Photography by Jeff Zorabedian

Bring your wildest dreams to life with these adorable animal-themed getups for your entire family. Unleash these critters in your home, and watch the fun unfold.

Smile and say…grrrrr?

Sweet as Honey

This beekeeping family collective includes a buzzing bumblebee, a beekeeper with his smoker, and a beehive full of honey!

Beehive Costume

• You will need:
• 10 52-inch pool noodles or foam pipe insulation tubes
• hot glue and glue gun
• fabric glue (optional)
• 2½ yards of camel-colored or tan felt
• ½ yard yellow felt
• 1 3-foot dowel with a 1-inch diameter
• duct tape
• bumblebee embellishments
• 1-yard camel-colored or tan elastic
• 1-yard camel-colored or tan ribbon
• yellow T-shirt
• yellow leggings
• yellow skirt (optional, since this will only be slightly visible)

1. Measure the child who will wear the costume to figure out how many pool noodles you’ll need. It should start right below the armpit and end a little below the knees. The beehive shown uses 8 rows of pool noodles, 10 noodles total. (For the lower rings of the hive, you’ll have to extend the pool noodles by adding a piece from another noodle. This helps the child walk comfortably in the costume and allows the beehive to become narrower on the top.)
2. Cut the dowel to 10 pieces of 3½ inches each and set aside.
3. To flex and soften your noodles before working with them, you can round them, and tie them closed for several hours. In the beehive costume shown, the ring diameters are as follows: 48 inches, 50 inches, 52 inches, 54 inches, 58 inches, 64 inches, 70 inches, and 72 inches. Attach additional foam pieces to the bottom rings with dowels and seal the ends together tightly with duct tape. Stack up the rings, and check for symmetry.
4. Cut the camel-colored felt into 8 strips measuring 8 inches wide and 2 inches longer than each of the pool noodle rings.
5. Use fabric glue or hot glue to attach the strips of felt to the pool noodles. Begin by piping a small strip of glue in the center of a piece of felt, attach it to the corresponding-sized noodle, and adhere your noodle to the felt. Slowly pull the edges of the felt over the noodle, and glue tightly into place. Trim excess fabric, and use glue to attach the seams.
6. Stack the rings together and glue them together using hot glue, one layer at a time, working from bottom to top. Lift the beehive regularly as you work, and check for any openings. Be generous with the glue, keeping in mind that your costume will endure a lot of wear and tear in one day!
7. Cut a strip of yellow felt, 4 inches wide and as long as the inside of your top ring, for the top inside of the beehive. This will cover any visible seams and make the beehive appear full of honey. Glue the strip to the top inside of the beehive.
8. Draw “honey drips” on the yellow felt and cut them out. Glue them to the beehive in random spots.
9. Attach the bumblebee embellishments to the beehive.
10. Measure two pieces of elastic or ribbon for the shoulder straps so your child can wear the beehive comfortably. Using glue, attach the elastic or ribbon to either side of the beehive, from front to back. For extra strength, add safety pins or stitching in addition to the glue.

Beehive Cover/Hat

1. Measure the circumference of the child’s head to determine the bottom of the hat ring. Cut another ring 5–7 inches shorter than the base ring.
2. Cut another noodle 12 inches long for the top. Stack the two rings. Insert the top and test for fit.
3. Cover the noodles with felt, and attach with glue, as above. Stack the two rings and glue them together. Bend the top piece and attach to the inside of the second ring with glue.
4. Glue bumblebees all around the hat.
5. Attach two pieces of camel-colored ribbon to the inside of the hat for an under-chin tie.

Beekeeper Costume

You will need:

• white hooded sweatshirt
• white joggers
• white sunhat
• 1-yard white netting
• hot glue and glue gun
• bumblebee embellishments
• white gloves
• ½ yard white fabric
• black boots

1. Attach white netting to the underside of the hat, all around the base. Glue the bumblebees to the hat and netting at random.
2. To make beekeeper gloves: Cut two 10x12-inch rectangles of white fabric. Attach the long ends of each rectangle to each other, to form a sleeve. Attach the base of the sleeves to the gloves.

Ssssnake Puppet

You’ll make hisssstory with thissss ssssnake puppet. Not for the faint of heart!

You will need:

• 1½ yards faux leather snakeskin material
• 2 8½ x11-inch sheets pink felt or the equivalent in pink material
• 1 sheet white felt
• 1 sheet red felt
• 4 pounds of pillow stuffing, polyester fiber, or batting
• large brown googly eyes
• spray adhesive or spray glue
• T-shirt, pants, and cap in matching colors to the snakeskin material

Note: The type of snakeskin material you find will determine the type of snake puppet you make! The snake puppet shown here is a viper snake.

