I made these costumes for my teenage son and daughter earlier this year when we attended an interactive Wizard of Oz charity event.

We were having a lean month , so I had to create costumes using materials that I already had on hand. I dyed some white flannel sheets,a torn beige blanket and scraps of white fur to blue. Fortunately, all the materials took the dye well and coordinated with each other.

I used the fla nnel and commercial pattern for the bodies of the monkey suits. Then I made skull caps which I hand sewed on a blue fur mohawk and ears. Then I made little hats from the blanket material with red and white felt strips for the stipes.

The jackets are short fitted jackets with puffy sleeves that I designed. I used more of the felt to add the stiped trim.On the inside of the jacket ,there are criss cross striped straps the snap the jacket closed. They also act as straps to hold the wings on like backpack straps.

The wings have a fur back wirh a flannel underside. There are wire hangers on the inside to hold shape.

The hands and feet are gloves and slippers with elastic closures. They have details drawn with a blue marker.

We already had face paints on hand . We used Ben Nye pancake powders in blue and white. the eyebrows are blue eyeliner.

 We should win for creating a “green” costume. We not only made these for virtually no cost, but we spared old worn sheets and blankets from ending up in a landfill. My teens enjoyed wearing these costume so much that they walked around the mall in April amusing families with their playful antics. They also visited a childrens home for abused children and received many hugs from the residents there.

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