Costume Brew for Kids – JoJo & Carmen Sandiego

By Shelby Sessler

For the first week of our Costume Brew Challenge, we decided to focus on costumes that can be easily created for – and with – kids. Walking around Goodwill, I waited for inspiration to take hold so I could decide on what costumes I was going to make this week. I usually do a little bit of research before embarking on my adventures and keep my eyes open for many things that can be used to create a variety of costumes. You can think of it like having different tabs open in your internet browser. I found a couple of things that would work before I settled on my two costumes to focus on this week: Jojo Siwa and Carmen Sandiego.

For Jojo I had so many possible options for the costume! Jojo Siwa is known for her bold fashion choices, her tight ponytail, and her giant bows! I decided to recreate her jean vest look with two options for sizing since I did not have the person who would be wearing it with me. First, I found a Jean Jacket to use on top. I then found a bright colored floral dress as an option for under the vest, as well as a flared purple skirt and a My Little Pony shirt. For the shoes, I found a pair of purple Converse shoes. Once home, I got to work on the costume! I began by decorating the jacket using fabric paint and rhinestones. This is a great way to get your children involved in the process, by letting them design and play to create the perfect jean jacket! I then cut the sleeves off the jacket and finished the vest with a glitterized “Jojo” on the back along with some more rhinestones. For the shoes, I decided to use the rhinestones I had on the toe of the shoe for a more sparkly statement! Last, I used tulle and wire ribbon to fashion the bow and attached it using bobby pins. It was quick, easy, and super cute! It took about an hour and a half from start to finish on the costume.

For Carmen San Diego, I took my inspiration from the new Netflix show about Carmen San Diego rather than from the older game shows. The ingredients to this costume are simple: a black turtleneck, black pants, black shoes, a triangle brooch, a long red coat, and her signature red hat. I spotted the red coat across the room in the coat section. Once my coat was secured, I found a plain sun hat with a wide brim, a black sleeveless turtleneck, a pair of black pants, and a pair of boots with a similar heel. Once home, I began construction, which included creating the triangle brooch. I used aluminum floral wire (easily molded by hand and can be clipped with regular scissors) to create a triangle and joined the edges with a dot of hot glue. Once the triangle was finished, I spray painted it outside with metallic gold spray paint. When the triangle was dry, I attached the triable to the shirt with a quick stitch on each of the corners of the triangle. For the hat, I took the plain sun hat outside and spray-painted it with an all-purpose spray paint (suitable for indoor and outdoor use on items like wood, metal, and fabric), making sure to coat the inside brim of the hat too since it would be visible. I gave the hat two coats of paint, making sure to let it dry between coats before bringing the hat back in. For the black band around the hat I used a piece of scrap fabric (but ribbon can also be used to the same result) and hot glued it in place around the base of the hat. Once finished, I found it to be easy to wear (although a little hot) and incredibly comfortable!

I also started another costume for this week, but I have decided to save it for a little later. Get excited, because next week I am going to be working on couples’ costumes! I’m excited for what is brewing!