Astronaut Costume

Here is another clever costume from my friends Jared and Michelle Aller. They got the idea from this YouTube video and then put their own twist on it. It’s pretty clever. When the toddler walks by it really looks like they are flying!

It’s a pretty genius concept. They bought a standard astronaut costume and then modified it and added legs and made fiery pants out of felt. You’ll delight and surprise all your friends.

Materials: Astronaut Suit, Foam Rods, Duct Tape, Cardboard, Black Socks, Nylon Straps, Buckles, Cotton elastic-waisted pants with straight legs (no leggings or zippers), Fabric in Red, Yellow, and Orange, Fabric Glue, Red Shoes, 2 Empty Quaker Oat Canisters, White Spray Paint, 2 Plastic Cups, Spray Glue,

Step 1: Cut a huge horizontal slit in the back of the jumpsuit. The child’s legs will go through the slit, not the legs. They’ll end up wearing the jumpsuit like a shirt.)
Step 2: Cut, duct tape and fold the foam rods so they look like bent legs and attached feet (you may need to reinforce them with cardboard.) Attach them inside the jumpsuit pant legs and cover the feet with black child socks (we found shoes to be too heavy.)
Step 3: To reinforce the legs and hold them, we sewed extra nylon strapping to the legs. This attached around the child’s back with a buckle.
Step 4: Cut your red, yellow and orange fabric into long strips and cut flame shapes out of the bottom. Glue them around each leg, starting at the bottom and continuing all the way to the elastic at the top. Your child should wear read shoes to blend in with the colors of the pants.
Step 5: Glue the plastic cups to the top of the Quaker Oat Canisters. Spray paint each canister white.
Step 6: If you have access to a large-scale printer (or Kinkos), you can design and print a large graphic (with the Nasa Logo, American flag, etc) and spray glue it to each canister.
Step 7: Glue the canisters together. This will be the jetpack. We found the trick is to then cut into the back of the jetpack so it rests more easily on the child’s back and looks like it disappears. (This helps with the illusion of the child flying.)
Step 8: Sewing more nylon straps together so that the jetpack rests over the child’s shoulder like a backpack. Attach buckles to hold the jetpack in place (and so you can adjust the pack once the the child is wearing it.)