BEAUTY SOS

Not doing much ab work lately? Make that neglected ball into a chick costume by covering it with a feather boa.

THE COSTUME: LITTLE BIRDIE

THE ITEM: BALANCE BALL

1. START with a colorful inflated balance ball, plugside up. Trace a circle on the top to make an opening for your child’s head, then a larger hole at the bottom for the opening for the legs. Deflate, then cut out the traced areas with scissors. 2. CUT a 2-inch slit at the back of the head opening. (It’s easier to put on that way.) Next, cut an armhole on each side of the ball about 1½ inches below the head opening. 3. STAPLE a colorful feather boa (or two) around the surface of the ball. (It’s OK if some of the ball shows.) 4. GLUE a yellow foam visor to the brim of a ball cap to resemble a beak. 5. DRESS your child in a coordinating shirt, pants, and shoes.

HALLOWEEN COSTUMES

THE COSTUME: OCTOPUS

THE ITEM: UMBRELLA

1. STUFF 8 purple knee-high socks with newspaper and tie a knot at each opening. (You can also place a few pipe cleaners inside each sock to make it more posable.) 2. GLUE white pom-poms to the underside of each sock in 2 lines for the arms. 3. ATTACH each sock to the spokes of a purple umbrella with craft glue. (Try Magna Tac 809, $13, beaconadhesives.com.) 4. CUT eyes out of black and white felt circles and adhere them to the outside of the umbrella (not shown). 5. DRESS your child in a purple outfit with lines of pom-poms glued to the front of the sleeves and the pant legs.

THE COSTUME: KNIGHT

THE ITEM: ALUMINUM TRAY

1. FOLD a black plastic tablecloth in half. Cut a hole in the center to make a head opening. 2. CUT a large circle out of a piece of gray felt to create the armor. Make an opening for the head in the middle of the gray circle. Glue the felt to the tablecloth so the head openings line up. 3. TRACE 2 large fleur-delis symbols on colorful card stock. Using doublesided tape, attach one to the outside of an aluminum pan, which will be a shield. Fashion a handle out of duct tape for the inside of the shield. Attach the other emblem to the front of the tablecloth. 4. DRAW and cut out a sword outline on cardboard. Wrap the blade in foil and the handle in black tape. Tape a feather to a silver or black bike helmet. 5. DRESS your child in a gray top, black pants, and a pair of black boots.

Things get medieval when you dress up a grocery-store pan, a tablecloth, and a bike helmet. An umbrella is the key to this suck-cessful (sorry) costume.