From the moment my daughter April cracked her first smile — a wide, brilliant grin like the shape of a capital D on its side – I had a vision. She was only 10 weeks old at the time, and Halloween was over four months away, but that smile (not to mention April’s adorable baby-chubby legs and my affinity for cult films of the 80s) inspired me. In an instant, I decided upon her very first Halloween costume: the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man of Ghostbusters fame!
Caring for a young baby is no small task, and April was my first, I was exhausted. I hesitate to admit it here, but I would have loved nothing more than to make the costume of my dreams appear with the click of a mouse. Much to my disappointment, though, there was no such thing as a “Stay-Puft-Marshmallow Baby Costume” anywhere on the internet. Believe me, I looked! The costume had to happen, though. Another year or two and I knew she would be asserting her own preferences for (presumably) less “embarrassing” getups. So, unwilling to relinquish my precious idea, I figured I would have to whip something up myself. Not to worry, I come from a long line of crafters, so I did what my own mother would have done… I fired up the glue gun!
A few trips to the local fabric store (Winmill Fabrics in downtown Boston), a bit of trial and error, lots of laughs, and about 17 sticks of glue later, the costume came to life! We logged plenty of miles with it, too. April was a sport and wore it three days in a row to three different parties. I even cobbled together last-minute Ghostbusters outfits for my husband and myself so that we could have a family costume theme. It was a tremendous success – nobody could get enough of that little marshmallow. We even won the annual costume competition at my husband’s office party! Nearly a year later, people still talk about April the Stay-Puft baby! April is already quite the vocal girl and FAR too mobile to wear such a cumbersome, puffy disguise, so I’m really glad I stuck to my guns (or, should I say, my proton pack?) and made her first Halloween such a memorable occasion. Hopefully one day she will look back on the photos and be happy that her mom had a sense of humor and a knack for crafting!
(Note: Please see the rest of my entry for crafting steps).
The Body (Puff-tastic!)
The key to this costume was the PUFF factor. I purchased about three yards of thick white jersey fabric, a 3-pack of white cotton baby onesies, and a pair of white cotton footed baby pants. Oh, and a big bag of pillow stuffing, of course!
My first thought was to overlay jersey fabric onto the trunk of the onesie (glued down at the edges), stuff it with the filling, and glue it down directly to the onesie. Then I would do the same with the arms of the onesie, and then the pants. I would make “rolls” for the arms and legs, to mimic the movie character (see photo). Once I completed the trunk portion, though, I realized there wasn’t much room to put a baby inside of it. It would have been a tight squeeze, but doable. Then I had a thought… GASP… what about the unexpected diaper change?!?! We would need a costume that allowed for a quicker (and cleaner) escape. Back to the drawing board!
At this point I still had 2 onesies left, and plenty of fabric and stuffing. Plus, I hadn’t messed with the pants yet. I decided to use the onesie and the pants as the foundation garments and make every other component of the costume easily removable. Never know when your six-month-old baby will require you to make a hasty getaway!
For the body, I crafted one long, flat, “pillow-like” piece that would wrap around April’s middle and close at the back with a Velcro flap. I repeated the same process for each arm and leg, except for these pieces I added “rolls.”
Here is a shot of April getting ready — you can see what she was wearing underneath all of the puffiness.
The Accessories (Felt-errific!)
Mr. Stay Puft has three key accessories – a bib, a scarf, and a hat. In this case, April’s size was an advantage, because I could make everything with standard 8×10 pieces of felt (plus some ribbon and puff paint).
For the bib and scarf, I combined them into one garment by using a thick orange ribbon in place of the scarf and securing it to the underside of the bib with glue. The bib itself was one piece of royal blue felt with a semicircular cutout at the neck. I glued two pieces of thin royal blue ribbon at the back for a tie closure. I made a white border around the edge of the bib using opaque puff paint. Worked like a charm!
