Thrifty Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Costumes

My two oldest kids were both October babies.  That means birthday’s and Halloween exist in the same month (2 weeks of each other actually).  My soon-to-be-6 year old son started kindergarten this year, so you can imagine the excitement for a super awesome birthday party.  No pressure right!?  So I started brainstorming how I could kill 2 birds with one stone (or rather 3 birds- 2 birthdays & Halloween costumes).  My son is obsessed with anything ninja and fighting so “Turtle Power” seemed like the way to go.  Boy/girl teenage mutant ninja turtle party extravaganza! These thrifty costume ideas could certainly double as halloween costumes with a few bells and whistles.  Read on as I share exactly how I created these thrifty teenage mutant ninja turtle costumes (shells and masks).

Thrifty Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Costumes

Not to get ahead of myself… I want to give proper credit to the brain behind these thrifty turtle shells.  I found this idea from the Made with Happy blog.  I mean genius right!  I ordered a whole slew (ok 12) roasting pans to be delivered to my door within 2 days.  Click here for a 12 pack -perfect for a party favor or a teenage mutant ninja turtle themed family costume.

Turtle Shell Tutorial

Ok the steps here are pretty easy my friends.  So all you mother, crafters, and other randoms who want to be a turtles… follow these steps.

1. Lay out the roasting pans on the grass or a drop cloth.
2. Spray the backs of the shells using the chosen spray paint color.  I used a light green and a true green to add variety.  Since this turtle party with be half girls and half boys, I thought it would be fun to differentiate the female turtles from the males.  Click Here for the light green & Here for the true green paint.
3. Let the shells dry for 1 hour.  rotate and paint the insides (esp the outer rims- it shows from the front if you don’t paint the insides!  I barely squeaked out one side of all 12 shells with 2 cans of paint.  So even if you only do one color and plan on painting 12, order 4 cans of paint!
4. Poke 4 holes in each turtle shell- one in each corner.
5. Use yarn or string and loop and knot to top and bottom creating 2 straps.

Enjoy your handy work!!

Get all the supplies delivered to your door (click image below in upper right corner

Now for the ninja mask tutorial

1. Select felt squares colored in blue, red, purple, and orange.  I mean we want to be authentic teenage mutant ninja turtles right?! Click here to get felt squares.
2. Cut out strips of felt approx. 2 inches in width.
3. Mark the center of the eyes on the felt using your child or self as a model.  Basically just cut 2 eye holes out measuring about 2 inches long and 1/2 an inch high.  I made a few adjustments on my first mask.  Once I had the perfect mask, I used it as a pattern for the rest.  Just trace the eye holes and sides and cut out.
4. Using a sewing machine attach the elastic bands on each side.  If you do no sew you could also cut larger strips of felt out for the eye masks.  If you cut them long enough, you could tie them in the back!  For little kids, I prefer the elastic option.
5. If you are hosting a “mutant” boy/girl party like me, you might consider adding bows to the girl masks.  In the end I decided to just add a bow to the birthday girl’s mask, but mostly out of sheer laziness haha.
6. 

Now instead of goodie bags, each little turtle will be leaving with their very own turtle shell and accompanying mutant mask!  But don’t worry Ill be sure to load them up with candy and cake while there here too!

And back to the October babies thing… you better believe my kids will be showing up for Halloween as teenage mutant ninja turtles!  I ordered some green pj’s in 2 different colors to complete the look.  Click Here and Here to get the same ones!  Not to exclude my little one year old from all the halloween fun, I even ordered THIS RED ROBE as the beginning of a mini Master Splinter costume.

Shop the Costumes & Supplies

Be sure to check back for the whole Halloween look in a few weeks.  I’ll even share all the details on the Mutant Turtle party too.  Click HERE to subscribe to my blog on the right side bar and get all my weekly diy’s, recipes, design tips, and more right to your inbox.  You can also find me on Instagram @RemingtonAvenue.  

If you like these thrifty teenage mutant ninja turtle costumes, PIN the image below to save it for later or share with others!  As always thanks for stopping in and feel free to leave a comment or share a photo of your costume creation in the comments section below. Cowabunga!

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