With Halloween fast approaching I've got a great DIY to share today that's perfect for a little princess! Most little girls love dressing up as a princess and what princess doesn't need a carriage to make her outfit complete? This easy DIY turns an ordinary wagon into a beautiful carriage that you can use for years with any princess costume!
For my daughter Brynlee's first birthday/Halloween I decided to go all out. I just couldn't resist, I mean her birthday is less than a week away from Halloween so she can have awesome costume parties every year and first birthdays are extra special (even if the recipient won’t remember it)!
I also love fairy tales, especially Disney fairy tales so I decided I wanted her to be Cinderella for her first birthday. All the pumpkin decorations would be perfect for a Halloween party and as her mother I was excited to extend the theme to myself and be her Fairy Godmother! I also saw a few pins on Pinterest where people were turning strollers, wheelchairs and wagons into Cinderella carriages for Halloween, (here's a great example with a stroller from Momma Ever After) so of course I decided to make my own Cinderella carriage for our little princess.
I'm no stranger to DIYing my kids costumes, here's my son's garbage can and garbage man costume that is one of my most popular posts on Thrifty Artsy Girl (we still use the garbage can to this day!). Just as I figured out how to turn a normal garbage can into a wheeled toddler sized garbage can for Jackson I needed to figure out how to turn a wagon into a carriage for Brynlee.
As luck would have it Cory had snagged a perfectly good wagon from the next door neighbors curb (another garbage picking score!) that just needed the handle reattached. So Cory got a piece of wood and fixed the wagon up good as new so I could use it for Brynlee's carriage and not have to touch our family wagon.
Now I just needed all the other supplies. I wanted to use hula hoops because that was what I saw everyone else use that made DIY carriages. Unfortunately hula hoops are impossible to find in the beginning of October. *Note to self: Don’t wait until the last minute to make DIY costumes.* Thankfully Cory came up with the brilliant idea of using Pex pipes or Pex tubing as he called it. The Pex pipes Cory picked up for me also happened to be blue so fit in perfectly with the Cinderella color scheme I was going for.
Now I just needed all the other supplies. I wanted to use hula hoops because that was what I saw everyone else use that made DIY carriages. Unfortunately hula hoops are impossible to find in the beginning of October. *Note to self: Don’t wait until the last minute to make DIY costumes.* Thankfully Cory came up with the brilliant idea of using Pex pipes or Pex tubing as he called it. The Pex pipes Cory picked up for me also happened to be blue so fit in perfectly with the Cinderella color scheme I was going for.
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Cinderella Carriage Supplies:
-Zip ties
-Ribbon
-Blankets to cover inside the wagon
-Decorative piece for the top (I used a crown Christmas tree ornament)
I made this carriage and took all these pictures while I was on my blogging break so they aren't exactly what I would normally use to make a DIY post but they work great at showing how I made the carriage and the finished product.
Here's a pic of the wagon (minus the handle) and pex tubing. I sat my kiddos in the wagon and roughly measured the pex pipe to make sure there would be enough head room for both Brynlee and Jackson to sit comfortably with enough headspace so they wouldn't hit the tubing. Cory then cut the tubing into two pieces for me.
Here's a picture of most of the supplies I used: the pex tubing already cut, the tulle fabric I used, the battery operated string lights, some ribbon, plastic tablecloths and crown ornament for the top of the carriage. As you can see Jackson and Brynlee could not get enough of the wagon the second I brought it inside!
I duct taped the pex tubing so that it formed an x across the top of the carriage. I taped one side of the tubing on the left side of the seat, front and back, and then taped that same piece of tubing on the opposite right side of the seat, front and back. I didn't skimp on the tape because I wanted it to hold through any conditions it would be in, from being put in the car, to being used outside and most importantly: children. After both pieces of tubing were taped on the seats I zip tied the top to keep it all in place.
After the tubing was all in place I wrapped the lights all around it. I used one set for one tube and the other set for the other tube. I then placed the battery packs behind the seats for easy access.
I don't have any pictures of the process of gluing the tablecloths along the sides of the wagon to hide the red sides however it was pretty easy. I took my hot glue gun and glued it in place to completely hide any red areas. For the inside of the wagon I used two baby blue blankets that had been Jacksons when he was a baby and put them over the seats and tied them along the backs with white ribbon.
For the last step I covered the pex tubing with iridescent tulle. I wrapped it all along the tubing and tied it together at the top and all the sides of the tubing to create almost a curtain to complete the carriage look. I then tied a crown Christmas tree ornament on the top to give it a decorative top piece like a real carriage.
I moved it out to the entryway and snapped a quick pic in the dark after I put the tulle on. Just a few finishing touches with straightening the blankets and it would be complete. I just love how it turned out!
A couple of the things I love most about this carriage wagon is that it should last for years (and it has!) and the carriage decorations are completely removable so I didn't ruin the wagon!
I know you all are dying to see the carriage in action during Brynlee's party and Halloween so I'll share some pictures of the events, well I'll share a bunch of pictures (I wasn't lying when I said I love pictures in my About me 😊!
I wore a fairy godmother costume complete with sparkly wings to Brynlee's party. I really love matching up with her costume and I've done it every year!
I used a lot of real pumpkins for decorations including a white pumpkin that I turned into a carriage. I carved out the windows and door and pushed a pretty metal picture frame into the pumpkin. I then hot glued pearls on a string around the windows and mini pumpkin wheels. I attached the mini pumpkins with wood skewers. I drew some decorative touches using a silver paint marker around the windows to finish it off.
One of my friends from work made a Cinderella dress cupcake cake to my specifications and I made Brynlee's smash cake out of a pumpkin roll.
It's so funny to me how baby's either really get into their smash cake or they just don't know what to do with it. Brynlee was the latter, however she did eat a fair amount of her cake.
One decoration I make sure to put up for both my children's first birthday parties is their monthly pictures. They grow so fast and I love looking back at the whole year!
Here's one more shot of the carriage at the party along with some Cinderella balloons.
We packed up the carriage and brought it to the church. It faired great in the car, even though we had to smash the top down a bit to squeeze it in. We got tons of compliments on the carriage while we pulled it through the line. Here's a few pictures of the carriage in action at trunk or treating.
Both Brynlee and our niece Sarah (who is 3 months older than Brynlee) loved riding in the carriage!
I made Brynlee a doll cake just like my Grandma had made for me when I turned 2.
I dressed up as Maleficent to match the Sleeping Beauty theme.
Last year we did not take the carriage out because we had a big snow storm on Halloween. It's definitely a Halloween I'll never forget. We stayed local and only trick or treated around the neighborhood with the kiddos wearing snow pants!
While I'm sharing all these Halloween pics I'll share a few from that birthday party/Halloween too! Brynlee dressed up as Anna from Frozen and I dressed up as Elsa. I had my friend from work made an Olaf cupcake cake for Brynlee.
We trick or treated with friends and Brynlee decided last minute she wanted to wear her witch costume instead of Anna. I seriously cannot even remember a snowy Halloween so it will be one the kids will remember forever!
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