I debated on whether to even post this because I’m not totally satisfied with the outcome. However, I decided to go ahead because while there are a lot of images of Jellyfish Halloween Costumes on the internet, I had a difficult time finding instructions on constructing one. So while I’m sure there is a better way to make this, I hope these instructions will help another parent make this costume and make improvements.
Jellyfish Halloween Costume Supply List:
Please note that some of the yardage for the notions/fabrics will depend on the size of the jellyfish base. My base was approximately 15 inches round.
- large plastic plate or platform for bottom of jellyfish – dollar store
- large plastic bowl – dollar store
- plastic bowl that is just slightly larger than your head – dollar store
- baseball cap
- glue gun & a full bag of glue sticks
- 6 battery operated LED lights – Hobby Lobby
- fiber fill
- bubble wrap – dollar store
- ribbon – at least two sizes and colors – amount of rolls will depend on how many tentacles you plan on placing, start with (1) 1″ sheer white ribbon and (2) 1 1/2″ colored ribbon
- 1 yd. sheer shimmer fabric
- 1 1/2 yd. fringe
Directions:
I didn’t take photos of all the steps, so hopefully you can follow along using my drawings.
Have your supplies ready? I’m going to give you fair warning that this project takes a lot of glue. Also, don’t skimp on the base of the jellyfish. The base will have to support 6 LED battery packs, which hold 4 AA batteries a piece.
1. Take a large bowl and glue it down to the large platter or base. Let this dry completely before moving onto the next step. If you don’t want to use a bowl, you can just build up a mound using fiber fill.
2. Evenly glue fiber fill onto the outside of the large bowl.
3. Using small dots of glue, place LED lights onto the fiber fill in a circular motion. Leave enough wire out so that the battery pack can wrap under the brim of the base. Place more fiber fill over the LED lights to soften the glow.
4. Wrap bubble wrap over the entire top and glue the wrap just under the brim. Keep the center of the base clear and free of any bubble wrap.
5. Wrap shimmer fabric over the bubble wrap and glue just under the brim. Keep the center of the base clear of any fabric.
6. Flip the hat over and glue the small bowl into the center of the base. Glue the baseball cap into the center of the bowl. Use lots of glue here. You may need to cut the brim of the cap so that it doesn’t stick out from the base. Also, you may want to sew straps onto the sides of the cap before gluing it in to help secure the cap under the chin. Glue the battery pack down – make sure the cover of the pack is facing up. Let this dry completely before moving on.
7. Place the remaining LED lights onto the underside of the base and use small dots of glue to keep them in place. Depending on the height of the child, you may need to wrap the lights around the underside of the base to shorten the length of the tentacles. Glue down the LED battery packs. Let this completely dry before moving forward.
8. Glue fringe to the outside of the small inner bowl and outer edge of the base. Let this dry.
9. Cut ribbon to varying lengths and glue ribbon randomly to the underside of the base. Try to keep the opaque ribbons away from the front, as these can block vision.
10. To make some of the shorter tentacles, use some of the shimmer fabric and cut into triangle strips. Glue to the underside of the base.
11. You’re all done! Plop it on the head of the trick-or-treater and you have a lighted Jellyfish Halloween Costume. Here’s my goofball trick-or-treater….
What are your kids dressing up as for Halloween? Are you making their costume or buying?

Erlene, I think turned out really cute, and I love the added detail of the lights! I’m going to include your jellyfish costume in my Merry Monday Features next week 🙂
OMG!! i love this costume!! I hope you linked it up to my Halloween Linky!!
KIm
Kim~madeinaday recently posted…Spooktacular Halloween Party & Features #3
Thanks for the reminder Kim. Just linked up!
Erlene at My Pinterventures recently posted…Merry Monday Link Party #26
So cute. I love the idea of having the LED lights – added oomph to the project!
Thanks Agy. My dd loves it and the lights definitely make it stand out.
Erlene at My Pinterventures recently posted…Merry Monday Link Party #26
Oh my gosh, I just love your jellyfish costume and I think it looks amazing, especially the fact that it lights up! Great job!
Thanks Alli. I like the lights too. I’m already thinking of ways that I can reuse them for another project 🙂
Erlene at My Pinterventures recently posted…Dawn Beyond the Sink – Cleaning the Microwave
This is so creative and really beautiful! I want to wear one 🙂 Great job!
Thanks Renee. I’ve actually seen more adult jellyfish costumes online than little kids…lol.
Erlene at My Pinterventures recently posted…Dawn Beyond the Sink – Cleaning the Microwave
Looks great, what a fun idea.
Julie recently posted…Flower Collage Canvas
Thanks Julie. She loves it.
Erlene at My Pinterventures recently posted…Dawn Beyond the Sink – Cleaning the Microwave
Wow! So creative and your drawings! I am impressed. Pinning to my costume board. Super cute.
Shirley Wood recently posted…Home Matters Linky Party #11 And A Giveaway
Thanks Shirley. I hope my drawings are ok enough to follow. I kind of winged it for this project and didn’t bother taking photos. TY for pinning.
Erlene at My Pinterventures recently posted…Dawn Beyond the Sink – Cleaning the Microwave
cute idea! I especially like it because where we live it can be cold trick or treating and it would be easy to have the kids where a coat with this.
I never thought about having to wear coats over a costume. We live in So. Cali, so it doesn’t get very cold for Trick-or-treating.
Erlene at My Pinterventures recently posted…Dawn Beyond the Sink – Cleaning the Microwave
What an adorable costume! It looks fairly easy to do. Thanks for the step by step.
Thanks. I don’t think it’s too hard. Just time consuming because you have to wait for the glue to dry completely for some areas.
Erlene at My Pinterventures recently posted…Dawn Beyond the Sink – Cleaning the Microwave
I think that looks pretty dang awesome!!! I’m really impressed!!! We’re always most critical of our own projects, right?
Thanks Kristen. You’re right, I’m always critical of my projects. I guess so long as my dd is happy with it then I did my job 🙂
Erlene at My Pinterventures recently posted…Jellyfish Halloween Costume
I love that costume! That is so cool that it lights up. Great job!
Lauren recently posted…Countdown to Halloween Week 3: Costume Ideas/ Zombie Crawl Pictures
Thanks Lauren. This is the first costume that I used lights on and it was a fun project to tackle.
Erlene at My Pinterventures recently posted…Jellyfish Halloween Costume