Sometimes, desperation begets inspiration, and that’s how I managed to upcycle a Halloween costume into a cake stand skirt.

For our next party, the dessert table will be a round table in the middle of a space with very high ceilings. And that means our dessert table will need height, too. Since the table is round, I started thinking about hat boxes to elevate my cake stand. The shopping fairies were not on my side, and I couldn’t find just the right shade of pink hat box. (OK – I only tried one store.) But I did get inspired by some Christmas tutus for toddlers: would one of those tutus make a fabulous skirt for my hat box?

The size of the pre-made tutu didn’t work and I was literally walking into my library to email Little Boo Creations to make me my own tutu when I saw my Goodwill pile. On the top, was this fairy costume Meg wore to her 4th birthday party. And the wheels started turning.

I almost didn’t even try this project because I knew if it didn’t turn out, I’d feel like I was depriving some little girl of an inexpensive costume, but I finally just dove in.

Cake Stand Skirt Supplies

• Old costume
• Hat box
• 3/8″ width grosgrain ribbon
• Needle and thread
• Aleene’s Thick Tacky Glue
• Scissors
• Clamps (like binder clips or chip bag clips)

Cake Stand Skirt Instructions

1 – My costume was not quite big enough to fit around my hat box. So, I used my scissors as a seam ripper and opened the back of the costume skirt. (I guess I missed getting a photo of this step — sorry!)

2 – I cut the top of the costume off the skirt above the waist. I should have done a better job at leaving an even allowance. If I had it to do over again, I’d try to leave a consistent 1″ above the waist.

3 – Wrap your grosgrain around your hat box top and tie it in a bow. Add 6 inches to that length and cut your ribbon.

4 – Pin your ribbon into place along the inside waist of your costume. I pinned mine into the elastic for extra strength.

5 – Sew the ribbon into the waist band. I just used a running stitch for this.

6 – Apply your glue to the fabric where you cut off the top of the costume. Fold it over the ribbon and clamp it in place. (This got tricky in spots that I cut too narrow.)

7 – At this point, I tested the skirt on my hat box and decided that I wanted to disguise my stitching and the uneven top of my skirt. So I pulled out the glue and some pink pom trim that I had on hand.

Finished Product

It’s fine for my purposes that the skirt is open in the back — it won’t show. I’m pretty happy with how this turned out. If I had sewing skills and a machine, I’m sure it could be better looking. But this fits the bill: it dresses up my hat box in a way that works for my party, and it doesn’t damage the box, so I can use it another time.