunnel. You can use duct tape as well to reinforce it.

5. Next, make the sleeves: Cut two lengths of material the width of your armholes, approximately 25 inches wide and 44 inches long. (Use a tape measure to get the proper circumference of your armholes.) Sew or glue the material together at the seams.

6. Attach the sleeves to the tunnel from the inside. This part can be very challenging. If you have some clamps or an assistant, gather the extra tunnel material and secure it from the bottom so you can work more easily. The sleeves on this tunnel were hand-stitched onto the costume, but you can glue them on as well.

7. Have the child try on the tunnel again to see if the sleeve length is right. You can cut off the excess material and glue the ends in or hemstitch them.

8. Cut out eye shapes from paper and trace them onto the white felt. Cut out two black eyeballs as well from the black felt. Hot-glue them onto the tunnel.

9. Trim the mouth with black felt and hot-glue it on. Add teeth cut out of white felt. Add trimmings such as a necktie, cap, crown, or hands.

10. Use the case the tunnel came in to cover the top. Either glue it in place or hemstitch it in. (Adding a cover keeps light from entering the tunnel so that the child inside — and all tape and glue — is less visible from the outside.)

11. Have the child try the costume on again and make the necessary final adjustments.

Note: If you want to make the tunnel even taller, you can start it from the child’s knees and add a bottom layer made from the same material as the sleeves. To make the top part sturdier, have the child wear a knapsack on his back and insert a pool noodle, insulating pipe, or roll of cardboard for added support.

Gum-Ball Machine

If living in a candy store isn’t an option, this is the alternative! No child will complain of being weighed down by a load of candies…

You will need:

• large clear plastic bowl (13 inches in diameter)
• smaller clear plastic bowl (11 inches in diameter)
• clear plastic plate with same diameter as big bowl
• 100 small gumballs
• gumball print paper or solid colored wrapping paper (red, gold, etc.)
• scissors, hot glue
• red duct tape
• ½ yard thick red felt
• 1 yard red ribbon
• monofilament line (fishing line)
• gray, white, and black felt
• red beret or beanie, red T-shirt, red tutu or 1½ yards of red tulle to make your own (if making your own, follow instructions on the flamingo costume), red tights or leggings

How to make the costume:

1. To make the gumball machine: Glue the gumballs onto the smaller bowl. Begin from the top center and work your way completely around.

2. Cut a circle from your paper the same size as the plastic plate. Glue onto the plate.

3. Wind the monofilament line several times around the plate. Knot it in the back of the plate.Glue the smaller bowl onto the plate.

4. Glue the larger bowl to the plate on top of the smaller bowl, using a lot of glue to ensure that it doesn’t open.

5. Wrap the red duct tape around the perimeter of the bowl. To get it in a circular shape, cut short pieces and overlap them.

6. Measure the child who will be wearing the costume and cut out two apron pieces from the red felt. Attach the two apron pieces with ribbon at the shoulder point.

7. Attach the gumball bowl to the felt by sliding the monofilament line over the felt. Use duct tape to secure it in the back (the part that isn’t visible). Remember that the felt will bear the weight of the bowl. Add more duct tape to the front, sides, and top.

8. Cut 4 more lengths of ribbon and attach to both apron pieces to tie the front and back together.

9. Create the gumball machine components: Cut a square of gray felt for the base of the plate, a smaller gray piece for the spot where the gumball falls out, and a gray felt knob piece. Cut a piece of white felt to fit onto the larger gray felt. Cut out your number and cents symbol from the black felt.

10. Glue all the pieces together and then glue onto the red felt.

Scuba Diver

Donning this scuba gear for a day won’t get your little guy underwater yet, but it will surely capture his imagination.

You will need:

• Donning this scuba gear for a day won’t get your little guy underwater yet, but it will surely capture his imagination.
• You will need:
• Supplies to make tank, regulator, and harness;
• 1-inch wide black elastic (approximately 2½ yards in length)
• scissors
• glue or needle and black thread
• aluminum water bottle
• aluminum color spray paint
• pump dispenser (such as the cap of a detergent bottle)
• cork that fits into water bottle
• bottle nipple that fits into the pump dispenser
• black duct tape
• plastic tubing (found in medical supply store or pet shop)
• black felt for flippers, or real flippers
• black top and pants, black beanie, black gloves, goggles, snorkel, headlight (to look like an underwater light or camera), black watch

How to make the costume:

1. To make the tank holder: Cut a piece of elastic, one inch longer than the height of the water bottle, then cut two shorter pieces of elastic, one inch longer than the width of the bottle. Attach the two shorter pieces at the ends, using either glue or needle and thread. Attach the two round elastics to the longer piece, one toward the top and one toward the bottom, using either glue or needle and thread.

2. To make the harness: Cut two pieces of elastic about 8 inches long to fit across the child’s chest and back, then cut out two pieces about 15 inches long to go around the arms. Attach them at the ends to form two circles. Attach the chest and back elastics to the center of each arm elastic, then attach the harness to the holder.

3. To make the regulator: Spray-paint the pump dispenser and cork. Allow to dry. Apply another coat of spray paint if necessary. Glue bottle nipple into pump cap.  Trim with black duct tape around the rim.  Glue one end of the plastic tubing into the side opening of the dispenser pump cap, as shown in image.

4. Carve a hole into the cork with a sharp object such as a screwdriver, working slowly so as not to crack the cork. Check to make sure that the plastic tubing fits snugly into the hole. Attach the tubing to the cork with lots of glue. Push the cork into the loop of the water bottle.

5. To make scuba flippers: Cut out two pieces of thick black felt in the shape of flippers and attach black elastic to the back. Wear them on top of shoes.

(Originally featured in Family First, Issue 531)