I created this awesome glow in the dark skeleton costume as part of a sponsored post. All opinions are mine alone.
Halloween costumes these days can be really expensive. I mean, whoa. Just the other day I was shopping around for something and I ended up dropping a pretty penny on this year’s selections, and I started thinking that there had to be a better way. Sure, the store bought ones are licensed and adorable, but is a one day piece of clothing really worth the $50 price tag? Probably not. So I decided to whip up a super easy, insanely inexpensive costume with Tulip Glow Paint that is great for kids AND can be worn more than just out trick-or-treating!
So what do you need to make this sweet skeleton suit? Here you go:
- Tulip Glow Paint in your choice of color. For this I used a combination glow in the dark and black light paint in blue.
- Black shirt and pants. These cost me around $5 each.
- Skeleton graphic/stencil
- Freezer paper
- Iron
- Scissors
The first thing you are going to do is find a basic skeleton outline. I am using a combination of different pieces that I found through Creative Commons online, but you can also find them at craft stores like Hobby Lobby or Michael’s. If you do choose an online design, make sure that it doesn’t hold any copyrights (check for the Creative Commons notation). After you find a relatively simple outline you can head over to Picmonkey.com and print it off, making sure you are sizing it to your child’s correct measurements. Judah is a size 4T and you can see the size I printed the ribcage at is just right for him! TIP: if you want to save yourself some steps, print your graphic directly onto freezer paper by cutting it to the same size as a regular sheet of paper and placing it with the shiny side away from the ink in your printer. It works like a charm! Also don’t worry about printed lines being smooth.
After you have your skeleton printed, take an X-acto knife or similar and cut your shape out making sure your edges are smooth along the way. Now iron on your outline – don’t worry, freezer paper peels right off of fabric!
Let it cool for a few seconds while you get your paint ready. The paint is pretty much the most important element you have going on here. You don’t want a weak glow and you definitely don’t want it to make the clothes stiff or peel off either. I am using glow in the dark paint from Tulip here and it is fabulous! Not only is it great for fabric but it is nontoxic and really glows like crazy. See?
Now squirt some paint out onto a plate or piece of cardboard and apply an even coat over the entire surface inside your outline. *You are going to do this same process with each piece of your skeleton. I have mine divided into 5 pieces – the ribcage and four different leg bones.*
You are going to want to apply 4 or 5 coats to make sure your glow is really vivid, so pull out your hair dryer and do a few quick passes and repeat the painting process over and over until you have a nice thick layer of paint. Do a final run with the hair dryer on cool to make sure your paint is set and peel off the freezer paper.
Check out the finished ribcage – how great is that coverage? *Note: I did use a very small backlight to help bring out my blue here.*
After you have your first piece finished move on to the rest and repeat each step with the lower half of the skeleton.
Once that is finished all you have to do is grab your child, let them put it on and admire your awesome work! Judah absolutely loves his new skeleton suit – he was grinning ear to ear as soon as I let him try it on! And you know what else? He can wear the shirt any time he wants!
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