Monday, August 26, 2013

Boo Monsters Inc Costumes and Ideas




Boo Monsters Inc costumes are hard to find but I've got some easy tips for putting one together this Halloween that won't cause you a ton of work.

This is the sea monster outfit that Boo wears in the movie as a disguise so that no one will recognize she's a human child.

Using this Boo plush doll in the costume as inspiration, I've found pieces that work together to get the same look.

There are five items you'll need - no sewing necessary - and some of these might be lying around your home.   

Boo from Monster Inc in CostumeThe five items include:
  • White body of the costume
  • Shiny, purple fabric
  • Puffy white slippers
  • Double sided tape
  • Monster hood

White Portion of Boo Sea Monster Costume

Halloween costumes aren't always cheap but if you can repurpose one into something else you'll get a lot more value out of the deal.

In this case, we're going to transform a Princess Leia outfit for girls into the white portion of Boo's sea monster costume for Halloween.

There's this great lavender fabric with sequins that's perfect for this task.  It doesn't cost too much and you only need a yard of it.


Boo's costume has a sort of net pattern printed into the belly of the purple under portion of the sea monster. 
This fabric mimics that look but with sequins and what girl doesn't like sequins on her costume?

Using double sided duct tape, attach a swath of the purple material to the front of the white robe from the Leia costume.  You want to leave it a little loose at the top to get the look of the child's head being inside the sea monster.  You can either cut away the top portion of the white robe so it doesn't show or tuck it under the purple fabric.

Use the tape all the way around to hold the fabric securely to the robe.  It shouldn't be allowed to blow free at any point.  The tape goes under the purple fabric so that one side attaches to the back side of the purple material and the other side attaches to the white robe.  
This part is really easy and you can't mess it up.  You can always remove the tape and redo a section if it doesn't look right.  It should go almost straight down from the top of the body to the bottom.  
The back of the robe stays as-is.
Pull the sleeves inside out and use the double sided tape again to form points at the ends of the sleeves.  While a child can't put their fingers through, the material is thin enough that they'll be able to grab things anyway.  An alternative is to close the ends of the sleeves to points but leave a gap for hands to fit through.  Probably the best move for younger children.

Now for Boo's Shoes

Boo wears a pair of simple, rounded toe white shoes as part of the costume.  A pair of white ballerina slippers will work and if your child already has those, put them to work for this costume.  If not, you can get a pair for just a few dollars at Walmart or Target.

Finally, the Hood of the Costume





Boo wears a purple hood with brown-grey yarn tassels and googly eyes that stand up.  You could make that with some Halloween pieces you can buy at costume stores or there's this monster hat that will work.  It's not exactly what she wears in the movie but it's close enough that no one is going to notice when she's trick or treating.  It matches the purple from the body, has large eyes on top, and has the teeth at the top which is like the original costume.

For less than $50 (and even better than that if you have some of these thing around the house) your little girl can dress as her favorite character even though there's not an official Monsters Inc Boo costume on the market.

Since it can't be found easily, your child is going to have a unique costume with little chance of duplication amongst her friends AND you didn't have to sew a thing.  

Plus, you'll have some pieces you can use again next year for different costumes.  Save them!  You never know when they'll come in handy.