When Eleanor was a toddler we found Sesame Street was her favorite show. Normally kids gravitate to Elmo, but she loved Ernie. Maybe it’s because he liked to take baths and had a rubber ducky, I like to think it was because he had a good laugh!
So when it came time to plan her costume I knew Ernie would be so cute and could be pretty simple to make.
Since we weren’t really going out I kept the costume simple, easy and cheap. We were going for an Ernie in the bathtub, singing rubber ducky look. That meant we only needed an orange shirt, and whatever pants you want.
Step 1: Take 2 pieces of orange felt and cut them in the shape of a half moon.
Step 2: Cut the white of the eyes with felt
Step 3: Cut the black eyes
Step 4: Sew the 2 pieces of orange felt in the half moon shape (you can try to hot glue them together if you don’t sew)
Step 5: Turn out the head (making it so the seam is now inside the hat
Step 6: Try the head on the toddler to make sure it works for them.
Step 7: Glue the white and black eyes on
Step 8: Take the clown nose and cut it in half and then glue on the head
Step 9: Add the ribbon on each side (sew or hot glue)
Step 10: Put on the toddler’s head and figure out how long the ribbon should be and add the elastic
Step 11: Add the black marabou feathers, making his hair, in the center with hot glue
Optional: If you want to add some clips to the top to secure it’s not a bad idea. It will help from them ripping it off! I had 2 orange bows keeping E’s in place.
Also if you want to add the bubble bath tub all you need is a white wash bucket and cut/saw a hole around the bottom. Add a little bubble wrap with hot glue and a few rubber ducks and you’re set.
This costume will always hold a special place in my heart and reminds me that for toddlers it’s more about spending time together than any candy they will collect.
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