ObamaCare Bear Costume

Since I recently moved to Washington DC, I decided to go along with the influx of politically related daily activities, and come up with a related Halloween costume. The first 2012 political happening that came to mind was "Obamacare," to which I immediately connected "Care Bear!" The rest is history...

I called Target, JCPenney, Sears, DICK Sports, Old Navy, Sports Authority and none had a matching red hooded sweatshirt and sweat pants. Everyone had navy blue, but I wanted red because it would "pop" and get more attention. I Googled "red hooded sweatshirt" and found a matching Hanes set on Walmart.com. Calling all the local Wal-marts, none of them carried the color red so I ordered it online. Fortunately it arrived 3 business days earlier than expected, and I was able to make my costume in time for the pre-Halloween weekend gatherings.

-I hand painted the Obama symbol on a cut-up old white t-shirt using acrylic paint - mixing white to the red and blue to make the "glow" in the middle and lower parts of the "O."

-I used a seam ripper to take off the pouch of the hooded sweatshirt, then cut out ears from it, sewed them together, and used the sleeves of my white t-shirt to stuff them. I sewed them to the hood then sewed the sides to the top of my hood to keep the ears standing up.

-I used fabric glue to attach the Obama symbol, then cut out a heart from the t-shirt and glued it to the pant's upper right leg. Since the pants did not have pockets I used some of the leftover t-shirt to create a pocket (complete with button) and sewed it to the inside waist of the pants. This way I still had somewhere to put my ID, keys, and phone while out giving my ObamaCare Bear Stare. 4, 3, 2, 1...

Cost: Total: $21.02
1. Sweatsuit: $21.02 (Pants - $7, Hoodie - $11, Shipping $1.94, Tax: $1.08)
2. Old white t-shirt: Free (Obama symbol canvass, stuffing, pocket)
3. Red string, fabric glue – already owned
4. Acrylic paint – Free. (Was able to use from the art department of the school I work at)
5. I already owned the red shoes. But they were $50 (+ shipping and tax) from Journeys.com