Pinterest Inspired | DIY Costume: SCUBA Diver

I had so much fun with last month’s Pinterest 30 Days that I’m going to be trying out pins more often. But I have some awesome company, and most everything is better with friends. So look for Adventures in Pinterest posts, like this one, once a month. I’ll take an interesting, already pinned project, try it out, and let you know how it goes. Then, I’ll be linking up with Jess at Chaos and Love, Wendy at Wendy Nielsen: Writing a New Story, and Megan at Mama Bub. Want to play along? Work on your own project, write about it, link up right here with me starting October 30th!

Maxwell is full of himself, and he idolizes SCUBA divers. Why? How? I don’t know. But it’s all he wanted to be Halloween. I swear. He didn’t even think about being a fireman. He didn’t flinch when I asked if he wanted to be a super hero. Nope. He wanted to be a SCUBA Diver. But here’s the thing, the SCUBA Diver costume is not something you can find at Target.

So where do I turn when I need to make something super cool for Trick-or-Treat SCUBA Style? Pinterest, of course. I found this pin from Real Simple, and thought it was a great place to start with my DIY Costume.

And I love the idea here. Don’t get me wrong, but there’s a lot missing from the Real Simple costume. Max needed flippers. He needed a wet suit. And what about a regulator (what SCUBA divers breathe through)? I used this pin as a spring board, a jumping off point to something so much cooler.

So while my husband was spray painting two soda bottles silver, I hot glued some straps to a piece of cardboard about the same size as Max’s back. When the bottles were good and dry, I glued them to the cardboard too, opposite the straps. Jason painted the lids of the bottles black and drilled some small holes in them. I found a three-way pipe connector and some thin black tubing in the plumbing section at Lowes to look like air tubes. Again, I hot glued it all into place.

The regulator is another, smaller plastic bottle: think large water bottle. This one was spray painted all black and cut down so it was just the top of the bottle, and then I glued the cap on. I punched a hole in the side with a hole punch, ran the tubing through, and secured it with duct tape. To close off the open end, I cut circles out of felt, black and green, and glued it all together. This typically dangles about chest level.

I found a black shirt and pants and used bright green duct tape to add stripes up the arms and legs to make it look more like a wet suit. (Confession: I found the pants in the girls department. Next to the jeggings. Not kidding.)

The only sewing I did on the whole costume was for the flippers. I cut out some felt in flipper shapes out of felt, and then I did a couple quick stitches to attach some elastic to the felt. They fit around his shoes, so he can Halloween Parade at school and Trick-or-Treat and not trip or get weird Halloween-costume blisters.

Of course, no SCUBA costume is complete without a mask. Max already had that, because, well, he’s the real deal.

What Pinterest Adventures have you been on this month? Come share them! I’m linked up right here starting October 30! And be ready, this is going to be a monthly thing, yo.