Halloween was fun despite the wet, 38˚weather. I enjoy participating in the festivities at work by dressing in costume and bringing something festive for the shared potluck. It takes a long time to find a costume that is appropriate for my age.   I have to sift through costumes for children, groups, and inappropriate costumes. So, after days of searching for the simplest and cutest costume, I decided on a beekeeper costume.  I was guided by Martha Stewart’s instructions.

Finding the chenille bees was a bit of a challenge, but I finally found them at  Amazon.com. They were pricey ($6.98 for a package of 5) and I probably wouldn’t have purchased if I had to pay shipping—thank you Amazon Prime! I found a perfect alternative with Jolee’s Boutique Dimensional Bee Stickers at Michael’s. With my 40% coupon, I paid about $5 for 50 stickers.

Next, on my lunch break, I visited my local Sherwin Williams and purchased a Tyvek coverall set for about $5 and a small metal pail for about $3.99. Total spent was about $28. I could have bought a costume for about $30, but I think there’s something charming about homemade costumes.

Items needed:

A brimmed straw hat (found in closet)

White spray paint (found in garage)

Tyvek coveralls (Sherwin Williams about $5.99)

Metal bucket (Sherwin Williams about $3.99)

2 (packages of 5) chenille bees (Amazon.com $6.98/package)

2 (packages of 25), Jolee’s Boutique Dimensional Bee Stickers (Michael’s Crafts 3.99/package)

1 yard black netting (Hancock Fabrics $1.06/yard)

Seam binding (found in sewing stash)

Glue gun (found in craft stash)

Instructions:

Note: Martha’s instructions included stenciling the word “Honey” onto the bucket. I, instead, printed the word “Honey” from a photo I downloaded via Google and taped it on to the bucket with packing tape.

1) Paint your hat (if you’d like it white) a couple of days before the party, so that it can dry completely.

2) Measure and cut the netting to 15” long and the circumference of the hat brim. Glue the seam binding to the netting and then hot glue the seam binding to the hat brim.

3) Straighten the wire on the chenille bees and push through spaces in the hat and twist the wires on inside of hat. (Placement should indicate bees flying around the hat).

4) Randomly hot glue the bee stickers on the netting.

And you’re done!

I’ve discovered if I do anything (even thinking about what I need to do), I feel like I’m ahead of the game (wrong!). Would you believe I was still surprised while assembling the costume the night before Halloween, that I ran out of time to make anything spectacular for the potluck.

Well, thank you Pinterest! I decided on Spider Eggs…powdered sugar donut holes with plastic spiders. A run to the grocery store for donut holes also resulted in claw tongs (bonus find). I printed a dish identifier using a cool spider web font.  I used black ink, but an orange one is available as well, right here.