DIY Taco Halloween Costume

This was Henry’s first year really trick-or-treating and it was so much fun! While we dressed him up last year, he couldn’t walk yet and due to COVID, trick-or-treating wasn’t really a “thing”. So we made up for lost time this year, that’s for sure! He loved running up to the door and knocking on the doors (even when the person left candy out so they could avoid opening the door – LOL), putting the candy in his bag, and riding around in the wagon with his cousins.

I browsed online for some pre-made costumes, but didn’t find anything that stuck out to me like I did last year, so I decided to DIY his Halloween costume. I found a cute tutorial online for a DIY taco Halloween costume and made some adjustments of my own. Then James and I bought some T-shirts from Amazon to look like Taco Bell hot sauce packets so we matched with Henry.

DIY Taco Halloween Costume for Babies or Toddlers

As mentioned above, I was inspired by the original costume over at The Wayfarer Family and just made a few adjustments to fit Henry a bit better. I loved how affordable this was to make — I think I spent $10 to $15 total on it and made a quick trip to Michael’s to get all my supplies.

Supplies

• various pieces of crafting felt in a golden color (for the taco shell), brown (for the meat), green (for the lettuce), yellow (for the cheese), and red (for the tomato).
• fabric scissors 
• hot glue gun with glue sticks
• VELCRO® brand sticky backs for fabric
• black satin ribbon (1.5″ to 2″) 
• marker or piece of chalk

Directions 

1. Fold a piece of the golden colored felt in half lengthwise.
2. Draw an elongated circle and cut it out. Hold this up to your child to see where the arm hole should be and then cut that arm hole out. (You may need to do constant fit checks throughout this process.)
3. Place the folded shell over the brown felt. Mark a few inches of wavy lines along the brown felt for the taco meat. Cut out and then glue alongside the edge of the shell.
4. Cut out strips of lettuce (squiggly lines on the green felt), cheese (thinner, shorter strips of yellow felt), and tomatoes (small squares of red felt). Glue these haphazardly along the meat to your liking.
5. Hot glue a piece of the ribbon in 2 places — underneath the armpit and at the hip area. Then measure where it will “hook” onto the back of the other side and mark this place. This is where you’ll stick two pieces of Velcro (one on the ribbon and one on the costume itself). Now you can hook the costume on and off with the Velcro.

Tips

• Buy 2 pieces of felt in each color in case you mess up or need more. Pieces of felt are so affordable, that you won’t be upset if you don’t end up using them (and you can use them for something else, like a fun crafting activity for your toddler).
• Try to find larger felt pieces if possible. The ones I bought (9″ x 12″) were a few inches too small, and I wish I had opted for a larger custom size at a fabric store.
• Fabric glue simply doesn’t work! Use a glue gun for the most staying power.
• To make the taco “pop”, I dressed Henry in all black so the bright colors really showed up. You could also go all white or nude, too.