Bush Halloween Costume

My son’s all-time favorite Halloween was the year we made him the walking bush costume. I don’t know why he wanted to walk around as a shrub, but he did, so we did our best to make him the best walking shrub costume ever.

To my surprise, it was a big hit around the neighborhood.  You can see it in action in this short youtube video…

The Bush costume was relatively simple to put together but there are a few things to consider before you start.
−You’ll want to scale the bush costume according to the size of your child. The structure of the costume is lightweight but adding the foliage can get heavy if you use too much. We packed in the branches because my son wanted to be in complete disguise, but he was 13 at the time and could handle the weight.
−Leave enough room inside the bush structure for the child to move, walk and carry a candy bag.

Walking Bush Costume Supplies

• 2″ Foam Insulation Board
• Chicken Wire
• Foam padding ( Upholstery Foam)
• Duct Tape
• Wire
• Shrub branches (we used Arborvitae branches)

Bush Costume Construction

I started with foam insulation board from Home Depot and cut three rings to fit around my child.

The first ring was slightly wider than shoulder width to rest on the shoulders.   Because this is where the weight of the costume rests, we added some cushion with upholstery foam for comfort.

To make the circles, I tied a string around my pencil that was approximately and radius of the circle and holding the end of the string in the middle of my desired circle I was able to make a simple circle shape with the pencil.  I cut out the rings with an Exacto knife.

The last two rings were cut wide enough to fit comfortably around the body with room to move.

We finished off the costume structure by attaching chicken wire.

 

We poked the chicken wire into the insulation rings and wire ends with tape to keep the wire from potentially pricking the child.

The last step is to attach the foliage.  I alternated weaving the branches into the wire and using craft wire securely attach the foliage.

After the foliage was added, we added some small tubing to the bottom to keep the bottom from caving in.

 

James wanted to be able to crouch down and look like a shrub growing out of the ground so I made my costume longer than was probably needed.   He had a ton of fun going from door to door and looking like someone left a bush on the front step.  I have to admit, it was pretty funny.

I hope this helps explain the walking bush costume!
Happy Creating,

For more costumes and Halloween ideas, check out
DIY Dead and Breakfast sign, Spooktackular Halloween Ideas, DIY Hamburger Costume, Easy Bumble Bee Costume , DIY Halloween Pillows