Check out our latest costume idea for Halloween- a classic, kidney-shaped swimming pool- complete with floaties! I love how it is both graphical and playful. Plus, any costume that manages to incorporate a barbie doll is surely a winner.

Read on for the details…

Materials: Cardboard, box cutter, silver and mint spray paint, white acrylic paint, hot glue, accessories (mini pool floats, barbies, mini beach balls, paper waves, umbrellas), canvas straps, swimming cap/goggles

Step 1: Cut out three large kidney bean shapes out of cardboard.
Step 2: Spraypaint the back and front of one cardboard kidney bean silver and the front and back of another kidney bean mint.
Step 3: For the third kidney bean, cut out the middle – leaving one inch around the edge. This will be the edge of the pool, so paint it silver. Once it it dry, hot glue it on top of the blue kidney bean.
Step 4: Build the diving board! Cut out a long rectangular piece of cardboard. Add height by gluing a stack of smaller cardboard pieces together. Paint it white, and hot glue it to the edge of the pool.
Step 5: For the ladder, paint to long strips of cardboard silver. Roll it into a thin tube and hot glue in place. Bend them to look like the railings of a pool lader. Add two straight pieces of cardboard for the steps on the ladder. Glue one end to the edge of the pool and one into the water. (You may need to cut out a small hole in the carboard so that it’s easier to glue in place.)
Step 6: Add fun details like mini pool floats, barbies, mini beach balls, paper waves, or umbrellas. Hot glue into place.
Step 7: Hot glue canvas straps to the front/back of the kidney beans so they create a sandwich board. Pair with a swimming cap, goggles and sandals!

Under the costume, we recommend wearing solid pants/shirt in a coordinating color. For kids, Primary has great basics in a rainbow of colors!

Photography by Paul Ferney for Oh Happy Day
Art Directed by Irene Yu
Styled by Amy Moss
Produced by Alison Piepmeyer
Crafting by Mercy Favrow
Thanks to little L for modeling!