DIY: No-Sew Gumball Machine Costume

Zoë is that girl who comes up with wild costume ideas. I, on the other hand, am that mother who’s crazy enough to go along with it. Last Halloween, she wanted to be a cupcake. This year, to keep up with the sweet treat tradition, she asked to be a gumball machine.

Come check out how I made this no-sew gumball machine costume, guaranteed to make the cutest, most colorful little outfit that’s perfect for some Halloween dress-up fun. No tricks, just treats; I promise that it’ll be quick and easy. Your little ones will be ready for all the fun in no time!

Materials Used:

• Clear plastic serving bowl (at least 11 inches)
• Ping pong balls
• Acrylic paints
• White felt
• White ribbon
• Velcro
• Red felt
• Gray felt
• Black felt
• Red ribbon
• Hot glue gun

To Make the Gumball Container:

To start off, I made colorful gumballs by painting two dozen plain white ping pong balls using acrylic paint. Once they dried, I placed them inside the clear plastic serving bowl.

Tip: You can save time and effort by buying colored ping pong balls, if they are available.

I then sealed the gumballs inside the bowl by hot glueing white felt over it. To keep it more secured, I overlapped and glued about a centimeter of the felt to the side of the bowl, before trimming off the excess.

Next, I hot-glued two strips of velcro on the side of the bowl with the white felt. I then glued the other side of the two velcro to the ends of the white ribbon. The gumball container is designed to be worn like a big necklace, so I measured the length of the ribbon around my daughter’s neck, just long enough for the bowl to hang over the belly.

The gaumball container should look like this with the white ribbon. The velcro allows it to be put on and taken off easily, and provides an adjustable strap, too.

To Make the Gumball Machine Base:

To make the gumball machine base, I opted for a simpler tie-back apron. I needed a costume that Zoë could move around freely in and run around with, so lightweight apron was the best solution.

I simply cut out the shape of the apron on red felt, and glued red ribbon on the top portion to make the apron string, making sure it’s long enough to tie around the waist.

For the finishing touches, I cut out the details on felt. A big rectangle with rounded corners on gray felt for the base plate. Circle coin slot on white felt, plus the ₱5 on black felt. Both black and gray felt for the turn handle. Four small black and gray circles for the plate screws. A big black semi-circle for the gumball hole.

I glued everything in place on top of the red felt apron, and voila, the gumball machine base is done!

I paired the gumball machine costume with red pants, a white shirt, then topped it off with a red hat, and Zoë was ready for all the colorful treats!

This deliciously fun costume was a treat to make. Let your little ones have a ball by making it for them, too!