Doesn’t he look like he just stepped off of Broadway? I must say this was one of our more successful costumes, and I still find it a wonder how it all came together! When we lived in Jerusalem there was a monthly 1 shekel (25cents) sale at our local thrift store, so we would go two weeks before Purim to find pieces of interesting clothing to make costumes. I don’t remember at what point my son decided he wanted to be a Jungle King, but we sure had some good luck in finding these interesting pieces of clothing. And the zebra fur collar as a hat? That was his brilliant idea!
I stayed up quite late the night before the school Purim parade, making the scepter for him, and thanks to the make-up expertise of a neighbor, well I think he won first prize!
So the message here is, don’t ever let your young kids near all those stores selling un-original costumes and you may just be able to convince them that homemade is the best! And when they’re a bit older, you’ll have no problem convincing them, as long as you invest just a bit of time and creativity into the whole process!
I’ve been making costumes from thrift store clothing for years, with absolutely no sewing knowledge, and for that matter, no sewing! Since the clothing you’ll be using is certainly not anything precious, so a trusty pair of good scissors, a glue gun and some safety pins here and there will most likely do the trick!
In some cases, so a few store bought accessories are necessary to make the costume look its best (a sword, a shield, gloves etc.) but creative re-use is the funnest for everyone! And assuming your kids aren’t shy, so they’ll just love all the compliments and attention lavished upon them. Go for it!
For this Jungle King Costume I Used:
- 1 red paisley long sleeved woman’s dress
- 1 petite sized woman’s jacket with gold buttons and red embellishments
- 1 zebra patterned collar for a coat
- 1 broom stick + 1 plastic leopard for scepter (together with red and gold spray paint, some wooden beads and some lanyard cord)
- a white shirt and a pair of pants
Have fun and if you need some advice, so drop me a line, I’ll be happy to help!
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