An Australian mother-of-four has shared a snap of what could be the most adorable Kmart ‘hack’ yet.
Chloe Kotsano, 29, from Adelaide, South Australia, wowed social media when she shared a snap of the adorable lion costume she made for her 10-week-old baby girl Edie.
The most impressive part? She made the costume using a $9 plush toy from Kmart.
Ms Kotsano was organising a family photo shoot and wanted it to be a ‘fun theme’ that her kids would remember for years to come but couldn’t find a costume anywhere.
An Australian mother-of-four has shared a snap of what could be the most adorable Kmart ‘hack’ yet after turning a $9 Kmart plush toy (left) into an adorable lion costume for her baby
Once home Ms Kotsano unpicked the toy’s seam and defluffed the lion before bringing the costume to life
‘Life with four kids is a bit of a circus so that was theme and I wanted them to be able to look back on it and think it fun,’ Ms Kotsano told FEMAIL.
‘I was struggling to find anything for my little girl to wear and I knew I wanted her to be a lion as my eldest child was dressing as a lion tamer.
‘I just couldn’t find anything in her size – everything was for babies six months and up.’
Ms Kotsano, a children’s entertainer, came up with her clever DIY idea while at Kmart.
To complete the outfit, Ms Kotsano cut the feet off the lion and sewed some elastic in the top to make little lion feet booties and teamed the pieces with a little furry vest
The crafty mum also bought a $3 nappy cover to cover with the fabric to ensure she could make a little tail while also allowing easy access for any possible nappy changes
‘I love making costumes and I often have to put costumes together but I only had a day to do it so needed it to be easy,’ Ms Kotsano said.
‘As I was walking through the toy section at Kmart I came across a stuffed toy lion for $9 and thought I could easily take out the stuffing and reform him to make a costume to fit a little baby.’
The crafty mum also bought a $3 nappy cover to cover with the fabric to ensure she could make a little tail while also allowing easy access for any possible nappy changes.
Once home Ms Kotsano unpicked the toy’s seam and defluffed the lion before bringing the costume to life.
‘I then attached pink ribbon on the ends so that we could tie it up as a bonnet and it would stay in place,’ she said
Pictured is Ms Kotsano with Edie and her eldest son
‘We knew we needed the mane and wanted her cute little face to show so we decided to cut the lion’s face out and turn the head into a bonnet by sewing around the seam where we cut so that the fabric would look nice and neat,’ Ms Kotsano said.
‘I then attached pink ribbon on the ends so that we could tie it up as a bonnet and it would stay in place.
‘After that we cut and glued pieces of fabric to cover the white nappy cover and glued them on.’
To complete the outfit, Ms Kotsano cut the feet off the lion and sewed some elastic in the top to make little lion feet booties and teamed the pieces with a little furry vest.
Ms Kotsano was organising a family photo shoot and wanted it to be a ‘fun theme’ that her kids would remember for years to come
‘Hey presto… our cute little Edie lion was born!’ Ms Kotsano said
‘Hey presto… our cute little Edie lion was born!’ Ms Kotsano said.
‘If I had more time I would have used the sewing machine to make the bottom properly but obviously life with four kids is hectic.’
Edie’s costume wasn’t Ms Kotsano’s only DIY creation, with the clever mother also making her son a strong man costume using Kmart purchases.
‘The strong man was made using a girls stripy bathing suit which we cut and a pair of bike shorts teamed with a pair of white socks,’ she said.
‘All that was missing was a mustache (which can be purchased from any costume shop).
‘Think outside the box and you can create your children’s one of a kind costumes for a fraction of the regular cost.’