American Girl Box Costume

My oldest has gone through a long list of ideas for what she wants to be for Halloween.  She started off with wanting to be Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz.  After checking out Target and the Halloween store, it was adding up to be about $50 for everything she wanted.  For me, that is just a crazy amount to spend for something she was going to wear for a few hours.  Plus I think Halloween is the perfect excuse to use some creativity and imagination to create your own costume.  After moving on from Dorothy, we were inspired by her most recent birthday.  Her grandmother had bought her an American Girl doll that looked like her.  Her youngest sister had taken the front of the box and walked around with it up to her face, making it look like she was the doll in the box.  From that, our costume idea of an American Girl still in its box was formed.

I found the perfect size box by visiting our Dick's sporting goods store and asked for a box that their golf bags are delivered in.  They were just going to throw it away, so they were happy to give it to me.  I painted the top, back, and two sides with red spray paint.  I painted the front of the box in a bright pink.  I used the lid of a large plastic bowl to trace a circle on the front of the box.  Cut out the circle with a box cutter. 

I used white Duck tape to create the white outlines all the way around the box.  Tape around the top, sides, and bottom edges of the box with half the tape on the front of the box and half being folded over the box corner.  I also used it to finish off the edge of the circle opening as well.  Place half the tape around the front edge of the circle, folding the other half towards the back side of the circle.  You may need to make slits in the back half of the tape as you go to make the tape lay flatter. 

Now it's time to add your details.  I bought a combo pack of cardstock that had an assortment of red and pink papers.  I printed three different sized stars off the internet and traced them onto my cardstock.  I cut a variety of sizes and colors.  After arranging them on the sides of my box, I used Mod Podge to keep them in place.  I also found an American Girl logo that I printed off the internet as well and used Mod Podge to glue it to the front of the box.  I used word art in MS Word to create an outline of my daughter's name and the 8+ detail.  I cut it out and again used Mod Podge and a foam brush to adhere it to the front of the box. 

My American Girl box already had a small handle hole.  I made this whole a little larger so she could still hold out her hand and treat bag when trick-or-treating.  On the other side of the box, on the inside, I made a handle out of duct tape for her to hold up the box as she walked.  Between the hand hole, the inside handle, and the snug fit of the box, it shouldn't be going anywhere.  The box is cut short enough, above her knees, to make walking no problem. 

We were both quite happy with how the American Girl box came together.  After the painting was done, the rest came together pretty quickly, finishing it in an afternoon.  I love that it's a creative costume that no one else in the neighborhood will have.  Happy Halloween!