Snake Body

1. Measure your snakeskin material to 14 inches wide, and cut it all the way down the length. Sew together two ends of the cut material so you have a piece of material about 120 inches long
2. Sew the seams together with the snakeskin side on the inside. Starting at 10 inches from the bottom, draw a narrow and curved tail. Cut away the excess fabric, and resew the seams together. Turn your snake inside out.
3. From the open end of your snake, cut off a piece of material, on an angle, approximately 19–20 inches long. This will be your sleeve piece. Narrow the sleeve piece at the seam by another inch. Trim off the excess fabric.
4. Wrap the snake around the child who will be wearing the costume to check the length. It should go around the child 3 times in the front and twice in the back.
5. Fill your snake with stuffing, filling, or batting. (You can use a broomstick to push the filling to the bottom.) Spray adhesive glue to the filling so that it sticks to the snakeskin and doesn’t fall out.
6. Attach the sleeve piece to the left sleeve of the T-shirt by making a seam under the left sleeve, near the arm hole, toward the back. For now, leave the top parts (front and back) separated.
7. Attach the snake to the sleeve: Sew the bottom underside piece of the snake to the front of the T-shirt sleeve at the shoulder. Attach the front open end of the T-shirt to the snakeskin sleeve. Both seams should be sewn with the outside of the material facing out, so the stitches are concealed.
8. Using topstitching, attach the back of the sleeve piece to the back/shoulder seam of the T-shirt.
9. The snakeskin sleeve should end at least 1 inch below the end of the T-shirt sleeve, for flexibility. Trim excess material if necessary.

Snake Head

1. Cut a piece of snakeskin material that measures 11x9 inches for the top of the puppet head.
2. On the underside of the material, make 2 1-inch pleats in the length. The pleats should begin 2½ inches in from either end and should be spaced approximately 3¾ inches apart from each other.
3. Topstitch the pleats’ seam from the snakeskin side up. This will give the snake head more definition.
4. Angle in all 4 corners of the material. Now trace this snakeskin head piece onto the pink fabric and cut.
5. Sew a small seam lengthwise in the center of the pink material. This will help round the top head piece once both pieces of material are sewn together.
6. Place the right sides of both materials together and sew together. Leave one side open (to be attached to the sleeve.)
7. To make the bottom of the snake head, cut a piece of material from the snakeskin material and another piece from the pink material. Both pieces should measure about 8½x6 inches, slightly smaller than the top of the snake head. Round off both pieces of material so that the front of the mouth is narrower than the back of it, which will get attached to the sleeve.
8. Place the right sides of the 2 pieces of material together and sew around the 3 sides, leaving the back part open. Again, this part will be attached to the sleeve.
9. Cut 4 sets of teeth out of the white felt and a long-forked tongue out of the red felt.
10. Using hot glue, attach the teeth to the pink material on to the upper and lower parts of both sides of the mouth. Attach the tongue toward the back of the upper center of the mouth.
11. Connect the top and bottom of the snake head by sewing together the pink material of the top and bottom head pieces. (Don’t sew it closed.)
12. Glue the back and middle section of the tongue to the lower part of the mouth. This will help connect and close the puppet’s mouth.
13. Fill the puppet head with filling or stuffing, putting a bit more into the top than into the bottom. Spray the stuffing with adhesive glue so it doesn’t shift around.
14. For the snake’s eyes, cut out two brown foam circles, a little bigger than the googly eyes. Pierce the center of each circle foam and insert the back screw of each eye. Glue the eyes into place.
15. Mark off spots for the eyes on either side of the puppet head. Pierce the snakeskin material, and glue in the eyes.
16. Attach the puppet head to the sleeves by attaching the top center of the head to the top center of the sleeve. Then attach the bottom center of the lower part of the puppet head to the center of the bottom part of the sleeve.
17. Topstitch the rest of the puppet head to the bottom of the sleeve all around.
18. Try on the costume again to make sure it fits properly before attaching the body of the snake all around the T-shirt.
19. Attach the snake to the T-shirt with safety pins to mark where to sew it, then remove the snake from the child, and stitch into place. (You can use a tall chair back as a mannequin while connecting the snake to the T-shirt.) Alternatively, you can connect with Velcro strips.
20. Try the costume on once more for good measure.

Prickly Porcupine

Your prickly, er…picky… customers will surely be excited about this one!

 You will need:

• 5 9x12-inch sheets black foam
• 5 9x12-inch sheets brown foam
• white paint
• paintbrush
• 1-yard chocolate brown or black fake fur
• hot glue and glue gun
• stuffing
• brown hooded sweatshirt
• brown pants

