Gnome on a Toad Stool Costume

This costume is worn by my 10 year old son. First we worked on the clothes we need to have. We went to Goodwill and bought a blue button down shirt for a few dollars that was big on him and a large belt for $1. We found fun striped socks and small football pants at Goodwill too. Any short pants to make small legs would work. For the beard we bought craft fur at the craft store and then white felt sheets. We also bought a large piece of red felt and used a piece of white oak tag we had for the hat. We rolled the oak tag into a cone shape for the hat and hot glued it together. Then we took the red felt and rolled it around the cone ( we used the oak tag just to give the hat a better structure). We used the glue gun to attach the felt to the hat. You can choose how high you want the hat to be. My son went for the tallest one we could make. Next we made the shape of the beard we wanted and to not be too itchy on his face we cut out the same shape of the beard out of felt and attached the beard to the felt using the glue gun. We attached the ends of the beard to the inside of the hat with the hot glue so it was one piece and easy to get on and off. Next we had to work on the toad stool which we wanted to be the shape of a mushroom. We took a hula hoop and used that as a guide for a circle. We took 2 pool noodles and made the same shape as the hula hoop. We attached the pool noodles into the circle using hot glue and duct tape to secure it. Then we used cardboard to make the dome shape circle for the toad stool and attached it to the pool noodle circle with duct tape leaving a hole in the middle big enough for my son to go over his head. Next we covered the toad stool structure with a fabric red table cloth. We used the hot glue gun and straight pins to secure the fabric so it sat smoothly and tightly over the structure. We cut an X in the center of the fabric over the hold and then hot glued the fabric to the bottom of the hole. We made white circles out of felt and glued them onto the toad stool in a random pattern. After this we used a harness that doesn't stretch much ( we had bought this at a warehouse hardware store years ago for other costumes) and attached the bottom of the straps of the harness to underneath the toad stool with zip ties threaded though the cardboard but not all the way through the fabric. Now it was time for the fake legs. We had a pair of severed legs that we had from other costumes we had made. You can buy these at Halloween stores or online or at party stores during the Halloween season. We put our striped socks onto the feet and then put these through the pants (like dressing the legs). Next we attached the waist/opening of the top of the pants to inside the toad stool with zip ties. We could move the legs around and cross them too but wanted one secured so also zip tied one from the bottom through the toad stool. For the bottom of the toad stool for the stalk/stem piece we bough a piece of white felt fabric and wrapped it around my son't waist like a skirt. We made sure it was high enough to walk safely but also long enough to cover his feet from being seen. To get into the costume we put it over his head and adjusted to harness to hold it in place. Then because the feet weigh down the costume in front, we put a sip tie loose enough for us to slide a ziploc bag of sand through to counter the weight in the front. This helped to keep the toad stool straight. With the harness and weight of the sand bag he didn't have to hold it at all and was able to walk around freely using his hands. Be sure to put the white fabric around the waist first and then put the toad stool on. Lastly put the blue shirt, belt and hat on. People of all ages loved this costume. Children and adults alike are memorized by how he can walk. Kids think the legs are real and puzzled on how it could be possible for him to move if he is sitting. Everyone loves the cuteness of a gnome but enjoyed him sitting on his toad stool so all wanted lots of pictures of him, The harness made it possible to trick or treat as well so neighbors seemed overly generous with their candy giving when seeing him at their doors too. Total cost was approximately was $25 not including the harness that could be picked up for $7-$15.