My kids are reaaaalllly into dressing up and playing make-believe, as I’m sure that any parent with kids can relate to. But while I’m dreaming up plans of beautiful wooden chests full of fancy dress up clothes, they are busy growing up lightning fast and finding just as much enjoyment in paper bags and sticks. So when Henry asked me if I could make him a knight costume, I quickly agreed.
A little internet research pulled up some fun ideas, and because I wasn’t in the mood to do any sewing, I settled upon this idea. It has basic instructions and simple illustrations that I was able to pull something together with. Our version turned out super fun, and now I’m excited to make helmets and swords to go along with the theme.
My obsession with saving cardboard paid off nicely, as I had plenty on hand. But really, you could easily use a large cereal box or the like, especially if your kids are smaller.
My method is pretty fancy, as you can see. I just had the kids lay down on top of the boxes, and then I traced around their bodies the shape for the costume.
Voila!
Trace a front and a back piece, then cut them out. I was making two of these, so I have four pieces.
I got into my stash of spray paint, but I really should have brush painted them. I wanted to go quickly and this was easiest. It’s up to you, but you can see in the pics below that the coverage of the cardboard wasn’t all that great, even with two coats. I don’t mind much since I know that two little boys will quickly be banging them up anyways.
So go ahead and paint them however you’d like and leave them to dry for a bit. The next step is to put an insignia of some sort on the front. It really doesn’t matter. You can be as historical or whimsical as you want to be. I printed a Czech lion for Henry’s, in honor of his Czech heritage, and I cut out a simple letter “H” for Harrison.
A little Mod Podge or some good ol’ fashioned white craft glue, and we are good to go. I just used the glue for this. After slathering all over the place, it dries up clear.
After that, I took some black paint and created some faux leather details. Don’t feel like you have to do the same thing, it’s really up to you. And if you wanted to take more time than I was willing to, you could really make the paint job amazing. At this point, I just kinda wanted to be done. =)
Once it’s all dry, punch some holes at the top and the sides, where you painted your “leathers”. I did two holes at the top of each shoulder, and then one on each side of the waist. Thread the holes with some twine, yarn, ribbon, or the like and you’re good to go. I used baling twine…it didn’t look so good. But it worked just fine.
Stick it on a kid and watch them go save a princess from a mean ugly dragon. Helen was more than happy to play the princess…
And just for fun, a pic of what my little savages were up to while I was busy making their childhood fun and creative…
A whirlwind of destruction. *sigh* Older parents tell me that I’ll miss these days…
I’ll have to take their word for it. ;-)
