Pick of the Litter
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The Dog-Lovers in the crowd were looking for a costume truly fit for the leader of the pack. We knew we'd hit the mark with this box full of puppies when five-year-old Bryce's eyes lit up. "I'm going to take all of my dog buddies with me!" he exclaimed. "And I'll bark when I walk!" chimed in his classmate, Michaela, age five.
What you'll need
- White and brown faux fur (sold in packages at discount stores or by the yard at fabric stores)
- Scissors
- White hooded sweatshirt
- Double-sided carpet tape
- Safety pins
- White tights and fiberfill
- Velcro Sticky-Back strips
- Red belt webbing or ribbon, 19 inches long
- Cardboard circle, 2 1/2 inches wide
- Aluminum foil
- Hole punch
- Embroidery or dental floss
- Cardboard box
- Utility knife
- Two 45-inch lengths of rope
- Masking tape
- Newspaper strips
- Pipe cleaners
- Stuffed dogs
How to make it
The Dog Sweatshirt:
Cut a large piece of faux fur for a chest patch and several smaller patches for the arms, back, and hood. Attach them to the sweatshirt with double-sided carpet tape.
For dog ears, cut long rounded fur shapes and safety-pin them to the hood as shown (A).The Tail:
Cut off one leg from the tights and loosely stuff it with fiberfill. Safety-pin the open end to the back of the sweatshirt. Cut a few more patches of fur and tape them to the tail.A Dog Collar:
Attach Velcro strips to the ends of the belt webbing or ribbon. For a tag, wrap the cardboard circle in aluminum foil, punch a hole through it, and loop a piece of floss through the hole. Safety-pin the loop to the inside of the collar.
Puppy Box:
Select a box that your child will easily fit into and still be able to walk comfortably in. With the utility knife, cut the box where indicated (B).
Poke holes through the box for the rope suspenders and attach the rope, as shown. You may have to adjust the lengths to fit your child. Masking-tape newspaper strips around the top of the box as shown (C).
Finally, use pipe cleaners to attach the stuffed dogs to the box and each other, as needed.
