Fisherman & Dogfish

Total Time Needed:: Afternoon Or Evening

He may not be old enough to captain a ship, but netting treats won't be a trick for this salty fisherman. Bright and easy to assemble, this costume is practical for chilly October nights. And if you've got an agreeable family pooch, he can wear our easily detachable fin and play your child's prized catch.

Materials

three 24-inch squares of yellow gift wrap (fisherman)
glue stick (fisherman)
masking tape (fisherman)
1 sheet of sticky-back felt (fisherman)
skein of gray yarn (fisherman)
2 feet of elastic string (fisherman)
raincoat (fisherman)
pants (fisherman)
rubber boots (fisherman)

felt (dogfish)
scissors (dogfish)
tacky glue (dogfish)
foil (dogfish)
colored markers (dogfish)
corrugated cardboard (dogfish)
strip of self-adhesive Velcro (dogfish)
dog harness (dogfish)
dog leash (dogfish)

Instructions

Make the Gloucester Hat by gluing two sheets of wrapping paper together, yellow side down. Apply glue in a circle in the center of the sheets and along the outer edges so the brim is even.
To form the crown, gently press the papers on your child's head, edges around the sides of her face, and wrap the papers with masking tape two to three times at eyebrow level. Glue the third piece of paper on top, yellow side up. Trim the brim to be long in back and short in front.
Create the beard by cutting the felt into a beard shape and laying it on a flat surface, sticky side up. Apply 2-inch pieces of yarn to the sticky side until the surface is covered. For a very full beard, glue yarn to the back of the beard along the bottom edge.
Make a small hole on each side of the beard. Tie elastic string to the holes, so that it fits snugly but comfortably over the top of your child's head like a headband.
Next, create the Dogfish. Draw a pair of matching fin shapes onto felt (the fin is 11 by 9 inches ) and cut them out. Glue the curved edges together, leaving the bottom edge unglued. If desired, decorate with "scales;" (we glued on foil circles and colored them with markers).
Using a pencil, trace the felt fin onto cardboard. Cut out two matching cardboard fins, exactly 1/2 inch smaller on the sides and 1 inch longer on the bottom than the felt fins.
On each fin, fold the bottom 1 inch of cardboard out and crease up. Glue the fins together and slip the felt fin over the cardboard. Cut out a cardboard rectangle, 2 inches wide and about 6 inches long. Attach Velcro to the bottom two corners and sides of the cardboard rectangle and to the bottom of each fin flap. Put the harness on your dog.
Place the cardboard rectangle on the dog's back under the harness straps (make sure there's room for the leash to attach to the harness). Now duct-tape the harness to the rectangle. Finally, attach the leash and stick on the fin with Velcro.
Have your child put on the raincoat and pants, rubber boots, beard and Gloucester hat. Accessorize with a dogfish and fresh catch.