DIY Felt Flamingo and Peacock Costumes

     For Halloween this year, we have a bit of a bird theme going on this year. One child wanted to be a peacock and the other a flamingo. I love how creative they were in their choices so using a little bit of creativity and about $10 of supplies for each costume, I made each girl their respective bird costumes using a LOT of felt and a few other things.

    When my daughter told me that she wanted to be a peacock for Halloween I knew that I had my work cut out for me but I was excited to try. This costume is not for the faint of heart. It is time consuming but the supplies cost me less than $10.  I saw some amazing ideas on Pinterest using real feathers but the costumes must have cost a fortune and I really don't think that is necessary for Halloween. Really time-wise it didn't end up being too bad because I just threw on a show on Netflix and binge watched. The great thing about this costume is that it can be worn like a cape (feathers down) or like a backpack (feathers up) so your child is comfortable during their Halloween activities. 

     My youngest wanted to be a flamingo which I knew would be a fun costume to make. The flamingo costume was even easier and took far less time!  We added a flamingo head wall hanging from Hobby Lobby that my girls wanted for their bedroom (we just tuck it up under the tutu and tie it around her shoulders with ribbon but it isn't necessary to have this part of the costume.) 

Supplies needed for the Peacock Costume

1 1/2 yards green felt

Stretchy elastic (for straps--enough to create two shoulder straps and possibly two wrist straps and for headband)

Royal Blue Felt

Aqua Felt

Tan Felt

Dark Thread

3 Sheets Plastic Canvas

Ribbon + Velcro for cape straps

1/2 Yard Fabric (Doesn't matter what kind, it is to secure the plastic canvas to the peacock costume.

2 Small "peacock" feathers + Black Peacock Head Feathers (I bought all of mine at Hobby Lobby)

Peacock Costume Simple Instructions

-Measure the length of your child from their shoulders to their waist. Also measure their wingspan with their arms out.

-Using about a 1/2 yard of the green felt (give or take, it depends on how long and wide you need your base piece to be.)

-Trace peacock feather parts and sew them together, offsetting the layers slightly so each shows, with royal blue on top, aqua, tan, and green. I made about 120 of these. Trim excess thread.

-Starting with the curved part of the base, sew the feathers onto the base in rows. 

-Trace the plastic canvas to fit the curve of the base. You may have to sew a few sheets of plastic canvas together. 

-Cut a piece of fabric to the same measurements as the curve plus a half-foot to create a pocket for the plastic canvas. Sew the plastic canvas inside of the pocket.

-Attach straps to the feather side so that your child can wear the feathers like a backpack.

-Attach ribbons with velcro to the bottom to create the "cape" version for the feathers. 

-I attached two pockets on either side of the peacock costume to hold dowels to help the tail stay up. We haven't actually had to use them though because it stays up on mostly by itself thanks to the plastic canvas. 

-To create the peacock mask I looked at a few pictures of peacocks (both real peacocks) and peacock masks on Pinterest. I then just sketched this mask that I thought might work well enough. On the part where there are feathers sticking out from the side I added actual peacock feathers as well as some black peacock looking feathers on the top. Basically I just cut the different colors for the mask and leveled them. I used the fancy stitch options on my sewing machine to make some cute patterns. Next I measured my daughters head and attached the elastic.  

Supplies and Instructions for a Simple Flamingo Costume

Wings + Mask

1/2 yard hot pink felt
2 squares shiny salmon sparkly felt
1 1/2 yards light pink felt
Elastic for wrists and shoulder straps and headband
Small piece of black felt for Flamingo Eyes and Nose
Pink Feathers (Optional, I just had them sitting around)

Tutu
1 yard hot pink felt
1 yard light pink felt
1 yard other pink felt
Elastic for waist

Simple Instructions
-Cut out the base for the wings (from 1/2 yard of light pink felt) in whatever shape you desire that generally looks "bird shaped." I measured my daughter's arm-span before doing so as well as the length between her shoulders and waist.
-Cut out tons and tons of feathers (about 1 yards worth) from the light pink felt + hot pink + shiny felt.
-Starting with the bottom of the wings (curved part) attach the feathers in layers using a sewing machine.
-Attach either a ribbon or elastic shoulder straps and wrist straps
-To make the mask I just looked at pictures of a flamingo and layered the feathers in levels then added a beak and eyes and the elastic.
-The tutu is so easy, measure the waist and sew the elastic together.
-Using a paper towel roll, put the elastic band around it and then loop pieces of felt through. (Cut the felt the length and width you wish the tutu to be, generally based on how tall your child is.)

Exploring Anasazi Ruins

For Fall Break this year we wanted to go somewhere fairly warm where we could camp and hike and not sweat too much or freeze to death. The Four Corners area of Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico fit the bill perfectly! It is beautiful there during this time of the year. We camped on free BLM land, hiked to several Anasazi Indian ruins, and visited Four Corners, and Monument Valley. Being a former history teacher, I'm a big proponent of giving kids as many hands-on experiences related to history as possible and this trip definitely provided that opportunity. Until this trip the oldest buildings I've ever visited were in London and Paris. Who knew that I could find buildings older than those in my own backyard? 

The first ruin that we visited appeared out of nowhere in the beautiful red stone cliffs while we were hiking. It was my first time ever visiting Anasazi ruins and it was very exciting to suddenly see the ruins. The first picture is a panorama that shows the stone structure as well as the cliff walls where there were a lot of pictographs, and a rather steep portion of cliff that the Anasazi had chiseled moki steps into to make the crossing possible. 

The sun on the beautiful red-rock while we were hiking. 

Our kids are finally old enough where we have brief stretches when both are hiking on their own to feet without complaining--those moments are perfect. 

This ruin had a few beautiful metates and several shards of pottery and corn cobs. 

One of the coolest things that we saw were the "finger-print" markings of the Anasazi that built this structure. 

While we were exploring the ruins we were able to watch this beautiful sunset. I couldn't help but imagine what life must have been like for the Anasazi when they lived here at the time, I'll bet they witnessed many beautiful sunsets from this view. 

We awoke bright and early on the second day of our trip and headed to the Four Corners Monument. I'm still kicking myself for not getting a good picture of the New Mexico sign, it is the only state that I hadn't visited yet. 

My oldest daughter saw people doing the splits to be in all four states at once. She pulled it of with ease. My three-year old on the other hand tried really hard, maybe when she's a little taller. 

Around the monument there are vendor stalls where several beautiful hand-made Navajo items are sold. My girls were thrilled when their dad agreed to buy them necklaces made with beads and juniper berries.

The Cholla Cactus plants were beautiful, and very sharp. We got a demonstration on that.  

The road leading to Monument Valley was stunning. It was a bit too late in the day to pay the entrance fee and tour the park so we opted to just drive around the outside. 

Then for fun we went off-roading and discovered this beautiful peak. We've never seen anything like it in the area before. 

Our final hike of the trip started with a little misdirection, but we did stumble upon this ancient granary, and a very cool rock formation with a few hundred yards worth of natural waterfall pools in the sandstone. I would bet the Anasazi used this as a water source. 

My kids had a blast hiking up the sandstone. 

The final ruin that we toured was equally as amazing as the first. This one was located inside a large cave. At some point in the last 1,000 years there were some rockfalls but much of the cave remained undamaged. 

The remains of a kiva.