Ghostbusters and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man Family Costumes

Halloween is our absolute favorite! My husband and I are always trying to come up with fun costume ideas and we love to use movies, especially ones that we grew up watching, as our inspiration. This year, we thought it would be fun to pay tribute to Ghostbusters; and, since our son just has started walking well, we thought it would be so cute to see him stomp around as the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.

For my sons Stay Puft Marshmallow Man costume, I pulled out the sewing machine! The majority of the material used for his hat and costume is a white cotton fabric filled with polyester fiberfill to provide the “puffiness” of the outfit. Multiple stitches were sewn along the legs and arms of the outfit to provide the “rolls” of the costume.

The outer band of the hat is a blue satin material and the inner lining is elastic so that the hat would fit properly and stay on. White Puffy Paint was used to write “Stay Puft” across the front of the hat and a piece of red satin ribbon was sewn on top for the tassel.

Blue satin material was also used to make the handkerchief that lies over the chest of the outfit and white satin ribbon was sewn along the borders of this handkerchief. There was also a red satin ribbon sewn underneath the handkerchief to make the tie of the outfit.

Being that my son is only 18 months old, this outfit was made with diaper changes in mind. So, while the outfit does have a zipper in the back with a clasp at the top for reinforcement, the inseam is made of Velcro for easy diaper access. He did wear a pair of white tennis shoes that he already had to match the rest of his outfit.

As for the Ghostbusters outfits that my husband and I wore, we used a lot of materials that we already owned. My husband works for a power company; so, our khaki jumpsuits are actually fire retardant jumpsuits that he wears for work at times. We took some black electrical tape and covered the company logos and wrote our last name “Hendricks” in red Puffy Paint over the tape. We did purchase the Ghostbusters t-shirts online to wear underneath the jumpsuits. We both wore black boots and black cooking gloves that we already owned to go with our outfits.

In terms of the Ghostbusters Proton Backpacks, we used our imaginations! We had been planning these costumes for a while so, we waited until the back to school merchandise went on sale back in September, and purchased two black backpacks. The rest of our Proton Backpack ensembles consisted of air vac hoses that were attached to black toilet plungers, and glow sticks that we placed in the ends of the plunger handles; all of which was attached with lots of electrical tape.

We tried to mimic the original Ghostbusters and Stay Puft Marshmallow Man costumes from the movie as best we could with a budget in mind. Overall, we had less than $100 invested in all of the outfits and accessories.

Everyone loved our costumes, especially our sons. The main compliment of the night was in regards to how creative we had been! The Proton Backpacks were a hit too; everyone wanted to take a look at them.

Halloween is such a fun Holiday for our family, and dressing up is the majority of the excitement for us. Of all the costumes that we have chosen to wear over the years, the Ghostbusters and Stay Puft Marshmallow Man were hands down our favorites! There is just something so satisfying about a D.I.Y. costume! We feel so proud and accomplished about the fact that our costumes for Halloween 2015 were such a success, and we hope that you will definitely consider us for the winners of this costume contest!

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