Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Creating a DIY Little Mermaid Running Costume

Yesterday's post was more of a generic one with tips and tricks on how to put together a fun running costume, but today I thought I'd get a little more specific and share my Little Mermaid costume from this past weekend. So, without further ado, here's how I created an Ariel costume that was easy to run in and even easier to put together.


I normally start with an image of the character that I am going for, that way I can get the color scheme correct and see if there are any 'prop' ideas I can add to go a little above and beyond. [Pinterest is my best friend for image searches.]

Source

Then it's off to the closet to pick the Sparkle Athletic skirt, PRO Compression socks and Handful bra. I decided on the Mermaid skirt, but the green would have worked also (remember: use what you have and make it work!). For the socks I decided on the Kelly Green because it was an extension of my "tail", but really you could have picked a purple, red, etc (just stick with the color scheme and rock it). Even though no one sees my sports bra I still try to make sure the color fits - I mean, if you're gonna go, you might as well go all the way, right?! The shirt was easy - plain purple for the win! Then it was on to take my costume to the next level with the details - red "hair" (which was curling ribbon on a hair tie) along with a dinglehopper and starfish. I got the fork from a thrift store (for $.10) and the starfish from Michaels which I then attached to a Sparkle Athletic visor (that I had from a past Huey, Dewey and Louie costume) with hot glue.

I find that if you lay out a #FlatRunner folks will see your vision a little clearer,
not to mention they'll know what to look for when you are out on the course!

Now, I do have to say, wearing the costume to a non-runDisney event (especially a non-costumed race) did throw people for a bit of a loop, but even still I think it was pretty obvious for what I was going for.


And it took me all of about 5 minutes to throw together and maybe $5 (buying the fork, ribbon and starfish - because everything else I already had). [FYI: You can normally find 40% off coupons for Michaels online. I find stores like Michaels, the Dollar Tree and thrift stores as great places when looking to make accessories or props to accompany my costumes.] EASY PEASY, but I still think it came together super well.


As long as you are having fun, then GO FOR IT! Use what you have, make it work for you and ROCK YOUR RACE! And even if no one knows what your costume is supposed to be, who cares! Running is all about the journey and we need to have as much FUN as possible along the way!

Oh yeah, and if you are ever looking for some great ideas on running costumes, Sparkle Athletic has a Pinterest board chock full of them! I normally try to think outside of the box when it comes to my costumes, that way I am not one of 2,500+ Tinker Bells, but the ideas are still amazing (and you could always use them for a non-traditional race like running a 'beer run' as a mermaid if you want to stand out of the crowd).

Have you ever run a race in a costume before?

1 comment:

Abby said...

Love your costume. Little mermaid is my favorite Disney character.