The hat was just a touch trickier. Again, I was able to use a single piece of felt (white felt this time). I cut it into a very large circle and then made notches all around the edge. I could fold these “flaps” inward to make what almost looked like a policeman hat. I made a ring of wide grosgrain royal blue ribbon, and I tucked the edges of the felt flaps inside the ring and secured it with glue. Again, I added thin royal blue ribbon to the hat so that I could tie it under April’s chin. Last but not least, I topped the hat with Mr. Stay-Puft’s trademark orange ribbon (and a “button” of blue felt, left over from the bib). And, of course, I monogrammed the hat with white puff paint.
Voila!!
Video –
http://youtu.be/dUGOXT2Rg4g
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So adorable! great job!
So adorable! great job!
How did you make the “roll” like appearance for arms, legs? You tie a rubber band around the middle or use twine?
How did you make the “roll” like appearance for arms, legs? You tie a rubber band around the middle or use twine?
Sorry for the late reply, I actually didn’t even know that my entry was posted on this site! I just googled Stay-puft baby costume (have a friend who wants to try to make it for a slightly older child) and poof, there was my daughter! Ha! So for the arms and legs what I did was, I cut enough fabric to cover the surface area of two rolls, plus backing. I made the first roll by stuffing as much as i could and laying down a line of hot glue to hold it down tightly and slightly “tucked under” the puff, for extra “roll” effect… does that make any sense? It’s hard without a visual. Anyway I waited for that line of glue to dry completely, and then I did the second roll. Again the key is stuffing as much in as you can, and laying the glue line narrower than the roll so the stuffing kind of balloons out. I don’t think you could achieve that as well with a rubber band (and I would also be a little worried about circulation). If you want detail photos I can dig the costume out of our basement storage and send them. Hope this helps! Happy costuming!! (P.S. April wants to be a blue whale this year… and I now own a sewing machine, so should be another entertaining Halloween adventure)
Yes please! Its just the arms, legs I’m having trouble with. Lol! You can email me at flaca_81@msn.com. Everything else came out cute. With the extra material I made a mini hat for my LO candy pail which I am making it look like Stay Puft’s face. :))
Hi there :) I’m attempting to make this costume as well and would love more photos and some guidance… I have never made a costume before… I got the body or trunk if you will down I’m just wondering how to make the hat to have the puff look and help and pictures would be sooo wonderful! And a whale hehe that’s interesting hope it works out for you! I’m so excited to see my little man all puffed out! You did such a great job! My email is justasunflower9@aol.com thanks
I am to, please email me at alschrodty01@hotmail.com.
Thanks!
Can you send me more details and pictures also to kareiners@netscape.net thanks!
Yes please! Its just the arms, legs I’m having trouble with. Lol! You can email me at flaca_81@msn.com. Everything else came out cute. With the extra material I made a mini hat for my LO candy pail which I am making it look like Stay Puft’s face. :))
Hi there :) I’m attempting to make this costume as well and would love more photos and some guidance… I have never made a costume before… I got the body or trunk if you will down I’m just wondering how to make the hat to have the puff look and help and pictures would be sooo wonderful! And a whale hehe that’s interesting hope it works out for you! I’m so excited to see my little man all puffed out! You did such a great job! My email is justasunflower9@aol.com thanks
I am to, please email me at alschrodty01@hotmail.com.
Thanks!
I think this is adorable! If you’ve sent additional details/pictures, could you also please send them to me? My email is mandymoonpie@yahoo.com. Thank you!
I think this is adorable! If you’ve sent additional details/pictures, could you also please send them to me? My email is mandymoonpie@yahoo.com. Thank you!
Absolutely adorable! A friend asked if I could make this costume for her 6 month old because she was looking everywhere and couldn’t find it. He would make the perfect little stay puft man!! I didn’t know where to start until I saw your post. Pleaseeee send details to me at cheraddesign@gmail.com so I can make this correctly and send to my friend. It would make her dream come true! Thanks
My version of Emma’s costume came out super cute! Thank you Lauren for clearing up my confusion lol. Anyone else needing help can email me at velindainocencio@yahoo.com
vlovesem is my instagram ID where I posted a pic of my daughter as Stay Puft.
Could you please email the details and some more pics, maybe of the back. Thank you so much!
