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Recycle large brown paper shopping bags by making them into dress-up costumes. Your child can decorate her costume with recycled embellishments such as buttons, cord, yarn and scraps of paper or magazines. A great activity for aspiring designers.
What You Need:
- Paper Bag Costume Guide
- Brown paper bag
- Colored construction paper
- Paints
- Collage scraps, buttons, cord, yarn, fabric scraps
- Glue
What You Do:
- Prepare the brown paper bag by holding it upside down and cutting out a hole in the middle of the bottom gutter (approx. 6-1/2”x6-1/2”) through which your child’s head will go, and holes for the hands (approx. 6”x6”). Indent in a curved shape into the front of the bag (see attached diagram 1) and cut off the handle. Cut a slit in the back to make it easier for your child to get the costume over his head. See the Paper Bag Costume Guide for reference.
- The front and back of the bag should look like diagrams 3 and 4.
- Lay some newspaper on the floor and over the chair back to protect them from stains.
- Slide the bag over the back of a chair on top of the newspaper and let your child decorate with the paint, scraps and embellishments.
- Allow costume to dry completely if painted or glued.
The costume is now ready to wear! You can make the costume longer by cutting up another brown paper bag and sticking it to your basic bag. A fanned piece of construction paper stuck down at the centre makes a great bow tie!
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