Published on October 3, 2017 | Last Updated on January 30, 2021

Today I’m super excited to share my first DIY Halloween costume idea of the season. I’m all about making a costume one of a kind but I also don’t like spending hours making something that will be worn for a few hours. The costume is equal parts adorable and easy, win-win in my book! When Smarties asked me to come up with a children’s costume inspired by a strong, influential person in history as part of their Little Smarties campaign, I quickly brainstormed a VERY long list of impactful women.

I know you might be wondering how I ended up going with Julia Child… well in true C&C fashion I wanted the costume to be one you don’t see all over Pinterest and of course put my own spin on it! Julia revolutionized America cooking during a time when TV dinners and canned casseroles were the everyday norm. She taught Americans the importance of enjoying food as an experience rather than just convenience. As someone who loves to cook and believes food plays a huge part in our culture, I know Julia Child’s impact is much bigger than people realize. Long story short, she’s someone that had a ton of influence but rarely gets talked about so I thought this was the perfect opportunity to highlight her!

If you’re new around here, Ailee, my photographer and best friend’s little girl Isla is three and a half and in my opinion the cutest model. It definitely comes in handy that her mom is a photographer because this little lady is NOT camera shy as you can see below. Isla will spend hours playing with her kitchen and whipping up imaginary meals. My personal favorite, her chocolate cake! She even has the cutest children’s book Julia, Child so it was fun to be able to connect the costume to something familiar to her.

MATERIALS:
-Julia Child Patch
-Blue and white striped dress or collared shirt, the dress pictured is from Cuteheads
-White apron
-bandana
-cake pedestal
-whisk
-a box of small croissants from your grocer’s bakery
-a bowl of flour

The costume is perfect if you’re looking to DIY without being super crafty. You can
pull together everything pretty quickly but for the classic Julia Child look, you’ll need
to order this iron on patch and account for shipping time.

Julia typically wore a collared blouse but we went with one of Isla’s favorite dresses,
this blue and white striped dress that aligns with Julia’s look. Next I folded the apron in half like Julia wore them and tied it above her waist where the dress begins to flare.

In almost every photo you see of Julia she’s wearing a pearl necklace or a neck scarf. I chose to incorporate the neck scarf to add a touch a Parisian style because she’s most well known for her French recipes. I tied the scarf in a square knot and pushed the tails of the scarf to one side then added the patch to other side and ironed on the patch (using low heat) to the other.

Julia had short hair so I pulled Isla’s hair back into a low bun so it was out of her face. To take the costume a little further, I let Isla play with a bowl of flour. She had so much fun making a mess and we even sprinkled it in her hair to make it look like she’s been cooking up a storm in the kitchen!

The pedestal with croissants are a great touch but if you’re heading out trick-or-treating or to a costume party, I’d recommend only taking the whisk or you could grab a baguette to easily carry around.

There you have it, a modern take on classic Julia Child! Perfect for any little girl that loves to cook just as much as Isla does!

This post was sponsored by Smarties. All thoughts and opinions are my own.