1. Paint horizontal strips of white paint on the foam sheets, about 5 strips per sheet. Allow to dry.
2. Flip the sheets over and paint horizontal stripes on the other side as well.
3. Cut the sheets in half so that you now have 20 strips of foam measuring 4½x12 inches.
4. Cut thin, hair-like, vertical strips from the foam. If possible, narrow the ends to make points.
5. Try on the sweatshirt to make sure that the hood fits snugly around the child’s head. If necessary, make an inside center seam on the top inside of the hood to make it fit more tightly.
6. Cut out a piece of fur to cover the hood. Cut the material in half, and use one piece to cover the right side of the hood and one to cover the left side, with the seam in the center of the hood. Attach with hot glue.
7. Measure the back width and length of the sweatshirt. Cut a piece of fur of this size, adding 2–3 inches to the length. Glue or sew the fur to the back of the sweatshirt, with the “tail end” extending 2–3 inches down.
8. Begin attaching the porcupine hair/foam strips to the fur back. For the hood, leave 3 inches of fur exposed in the front and sides and work your way outwards, starting from the center seam. In the costume shown, each row is about 2 inches apart, but you can make the hair thicker or thinner.
9. For the back, start from the bottom, attaching a row of foam strips and leaving 2 inches visible on either side. Once you finish a row, apply a thin strip of glue over the top end of the strips. The top end will be concealed by the next layer.
10. Work your way up, row by row, adding a strip of glue to the top end of each row to secure it tightly.
11. Cut a piece of fur for the tail piece. Glue the seams together, and turn it around so that the fur is on the outside. Fill the tail with stuffing.
12. Attach the tail to the back of the sweatshirt, in the bottom center, about 3 rows up from the bottom.
13. For the porcupine ears: Cut out 2 small half-circles of fur, and slit them from the bottom center upwards. Glue the slits together. Attach the ears to the top of the hood on either side of the fur.
14. Try the costume on the child and check for any loose pieces of foam that need to be secured.

Friendly Fawn

A forest creature with a feminine twist, to delight your little girl.

You will need:

• rust-colored T-shirt
• rust-colored leggings
• 1-yard rust-colored organza (this is plenty for a skirt length of up to 18 inches; add more material if necessary)
• 2 yards white tulle
• 2 yards brown tulle
• 2 sheets white felt
• 1 sheet brown felt
• fabric glue
• headband or wreath
• florals, stems cut short
• twigs

Fawn Skirt

1. Cut off a piece of organza for a belt, about 2 inches by 54–60 inches.
2. Fold the rest of the organza over so that the length is 18 inches and the width is 54–60 inches. Sew 2 rows of stitches at the top, by the fold. Gather the organza to the width of the child’s waist.
3. Sew the 2 ends of the material together. Hem or cut the bottom of the skirt as necessary.
4. For the tulle belt: Cut strips of both the brown and white tulle. Bend over the tulle to form strips a little shorter than the skirt. You should have 18–20 strips of brown and white tulle combined.
5. Mark off the center of the belt, and pin the strips to the belt, alternating colors. (You can do 2 brown strips to 1 white, or create your own pattern.) Once all the strips are pinned down, stitch or glue them in place. Let the rest of the belt hang loose so you can tie a bow in the back.

Decorated T-shirt

1. Cut out all sizes of circles, tear drops, and irregular round shapes from the white felt.
2. Beginning from a little lower than the front shoulder and leading down 2 two back sides, glue on the felt circles. Finish off at the bottom. Leave the front and back center clear.

Fawn’s Headpiece

1. Cut out 2 leaf shapes for the ears from the brown felt, and 2 slightly smaller leaf shapes from the white felt. Pinch together at the bottom and glue to hold.
2. Attach flowers to the headband or use a readymade flower wreath.
3. Glue the twigs to both sides of the headband, and add the ears, extending outwards from the twigs.

Face Painting

All face painting show in the photos was done by Athena.

Before doing any face painting, make sure that the child’s face is clean. Remove all hair from face and brush back. Apply some gel to hold the hair in place.

You will need:

face paints (pictured here are Graftobian Pro Paints)

makeup sponge

round brush, size 2

round brush, size 4

flat brush, size 6

filbert, size 4

Fawn

1. Paint the face white.
2. Add light brown shading to the bridge of nose, the jawline, and the forehead.
3. Paint different-sized, white polka dots on the cheekbones and forehead.
4. Outline eyebrows, bridge of nose, beneath the nose, and side of lips. Place small black dots for whiskers above the lips.
5. Paint the lips pink. Draw faux eyelashes beneath the eyes.

Snake

1. Draw blotches of nude color on one side of the face.
2. Overlap the nude blotches with dark brown blotches.
3. Overlap with green and black blotches to complete the camouflage look.
4. Paint scars on the other side of the face, starting with light pink slashes approximately 3 inches long, one above the other. Paint dark red in the middle of each slash.

Honeycomb

1. Paint a yellow background above the bridge of the nose and the eyes.
2. Outline a honeycomb shape in white.
3. Add brown shading inside the honeycomb cells.
4. Add small white highlights to 1 corner of each honeycomb cell to give a realistic, 3D look.

Porcupine

1. Highlight the face with beige paint on the cheekbones, the bridge of the nose, the bottom of the chin, and the forehead.
2. Add brown shading around the outside of the face, including the neck, hairline, lower chin, forehead, sides of the bridge of the nose, and eyebrows.
3. Paint white lines from the edge of face toward the center.
4. Paint dark brown lines around the white lines to give the appearance of porcupine quills.
5. Paint the tip of the nose black and add small black dots above the lips to give the appearance of a muzzle. Outline the lips in black.

Bumblebee

1. Paint light blue above and around the sides of the ears.
2. Paint white flowers on the corners of the eyes.
3. Paint yellow circles, 2 on the left side and 1 on the right side of the eye.
4. Paint blue wings behind the circles on either side.
5. Draw a black outline around wings and circles to give the shape of a bumblebee.

Beekeeper

1. Paint a brown mustache.
2. Add black shading on top.

(Originally featured in Family First, Issue 631)