A few weeks ago I posted part one of this year’s bumblebee costume for the girls. The pillowcase dress design turned out cute, but my little bees were sadly lacking in necessary bee accessories. They needed wings and antennae! I found some cute options at Gymboree, but even on sale, the total cost for 2 sets plus shipping came to almost $40. There was a slightly cheaper set on Amazon that I almost purchased with Swagbucks, but I was worried that the yellow wouldn’t match.
Plan C took slightly more effort but was definitely the cheapest option, costing less than $5 for the whole project. I found fairy wings at the dollar store and spent $2 at Walmart for a bottle of black dye.
The wings I found at the dollar store came in pink, purple & green. I chose purple because it seemed closest to black.
To dye the wings, I added one whole bottle of Rit Dye + 1 cup of vinegar to about 4 gallons of hot water in a plastic tub. I didn’t wear gloves but I should’ve–that dye definitely stains! Be sure to wipe up any spills right away. I let them soak for a LONG time….about an hour and a half.
When the wings were finally ready, I rinsed out the extra dye then wiped up the sink right away to make sure nothing got stained. (The magic eraser worked nicely for wiping up spills) I then hung them up and let them dry completely. Once dry, I used a black permanent marker to color that purple piece of felt in the middle that didn’t absorb the dye.
For the antennae, I used some black elastic headbands, pipe cleaners, & pom poms that I already had on hand.
The concept was pretty simple–I just twisted 2 pieces of pipe cleaner around the headband, spaced about 3 inches apart.
I used a generous glob of hot glue to secure the pom poms to the ends of the pipe cleaner & let them cool completely.
We live in Florida so keeping warm while trick-or-treating isn’t much of an issue. Those in cooler climates could layer a black long sleeved t-shirt and tights underneath! Trouble was napping when I took these pictures, but Princess was MORE than happy to pose in her new costume. Her only complaint? No stinger. 
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Jessica October 27, 2011 at 4:22 pm
Love it. The pics are great too. Miss you.
xoxo
Kim October 27, 2011 at 7:29 pm
Your sooooo good !!!!!!!
great job Ruth !
josie October 27, 2011 at 11:00 pm
Very cute! You did a great job!
Tracey October 28, 2011 at 2:16 am
You are my idol – LOL! I mean it! When I grow up, I want to be RUTH!
Luann October 28, 2011 at 2:27 am
Great Job!!!!! Super Cute!!!!!
Cynthia Ann Cochran October 28, 2011 at 12:50 pm
I think that’s better than any bumblebee costume I’ve seen in stores! I wanted my baby to be a bumblebee but the costumes cost too much and wouldn’t work out in cold weather! This year we’re just recycling big sister’s pumpkin costume, but next year I might make her a bumblebee costume! Thanks for posting!!
Debbie October 28, 2011 at 2:19 pm
SO adorable and cute! I am beginning to wish I had girls instead of 3 boys! If I could only have the creativity to make a boys costume. This year we have the Black suited Spiderman, Captain Rex from Star Wars and Scooby doo
All bought at the store.. maybe next year I’ll see what they want to go as and try to figure out something we can make.. It looks like so much fun!
Brittany October 29, 2011 at 12:44 am
Ruth this is beyond adorable!
Pounds4Pennies October 29, 2011 at 3:35 am
Very Cute! Love cheap and simple!
Tammy October 29, 2011 at 8:39 pm
When my daughter was 4 she wanted to be a bumble bee. Being in Virginia it was too cold to wear tights or a dress. I went super simple with a black sweat suit. I made the pom-pom antennaes with yellow ends, the rest I made with funny foam, hot glue, elastic and yellow craft paint. The body was black with yellow stripes. (Like a pull over vest connected with elastic across the shoulders and around the waist) The wings were just glued onto the vest and painted. The best and favorite part was the stinger. I shaped the foam like a cone and glued it to the bottom. When she sat in the car it got crumpled a bit but came back to shape when she took off running. It only made it that much more adoreable. The best part was at the end of the night, it was all removeable and she crashed in the jogging suit.
Ayana October 31, 2011 at 2:24 pm
OH What fun!!! Super super cute
Huge congratulations!
Kathy October 31, 2011 at 6:10 pm
Soooo adorable! I’m going to make one for my daughter for next year….I especially love the dresses!