Bumblebee Costume
By: Heather Mann
Difficulty: Easy
Age: 4 and up
Parental supervision is recommended
Everyone will buzzing with excitement when they see this bumblebee Halloween costume. Can you bee-lieve this simple no-sew costume will take less than an hour to make? All you need is a hoodie, some duct tape, and a few other supplies to make this quick and easy costume.
Discover more easy ideas for outfits -- from spooky to sweet -- in our homemade Halloween costume gallery.
Be sure to visit all of our other ghostly crafts, scary printables, fabulous costume ideas and these spook-tackular Halloween recipes! As well, explore our fall crafts, our great fall recipes and printable activities.
What you'll need:
Main Bee Costume:
- Black hooded sweatshirt
- Yellow duct tape
- 2 yellow chenille stems
- 2 yellow pom-poms
- Pencil
- 1/4" elastic
- Safety pin
- Scissors
- Hot glue gun and hot glue stick
- Rubbing alcohol (optional)
Bumblebee Wings:
- 2 sheets stiff white or yellow felt
- 1 sheet yellow felt
- 1/4" elastic
- Scissors
- Hot glue and hot glue sticks
How to make it:
- Lay sweatshirt flat on work surface. Put a duct tape stripe across the chest, stretching from one sleeve seam to the other. (See photo.)
- Add two or three more stripes of duct tape, equally spaced from each other.
- Add matching stripes on the back of the sweatshirt.
- For antennae, wrap a yellow chenille stem around a pencil to curl it. (See photo.) Fold one end of chenille stem around edge of hood. Tape the end on the underside of hood with a piece of duct tape to secure it in place. (See photo.) Attach a pom-pom to the free end of the chenille stem with hot glue. (See photo.)
- Cut a small slit in the inside layer of the waistband. Attach the end of the 1/4" elastic to a safety pin, and thread the elastic through the waistband until it goes all the way around and comes out through the slit. (See photo.) Cinch the elastic so the waistband is slightly gathered, but not uncomfortable. Tie the ends of the elastic together and clip excess. Tuck the knot inside the waistband.
- To make wings, use the pattern to cut two large teardrop shapes out of stiff white or yellow felt. Cut a smaller football shape ("center piece") out of plain yellow felt, and a 1x3" rectangle from the same felt. Cut two 12" pieces of 1/4" elastic.
- To assemble, lay the center piece good side down on work surface. Hot glue wings to the center piece. Hot glue each 12" piece of elastic to the center of the wings in a large loop, then hot glue the small rectangle of felt over everything to hide the edges of the elastic. (See photo.)
- To wear wings, put your child's arms through the elastic straps like a backpack.
Tips:
- For best results cut duct tape with scissors instead of ripping it. Parents only: If your scissors get gummed up from the tape's adhesive, use a bit of rubbing alcohol and a piece of tissue to clean the blade.
- If you don't want to make wings, you can often find readymade wings in the dress-up area of the toy aisle at a department store or dollar store, or if you want to make translucent wings, you can follow the instructions for the Fairy Princess wings.
- For a rounder, fuller bee, stuff the sweatshirt with recycled grocery bags. For toddlers, stuff costumes with polyester fiber fill stuffing.
- Wear this costume with neutral bottoms: jeans, black pants, or tights are all good choices.
- When you're done with the costume, just remove the duct tape and the elasticized waistband, and your hooded sweatshirt is ready for everyday wear.