My email address is caseyldfoster[at]gmail[dot]com
My version of Emma’s costume came out super cute! Thank you Lauren for clearing up my confusion lol. Anyone else needing help can email me at velindainocencio@yahoo.com
vlovesem is my instagram ID where I posted a pic of my daughter as Stay Puft.
Please could you email me the details, I really want to make this outfit for my baby boy this Halloween (I know it’s early but it will probably take me ages). It’s lorimoly@yahoo.co.uk
Thank you x
Could you please email the details and some more pics, maybe of the back. Thank you so much!
My email address is caseyldfoster@gmail.com
Omg!! This is so awesome! I am also attempting this for my son. Could you also send me the pictures. Kaotiik520@gmail.com. thank you so much.
Omg!! This is so awesome! I am also attempting this for my son. Could you also send me the pictures. Kaotiik520@gmail.com. thank you so much.
Omg!! This is so awesome. I am also attempting this for my 1 yr old, could you also email me the pictures as well. Kaotiik520@gmail.com.
Omg!! This is so awesome. I am also attempting this for my 1 yr old, could you also email me the pictures as well. Kaotiik520@gmail.com.
Thank you for the tutorial. I made this for my 8month old and she was the hit of the party. We all (my husband, myself, and my 3 yr. old son) dressed as ghostbusters and she was the Stay Puft marshmallow man being pushed in a stroller (with an ECTO-1 license tag).
Thank you for the tutorial. I made this for my 8month old and she was the hit of the party. We all (my husband, myself, and my 3 yr. old son) dressed as ghostbusters and she was the Stay Puft marshmallow man being pushed in a stroller (with an ECTO-1 license tag).
This outfit is so cute! We are trying to make the same costume… Could you please send detailed instructions and pictures to me at dralson@hotmail.com Thank you so much!
This outfit is so cute! We are trying to make the same costume… Could you please send detailed instructions and pictures to me at dralson@hotmail.com Thank you so much!
Omg!! Awesome! Im attempting this also for my one year old. Could you also email me the pictures as well. Kaotiik520@gmail.com
Omg!! Awesome! Im attempting this also for my one year old. Could you also email me the pictures as well. Kaotiik520@gmail.com
This is just too cute! I am going to make this costume for my 2 year old daughter. If you’ve sent additional details/pictures, could you also please post them here. Thank you!
This is just too cute! I am going to make this costume for my 2 year old daughter. If you’ve sent additional details/pictures, could you also please send them to me? My email is amberlynn0523@gmail.com. Thank you!
Love this! I want to make this for my son’s 9 month pictures in October. Could you email me the pictures as well? d.bernard711[at]hotmail[dot]com
Love this! I want to make this for my son’s 9 month pictures in October. Could you email me the pictures as well? d.bernard711@hotmail.com
I am not this crafty. Would you be willing to sell this costume or make one “for hire”? :) I’m guessing no, but thought I’d ask. It’s awesome :)
I am not this crafty. Would you be willing to sell this costume or make one “for hire”? :) I’m guessing no, but thought I’d ask. It’s awesome :)
I would love to make this for my son too! Could you post more detailed pictures & directions?
I would love to make this for my son too! Could you email me detailed pictures & directions? Megs 728 at aol.com
I can not even sew a button but would love to dress my 6 month old son in this for Halloween. Please help! I am willing to pay :)
I can not even sew a button but would love to dress my 6 month old son in this for Halloween. Please help! I am willing to pay :)
Can you maybe post more details and pictures? Thanks!
I’m trying to make this for my 7 month old son. I need all the help I can get. Can you please post here details on how to make this? I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you
I’m trying to make this for my 7 month old son. I need all the help I can get. Can you please send me details on how to make this? I would greatly appreciate it. My email address is tracycarosella@gmail.com. Thank you
Thank you so, so much for this tutorial!! I have been looking everywhere online for one!
Can someone on here E-mail me any details they have on how to make this. I’m a visual person and can’t figure this out and I feel like an idiot. lilsummers@aol.com
Very tired first time mommy