Learn how to make these simple and fun flamingo and swan pool floats for your Halloween costume!

This past summer Rose and I got a little obsessed with pool floats. We went to Cape Cod for a week towards the end of the summer, and we kept seeing people floating around in the ocean in giant swans and flamingos. We needed to be floating around in giant swans and flamingos too. However we didn’t have too many days left to enjoy the hot summer, so we didn’t know if it was worth driving 40 minutes away to buy some floaties.

Long story short, on the last day we were there we decided to get some pool floats in hopes that we would be back to the Cape to enjoy them before the summer ended. We did not get back to the Cape. Our floats sit deflated in a sad pile on the floor, hidden away until next summer. 

But, we couldn’t get over all those floaties. I just wanted to float in a giant flamingo! Isn’t that what every girl dreams of?? They were haunting us all over Instagram and Pinterest. That’s when the genius idea of making them for Halloween costumes popped into my head. What better way to spend Halloween then floating in a sea of candy!

These costumes are quick and fairly easy to make. Plus, you can customize yours to whatever pool float sparks your fancy – want to be a unicorn pool float? Make a unicorn pool float costume! Want to be a  black swan? Be a black swan! I had my eye on the giant flamingo pool float so I had to go with that but let us know what pool float you would want to be in your wildest dreams.

Materials:

• Fabric – Ours was
• Beanie
• Felt in black, white, and whatever beak color you want
• Stuffing
• Needle & Thread
• Plain t-shirt or dress matching the colors of your hat and fabric

Instructions:

1. The hat: 
   1. Start by cutting out 2 circles in the black felt and 2 slightly smaller circles in the white felt for 2 eyes. Sew or hot glue the small white circle to the black circle.
   2. Next, layer two pieces of black felt on top of each other and cut out a beak shape: Ours was sort of shaped like a long triangle with a curved hook at the end.
   3. Keeping the two layers of black felt for the beak together, sew together the outer edges using a basic running stitch (refer to this post if you need instructions on a running stitch). 
   4. Flip the beak inside out and fill it with stuffing.
   5. Sew on or hot glue the two eyes to your hat. Sew the beak onto the hat by splaying the outer edges down and use a running stitch. 
2. The pool float:
   1. Take your fabric and fold it in half along the longest edge (like a hot dog fold). Stitch the edges of your fabric together using a running stitch. 
   2. Flip the fabric inside out and stuff it with stuffing. 
   3. Take the two non-sewn edges of the float and layer one on top of the other and sew them together. You might need an extra set of hands to help hold the fabric in place. 
3. Assemble the costume:
   1. Throw on a t-shirt or dress matching the color of your pool float and hat and you are ready to go! Pro tip: Wear your shirt inside out or backwards like we did if you don’t have any without a print on it.

And now you are ready to float into a giant pile of candy!

Bonus costume – the swan looks oddly like Olaf from Frozen. Bonus points – if you can balance a pumpkin on your beak

Let us know in the comments below what you are planning on being this Halloween!

Thanks Tatertots & Jello for hosting!