I had thought I’d lucked out this year when Jack wanted to wear a previous Halloween costume again. But I forgot all about ‘dress like your favorite book character day’ at school… Sigh. Because what working parent DOESN’T want to throw together a second costume the week before Halloween?!
Last year for Halloween Jack was Batman, so he used his monkey costume (from the previous year) to be Curious George for character day. Well, this year he wanted to be a monkey (again) for Halloween… but didn’t want to be a monkey twice.
Which brings us to Pete.
Pete the Cat is Jack’s FAVORITE book character right now. We literally have a dozen Pete the Cat books that we read on regular rotation and still tend to pick a few more up each time we visit the library. So, Jack decided he needed to be Pete the Cat.
First I did a quick online search to see if there were any cool (and inexpensive) Pete the Cat costumes out there. And found this, which is horrifying.
Yeah, that’s not happening. Also, it was $50. So… no.
I then did some pinterest searching for homemade versions. Most of them were also kind of weird and creepy. Finally, I found one where the Pete face was on a baseball cap.
THAT I can do.
Jack actually had a blue baseball cap from a previous Halloween costume of Fix-it Felix… so I ordered some felt, bought some glue and assembled my supplies.
I started by cutting out some vague eye shapes and when I found a set I liked, I copied it for the other side.
Then, I cut out a triangle nose, some whiskers and started gluing.
It’s kind of Pete-ish…right?
I let it dry for a few hours and had Jack try it on when he came home from school:
For character day, the plan is to have Jack wear the Pete hat, a blue school hoodie, blue track pants and his chucks. So, basically his normal school clothes and a baseball hat.
I’ll go ahead and call this a lazy DIY because I know you’re already thinking it! However, it cost less than $10 (I had to buy the felt and fabric glue) and used stuff we already had around the house, so I’m going to call it a win!
What last minute costume ideas have you thrown together? Does my hat look close enough to Pete the Cat to pass?
As long as Jack likes it, that’s the main thing. Really cute!
Totally trying this this year, because like you I don’t want to buy another costumer. Also I agree the others look creepy, expensive or just too dang difficult!
Super easy! I’m sure it will turn out great!
Thanks so much for this! Giving it a shot for the school character parade tomorrow.
I’m sure it will turn out super cute!
Thank you for this idea – you saved the day for me this year, LOL! My son also wanted to wear last year’s costume and I also totally forgot about the Book Character Day at school AND we also love Pete the Cat. Quick trip to Target and Michael’s last night and we are set. Thank you!!
YAY! I’m so glad you found this post helpful and I’m sure your Pete the Cat turned out adorable!