Hi - I have a toddler and I want to dress him as a construction worker in honor of my dad (he will be estatic), however, I have done quite a bit of looking and having a hard time finding a kid's tool belt and have started to wonder if they exist or if I will have to attempt to make one. I found a crappy looking plastic one at toys r us that comes with a bunch of plastic tools.. but looking for something more real looking. Any ideas?
Home Depot will typically give you a kid size tool belt if you ask. I just saw construction vests that look exactly like the Melissa & Doug ones, at Dollar Tree! They have the hats too. Oriental Trafing has it all too, but the hat quality isn't good, so you'd have to put a few together. It's a really popular birthday theme right now, so you should be able to get it all pretty inexpensively.
Melissa and Doug makes a really cute construction worker costume. It comes with the tool belt, goggles, hard hat, safety vest, and tools. It's around 30.00 but you can get it off amazon for around 20.00. That's cheaper than buying everything separately and the quality is good. Only thing is it's for ages 3+. Target also makes one in toddler size.
How cute mine dresses up in all sorts of costumes.'i usually DIY. We made a construction worker one a while ago and I made the belt from items I had at home. You need a black (your choice of color), I used a belt of mine that I used to grip my waist, sewed on some straps to hold the tools, added a pouch to insert a walkie talkie and embellished the buckle with a metallic silver. Do you own the tool set from fisher pice?? If not the dollar store carries variety of tool packs and also hard hats. I actually just thought of this but you can also find Velcro pieces while have self adhesive and just stick the tools or straps to be belt. Hope that helps.
I am sure you can find something at a hardware place that you can adapt. They have a lot of inexpensive cloth utility belts that hold screws, nails, etc. - with a series of pockets. Tell them what you are looking for. You could attach a series of loops using wire, long twist ties, cable ties, or any other inexpensive holders. I assume you can then save money by using your real tools as accessories. Also look at craft stores - sometimes you can find something to hold other types of tools, and you can use that for the tool belt. If you are at all talented, you can probably find a pattern at a fabric store and create something out of a remnant of looped trim or even fake leather (like vinyl or "naugahyde"). It's going to be for nighttime trick or treating, so why not use a strip of black fabric (heavy duty) with some loops added to it, and hang the tools off it? Ask the fabric store staff - they are great resources for cheap solutions to things!
The tools "make" the costume anyway. Add a plastic hard hat and some plastic safety glasses. I've got a leftover set of plastic tools & hardhat but couldn't find a brand name. You could also try a "high end" toy store for those nature belts that hold a net, a set of tweezers, a magnifying glass, and so on - just repurpose it for Halloween. (If you're REALLY resourceful, put the belt away afterwards and give the nature set for Christmas or a birthday!)
Do you have an old pair of cargo pants? You could easily cut the pockets off and sew them to something to make it a tool belt. Leave the waist on and use it to make a loop and then put it on a belt, maybe.
If you don't want the crappy Handy Manny-type one, I'd suggest either
a costume shop for a bigger/better one or going to a home improvement
store.
You can always alter that one to fit better.
Hardware stores usually have little kids ones mixed in with adult belts.
Are you near an IKEA?
I don't know for sure, but do you have a Cal-Ranch store or a Home Depot nearby? I bet one of those types of stores could help you out. Sounds like an adorable idea for a costume. :)
Amazon has a 'Real Construction Kids set' for $18
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003AULWEU/?tag=hyprod-20&hv...
Lowes has one for $18.
http://www.lowes.com/pd_314795-16878-53966_###-###-####_#...
How about looking for bob the builder things
best of luck!
For my son, I used a real tool belt. It was an older one my hubby stopped using, because one of the pockets got stretched out. I just cut one of the pockets off (so it would fit around my son's waist, otherwise it was still just too big. This took a bit of work. I used pliers to remove the rivets from the belt. I cut the belt down - it was made out of webbing material. And just slid the plastic pieces back on so the clip would work. I used a lighter to melt the plastic and keep the strap made of webbing from coming undone. I left some length so he could use it as he grows. We did this when my son was almost three and at almost seven, he still uses it when he does projects with Daddy.
I could probably send a pic if you need it. Just Pm me.
