DIY Lightup Jellyfish Costume

Do you remember when Max was a SCUBA Diver for Halloween? My kid is still in love with all things ocean, so I wasn’t totally surprised he wanted to be a fantastic sea creature for trick-or-treat this year. As long as it was blue. And as long as it lit up. Because he’s 4. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Max the Jellyfish.

This is one of those Halloween costumes you look at and assume you have to be able to sew or paper mâché or something super fancy to make, but really all you need is a hot glue gun and some patience to pull off this super sea creature. And double bonus, this costume lights up! And let’s face it, to Max, that’s pretty much everything.

Here’s what you need to make your own Jellyfish Costume:

• a sombrero
• 1 yard white fabric
• kind of a lot of bubble paper (how much depends on how big of a bell (that’s the technical term for the jellyfish’s head) you want
• packing tape
• 1 yard solid color fabric (more if you’re rocking a big bell)
• 1 yard iridescent fabric
• 3 strands of batter-powered LED lights. (Like these, but whatever you buy, please make sure they won’t get hot before you attach them to your costume.) *These are optional. It’s still an amazing costume without the lights.
• Velcro dots
• Close to a million mesh shower poufs for the tentacles. (Or maybe more like 8.)
• Hot glue gun and plenty of refill sticks.

1. I replaced the braided chin strap on the sombrero with a piece of white tulle. You could use anything–ribbon, fabric, whatever you have–but it’s nice to know that the jellyfish won’t be blown off the wearer’s head easily.
2. Start by covering the bottom of your sombrero with white fabric. I found that it was easiest to glue a 4 inch x 4 inch section, smooth the fabric, move on to the next section. Remember that it doesn’t have to be perfect, in fact, the wrinkles and imperfections make it look even more fluid and, well, jelly like.
3. On the top of the sombrero, fill the space with bubble wrap. Bunch it up, mound it up, and use packing tape to hold it in place, if you need to. Make sure you try it on before you move on to make sure it’s not too heavy or uneven. Remember, you still need to be able to wear this thing all night.
4. Cover your jellyfish bell with the solid color fabric. Use the hot glue gun to attach it to the outside of the rim of the sombrero. Trim the excess, but leave a slight skirt to flow when your jellyfish moves.
5. Now for the lights. Attach the battery pack for the lights to the underside of the sombrero using velcro dots. This will make it easy to reach to turn on and off and to change batteries if you need to. Cut a small hole in the solid color fabric, and run the wire of lights through. Use your packing tape cut into small pieces to secure the lights around the bell. I used 3 strands and attached each one the same way and then wrapped them around the entire jellyfish.
6. Cover the lights and solid color fabric with the shiny, iridescent fabric. Secure it with the hot glue gun the same way you did the solid fabric. And again, leave a skirt. I cut this piece in a wave for effect.
7. Now for the mesh shower poufs. Did you know if you cut off the string that ties these up, they’re actually just long mesh tubes that look just like jellyfish tentacles? I used blue and white ones cut to different lengths and hot glued them around underneath that skirt of fabric. Make sure you leave space at the front of your jellyfish for the wearer to be able to trick-or-treat or, you know, see.

See? Lot’s of steps, but nothing that requires a sewing machine or any special tools. I dressed Max in all black so it looks like he’s a jellyfish just floating over the land.

Are you ready to make your own sea creature? What costume are you making this year?

Remember: I’m taking all my costumes on Lowcountry Live on Monday, October 26. Tune in to see the Hot Air Balloon Pilot, the Light Up Jellyfish, a Spooky Ghost, and Wonder Woman in a kid-sized fashion show! And I’ll have tutorials some of these costumes here in the meantime!