Paper Mache Cabbage Patch Doll Costume

After viewing some of the pre-teen costumes in the store for my 11 year old daughter I was bummed. Nothing was appropriate for her age. She either repeated her early years of costumes as princesses and ladybugs and fairies or she matured quickly and looked like a friday night call girl, lol. I have always loved cabbage patches and was born in 83 and grew up when they were the “it” thing.

When I had my own daughter I passed down some of my old dolls and in no time they had made their own way back onto the scene, even cooler. So when we discussed costumes and making our own it was her idea to put my creative skills to the test and doll her up in her very own giant cabbage patch costume.

We started with the head which I found to be the most difficult. Using a beach ball we paper matched it to form the round part of the head leaving a small opening for what would later be her head.

After four layers of this we then added styrofoam for the cheeks and details for the face. Afterwards, we added ‘fast mache’ which I bought at a local craft store to help form the face and mold it.

Once it set up and dried I then sanded it lightly and finished it with flesh colored paint. Painted the facial features with basic acrylic paint and cut holes for breathing and seeing through the mask. I used yarn to loop into the “skull” of the mask. This took a very long time. Easiest part, but the most time consuming.

We then just added bibs a few pieces of felt glued together for her cpk converse shoes, an iron on cabbage patch kids transfer to the front of the bibs and tah dah! It was a lot of fun to make but very time consuming.

You would want to start this in advance, it’s not a last minute thing. My daughter loves pretending to laugh and shake her head and suck her thumb in this costume. We haven’t been trick or treating to hear any feedback but our social media friends loved it and found it pretty awesome.

I must admit that the first head was a failure because we rushed it and frustration caused me to punt and kick the first head across our back yard.

Lessons learned- Time is everything! Regardless of all, my daughter is proud of this costume and that makes me feel pretty awesome!