DIY Mandrake Costume, Two Ways

 I knew I wanted a costume that Ocean could wear on his own or in a carrier, and after googling around a bit I found a couple pictures of kids dressed up as mandrakes. None of the kids were strapped to their parents, but I figured I could fiddle with the design and make it work.

For our first set of pictures (when we weren't going anywhere or keeping the costumes on for very long), I had Ocean wear the plant pot. It wasn't super comfortable for me to hold, and he didn't want to stand or walk around in it- he kept trying to sit down.

But doesn't he look so cute?

This would be a great costume for a slightly older child- maybe 3 or 4 years old? They'd have to be old enough that you could bribe or convince them to keep the pot on :) If you put the label on a piece of cardstock or chipboard and hung it around their neck, you could ditch the pot entirely.

The mandrake costume was probably the easiest of this year's costumes to assemble. The hardest part was finding a plastic plant pot at the end of September- I didn't have a lot of choice on size or shape.

The costume pieces:
Leaf Hat: I sewed brown knit fabric to make a tube, then gathered one end into two bunches. I hot glued some fake plant leaves into each bunch, then wrapped yarn around each bunch to hold everything in place. I kept the bunches close together as I wrapped the yarn around them and just kept at it until I liked how it looked. The tube was long enough that I folded a generous cuff and tacked it in place with a couple stitches. I also sewed some black twill tape to the hat so I could tie the hat onto Ocean's head. I knew he'd try to pull it off, so it was definitely a necessary addition.

Brown Shirt: from his closet

Plant Pot: I bought a pot big enough for Ocean to stand inside and cut the bottom off so his legs had some freedom of movement. I used my craft paints to grunge up the pot so it didn't look so brand new and plastic-y. I layered browns, greens, and black until I liked how it looked. I also drilled a few holes near the rim of the pot and ran wire through them to make loops for the ribbons to go through. Ocean didn't like the ribbon straps, or really the pot itself, either. This wasn't unexpected since he's only 15 months old- babies aren't the most cooperative creatures around.

Plant Label: The mandrakes I found online had similar labels, but I made my own, and I like mine better. I printed it on some handmade paper to give it a more rustic look. It would look even better if we had a color printer so that the "Property of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry" portion was in red. I stuck the label to the pot with some super sticky double sided crafting tape.

Brown Pants: from his closet

When party time came, I knew I'd need to have Ocean in the carrier so I wasn't wasting energy chasing after him. I cut the plant pot about in half so it fit over the carrier and around his body. I adjusted the ribbon straps to run under the lip of the pot and out the sides, where I tied them to the straps of the carrier. This kept the pot in place and I didn't have any problems with it moving around. I also put some brown baby leggings on Ocean to keep his little legs warm since pant legs always get hiked up when in the carrier. I think this is my favorite baby wearing costume yet :)

And since you shouldn't handle a mandrake without your dragon hide gloves, here I am fully equipped.

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