Here’s another cutie-pie costume in our Halloween series- a seashell! It’s guaranteed to have you repeatedly reciting “Under the Sea” lyrics and daydreaming of reggae-dancing anthropomorphic crabs.

Read on to get the details…

Materials needed: Foam, Cardboard, scissors, Hot glue, Spray paint, Canvas Straps, Ruler

Step 1: Create two shell shapes (28 inches by 30 inches) out of cardboard, this will be the base.
Step 2: Cut out five teardrops shapes from foam that vary in length. The two small shapes for the edges should be 16″, the next two should be 21″ and the middle piece should be 26″.
Step 3: When gluing the foam shapes to the cardboard, curve the foam to give the shape some height. This will make the shell look more 3-dimensional. Hot glue each piece of foam to the base of the shell.
Step 4: You will need to cut out more foam piece to fill in the triangular shape at the bottom of the shell. Each of these pieces should be sized to look like a continuation of each of the larger teardrop foam pieces you just glued.
Step 5: Hot glue these pieces into place to finish the shape of the shell.
Step 6: Spray paint the middle portion of the shell with a darker pink. Don’t worry about making it too even.
Step 7: Once the first layer of paint is dry, spray paint over the shape with a light pink. The darker color underneath will create a slight ombre effect.
Step 8: Add canvas straps to connect both of the shell shapes.

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
Special thanks to little R for modeling!