DIY Mario Bros. and Toad Costume

I was honestly late in planning the kids' Halloween costumes this year.  I would keep asking them what they wanted to go as and they would give me a different answer everyday. Finally, I just decided on Mario Bros. which I've been wanting to do for a few years now. :)

I'd always envisioned my two boys going as Mario and Luigi and my daughter as Princess Peach. But for some reason, my 7 year old daughter doesn't want to wear anything girly, much less a princess costume. She actually wanted to be a zombie for crying out loud! So fine, the two older kids would now be Mario and Luigi and my youngest would be the mushroom or Toad.

The costumes are actually super easy to do especially if you have all the items in your closet already.

For Mario and Luigi, you just need a plain red and green shirt which you can buy in any department store. I actually found long-sleeve ones but I figured the kids might get too hot when trick or treating. So we went with the short sleeves instead.

Mario and Luigi wear overalls but we didn't have these. I didn't want to buy since the ones I found were almost P1k and they might not use them anymore after, sayang lang. I was just supposed to make them wear jeans and then blue suspenders.

But then I found these denim short jumpers in Landmark Makati (women's section) for just P270! And the best part was the shorts were detachable because they were just connected by buttons.

I just sewed the top part to the jeans and viola, instant overalls! And now, I had new shorts too lol!

Then I cut yellow cardboard circles and taped them to the top part.

I got red and green hats from SM on sale for P100 each. They had a small design in the front but doesn't matter since it'll be covered up anyway. I used white felt which I got from Metro Alabang (P130 a yard) for the circular logos. I sewed this on the cap and glued an M and L on top of the felt.

I also bought white gloves in Landmark Makati for P80 each.

If you want mustaches, I also cut shapes out of cardboard. I used double sided tape to stick them on their faces, but of course it was uncomfortable after a while. You can choose to just draw it on using an eyebrow pencil or eyeliner.

And here they are having way too much fun copying the poses they saw online!

For Toad, he wears a blue vest with yellow trim and white pants. I bought while leggings from SM and the blue shirt from Metro Alabang. I had yellow ribbon and I used double sided tape to stick it to the shirt.

The most challenging part was probably the mushroom head. But I found this tutorial on YouTube which helped me a LOT!

Step 1: make a base out of cardboard

Step 2: Get a circular piece of cloth (I just used some old lampins we had!) and use a running stitch to gather the edges of the material

Step 3: Put the cardboard base in the middle and put stuffing inside (I used some from an old pillow)

Step 4: I closed everything up by using masking tape

Step 5: glue red circles all over (you can use cloth, felt, or just paper cardboard)

And there you have it, a Super Mario Bros. Halloween!

Hubby wanted to join in the fun and used an old dragon costume we had and said he was King Koopa / Bawser.

I was actually supposed to dress up as Princess Peach, but as usual, the mom who worked hard on the costumes is also the photographer. And I was so tired and sweaty after taking these pics (trust me, it's not as easy as it looks directing 3 kids!) that I wasn't in the mood anymore haha!

But anyway, Happy Halloween everyone! Hope you get some inspiration from here if you haven't decided on a costume yet. :)