Swan

Materials:

• One white kids outfit

• Rectangular cardboard box large enough for the child to fit inside

• Cardboard sheets

• White paint

• Orange paint

• Black marker

• White felt

• White tulle roll

• Gold cardstock paper

• White ribbon

• Elastic band (optional)

Tools: 

• Paintbrush

• Utility knife

• Stapler and staples

• Scissors

• Hot glue gun and sticks

Instructions: 

For the swan base:

• Use a rectangular cardboard box for the base of the swan. Cut out an opening from the top and bottom of the box that’s large enough for the child’s body to fit through.

• Cut two large wings from cardboard sheets and glue them to either side of the box.

• Cut out the swan neck and head from a sheet of cardboard. Cut a vertical slit in the front center of the box for the neck to slot into, and glue it in place.

• Paint the swan box white. 

• Glue two white ribbon shoulder straps to the box to hold the costume up around the child’s waist.  

For the swan neck and head: 

• Paint the beak orange, and use a black marker to outline the beak and draw in the eyes.

• Cut a crown from gold cardstock paper and glue it to the top of the swan’s head. 

For the wings: 

• Cut long feathers from white felt, fringing the edges a bit to give them a more feathery look. 

• Cut a strip of white tulle more than twice the length of a feather. Fold the strip in half and glue it behind each feather. This will help give the wings a more textured look. 

• Glue the feathers with tulle layered on the wings, starting at the back edge, and ending at the front edge. 

For the child’s crown: 

• Cut a crown from gold cardstock paper. 

• Staple the ends together to form the crown. 

• If needed, glue an elastic band to the crown to hold it on the child’s head.