Little Ladybug

We don't celebrate Halloween or go trick or treating. In fact Halloween is the one thing I don't like about autumn. But our church sometimes has a harvest festival with games and candy for the kids in a safe environment and no scary/gory costumes are allowed. Biblical characters/ things/ animals are encouraged if you want to dress up.
Last year Little Girl was just starting to walk and I made her a peacock costume. So cute with the long flowing tail and bright colors. This year I asked (on Oct 30!!) what she wanted to be. She said a ladybug. After glancing through what I had available at home, we ran to Wal-Mart and Hobby Lobby.
To start, I apologize for not taking more pictures as I made the wings. Little Girl hadn't had a nap that afternoon and I was just trying to get the wings done as quick as possible and keep her entertained at the same time. I could have done a better job finishing some things but it looks fine. :)
First, I found two wire hangers and bent them to form the wings. Then I stretched red pantyhose over the forms. Knee highs would have worked better but I didn't have time to run from store to store looking so I made these work. After getting them to fit I cut the top off. I laid the handles of the hangers across each other and hot glued them together. Then I hot glued cardboard to the front and back to keep everything steady.

I measured my little bug for where the elastic straps should go and how big to make the loops. My sewing machine wasn't handy so I used straight pins and hot glue to form the loops and attach them to the cardboard. Make sure you attach the loops on the side that will be facing the child.
I had bought black felt with sparkles at Hobby Lobby and cut a piece that fit over the cardboard and around to the back. Before gluing I measured where the loops were and cut two holes in the felt so the loops would slip through. While all that cooled and dried, I cut several circles from the black felt to glue on the back of the wings. On a whim, I used gold puffy paint to randomly put dots on the black felt.

 
All that took about an hour. That evening while Tommy and I watched TV, I made the skirt using more of the elastic and some red tulle. I cut strips of tulle and tied them around the elastic. Then I tied the elastic ends in a tight knot and threaded the ends through the tulle. I could have stopped there but it needed more glitter. :)  So I took black glitter tulle and added one strip for every three red ones.

Buying tulle on these rolls is very handy. I just cut the length I wanted and started tying!

I formed a loop of tulle on top of the elastic then brought the loose ends around the elastic...

...and through the tulle loop. Then I gently pulled the ends to make a tight knot.

NOTE: using anything with glitter makes you, your work surface, and anything it touches glittery!!!
The final touches: black tights with gold glitter (I already had these), black onesie, black shoes (had these), black hairclips for the pigtails. I almost got a black headband to make the antennae with pipecleaner but Little Girl doesn't always keep headbands on. My little ladybug was very excited about this costume and she wore the wings all morning while playing in her room. This cost me about $10 and took a few hours. Not bad for waiting until the day before!! And the finished product!! Too cute!