Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Sunflower

This glorious costume, featuring petals made from yellow craft foam, will have your child positively blooming. The directions below are for one sunflower costume. For detailed illustrations of the various parts of this costume.


CRAFT MATERIALS:

9- by 12-inch sheets of craft foam (3 yellow, 4 green, and 1 orange)
Scissors
Low-temperature hot glue gun
Cloth tape
Velcro fasteners
Pen
Sewing elastic
Red and black face paints

Time needed: Afternoon or Evening
1. For the flower petal headband, cut out 12 yellow craft foam petals that measure approximately 7 inches high and 3 inches wide, tapering to 1 1/4 inches at the base. Snip a 1/2-inch slit in the bottom center of each one. Glue together 1 1/2-inch-wide strips of orange craft foam, overlapping the ends a half inch to create a 23-inch-long headband. Starting 1 1/4 inches in from one end of the headband, cut 12 1 1/4-inch slits spaced a half inch apart.

2. Push the base of each petal through a slit, then bend each petal's tabs in opposite directions and secure them to the headband with cloth tape. Glue a Velcro fastener to the ends of the headband. To help hold the headband on your child's head, have her try it on and use a pen to mark a point above each ear. Make holes at the marks. Thread through the ends of a long piece of sewing elastic, adjust the length to fit around the back of your child's head, and knot the ends so they won't slip back through.

3. To make the leafy bib, cut out 10 green craft foam leaves that measure about 3 inches wide and 5 inches long. Hot-glue them by their tips, as shown, to a 1/2- by 18-inch strip of green craft foam. Glue a Velcro fastener to the ends. Use the same method to make leafy wrist and ankle cuffs.

4. Paint a ladybug on your little flower's cheek for good luck.

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