Butter-Fly Wordplay Costume

I recently transferred to a different office within my company, so when I heard that my new office was having a Halloween costume contest, I knew I needed to make a great impression! My husband and I do a couple’s costume every year, but since he doesn’t work in my office, I knew my costume had to stand alone. I knew it needed to be original and I wanted it to reflect my creativity and my fun-loving personality. So I decided to be a beautiful “butter fly,” a fly in a stick of butter. So funny!

When I got the idea, I couldn’t wait to tell my husband, Isaac. He loved it, so we headed out to grab everything we would need for a DIY “Butter Fly” costume.

Supplies:

Black yoga pants and a black hoodie from Goodwill.
A black tank top I already owned and black toe shoes that I already owned.
1 pair of bee wings from the 99 cents store.
1 cardboard box.
Yellow craft paint.
Red craft paint.
Black spray paint.
Green spray pain.
Black Sharpie marker.
2 dome lids from Starbucks (I asked for the smallest size they had).
Box cutter.
Packing tape.
Black yarn.
1 Super Husband.

Process:

Isaac taped the top of the cardboard box and painted it yellow. It took a couple of coats. He cut a hole in the top for my head to fit through and he cut holes in the sides for my arms. While that paint was drying, he spray painted my wings black. Every step of the way, he was happy to help me and he agreed that the end product was going to be pretty cool! I loved watching him work on it because I knew he was just as excited as I was!

When the yellow paint was dry, I painted the word “BUTTER” down the front of the box, and above it, I wrote “Grade AA,” like it says on a stick of butter. Isaac was determined to make this look as good as possible, so he measured 8 equal portions of the box and I painted lines, indicating the teaspoon amounts.

He fastened the wings to the back of the box by threading the arm loops of the wings through the cardboard and tying them in place.

I coated the insides of the Starbucks lids with green spray paint. Once this dried, Isaac carefully drew hexagon patterns on the outside of the lids with a Sharpie marker to make the complex eyes. I carefully used a box cutter to cut slits in the sides of the lids, to thread black yarn through. With both eyes on a string of yarn, I simply tied the yarn around my head like a mask.

My “butterfly” costume included my black clothing, the box, and the fly eyes.

I loved making this costume because my husband and I did it together. I loved seeing my creative vision come to life and I loved watching him find creative ways to bring it all together. We are a great team and this was a lot of fun for us to do together.

On the morning of our Halloween party at work, I felt like a kid at Christmas! I was so proud of the work Isaac did and of what we both accomplished together and I couldn’t wait to show my coworkers. Because I had also baked a brain cake for our potluck (and I had also agreed to bring my crock pot for a coworker to use), I was unable to manage the cake and the crock pot, while wearing my costume, so my husband agreed to come with me to help me carry everything. The excitement was incredible. I couldn’t help from jumping and smiling from ear to ear. Isaac was having a great time just watching me have a great time!

When we finally walked through the door to my office, everyone ohed and ahed over my cake (it did look like a brain, after all!), and they loved my costume! Immediately, people were asking to take my picture and telling me how clever my costume was. For days, I had been “setting them up” by telling them I was coming as a butterfly, with no elaboration. So when they saw my version of a “butterfly,” they got the pun and thought it was really unique and funny.

I was feeling pretty confident, but as more and more people showed up in their costumes, my confidence was starting to waiver. Finally, it was time to vote! We all were emailed a link to our “ballots,” a survey on surveymonkey.com. I shamelessly cast a vote in my own favor and waited for the results.

Some time passed and I left my desk to use the restroom. Apparently, as I left, an email was sent out announcing the winner. When I came back, everyone started saying, “Rachel’s back!” I was confused about why they were so excited to see me back from the restroom, when finally someone said, “You won! You won first place!” I was so excited! I jumped up and down and thanked the entire office for their votes! As it turns out, I won by almost twice as many votes as the next person!

My first-place prize is a half day off from work and the pride of seeing my creativity and Isaac’s and my teamwork pay off! I texted him right away to let him know I won and of course, he was thrilled! I can’t wait to use my ½ day on one of his days off, so we can spend that time together! He’s an EMT, so our schedules don’t always align, but now we have an adventure to plan! Maybe a head start into a weekend getaway!

I hope you enjoy our DIY “butter fly” costume and that it inspires you to be creative, and perhaps to work with someone you love to make something you’ll both be really proud of!

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