Gather Costume Materials

• You should be able to find most of the ingredients for your bumblebee costume in your closet. The base of the costume is black clothing. It can really be any clothing items you want. Wear black jeans and a turtle neck top, or a leotard and black tights. You can use a dressy dress for your bumblebee costume or or be cool and casual. That is up to you. You will have to purchase yellow duct tape to add stripes to your black outfit. If you are worried about the duct tape ruining your clothes, wear an older top that you don't mind destroying. To make bumble bee antenna you need a headband, pipe cleaners and black fuzzy balls. You will also need about 4 feet of flexible wire to make the wings and a pair of old stockings. Tutus are optional for this costume but very popular. If you want to make a tutu, you will also need black and yellow tulle and a wide ribbon or elastic.
  
  

Advance Preparation

• The wings, antenna and optional tutu should be made in advance. To make the wings, form a figure eight with the wire and use duct tape to reinforce the shape. Attach pipe cleaners to the headband and glue the pom pom balls on the end. Cover the "wings" with a stocking to give it a transparent quality. They can be pinned to the back of the costume. To make the tutu, just tie 2-inch wide strips using slipknots to the elastic band or ribbon cut long enough to go round your waste leaving enough length to tie the tutu on. Alternate yellow and black tulle strips.
  
  

Assembling the Costume

• The remainder of the costume needs to be assembled as you get dressed because it is hard to get into clothes that have been duct taped as they have no give. Begin by getting dressed in your black outfit. Then cut strips of yellow tape and have someone help you make yellow rings on the torso of your clothing. Do not make the rings of tape too tight, so that you have room to move and to breathe freely. Add any yellow accessories you can find such as bracelets, a neck scarf, earrings or wrist bands. Be creative.
  
  

Baby Bee

• A bumble bee costume for a baby is a little different. You will need a black hat, wire and stockings for the wings, and pipe cleaners and balls for the antenna. You will also need black felt fabric. Dress the baby in comfortable clothes and then wrap her in the black felt fabric in a loose bunting style (see the resource on how to swaddle a baby). Make the bunting a little looser than normal so you can slip the baby out of it if you need to. After the baby is wrapped, add a few rings of yellow duct tape around the costume. Attach the antenna individually to the baby's hat and pin the wings to the back.