I’ve been thinking of group/family costumes for us the past few years while the kids are young (and willing to go along with my ideas!). This Bee Family Costume fit the bill for us: cute, inexpensive, and my husband didn’t have to be too silly.
Bees: Basic cylinder/tube pattern. I sewed black and yellow fuzzy strips together horizontally then sewed on a black liner and stuffed in-between them with batting. I put a drawstring at the neck and two drawstrings around the legs (although I totally should have just done one like at the neck, which would have been easier). We wore black shirts, black tights, and black shoes. The antennae were plastic headbands with black pipe cleaners wrapped around fuzzy yellow balls that you can find in the craft section of stores like Wal-mart (or Michael’s). The wings were bent hangers with extra netting from the beekeeper stretched across and hot-glued. Then, I glued felt around the edge for a clean look. I tied the black string in the middle of the wings and “attached” them to us by putting the strings on our arms like a backpack and then tightening them with the plastic drawstring thingie (I know, very technical vocab). Add cute red cheeks with facepaint and you’re set!
Beekeeper: I bought the cheapest painter’s suit from our local hardware store (less than $10) and painted the bee on the front pocket area and a bigger one on the back. Then, I just stapled the netting (that I bought from a fabric store) to my husband’s yardwork hat. Add gloves and workboots and you have a nice masculine touch to your adorable bees!
Wow, I just had to comment and say that these costumes are totally adorable! Great job!