If you’re looking for a creative, crowd-stopping Halloween idea, this DIY Tornado Costume for Halloween is it. My son wore this homemade tornado costume and won first place in a costume contest (along with his brother, who dressed as a storm cloud — that tutorial is coming next!).
This project looks super impressive but is surprisingly doable with everyday craft materials, a little imagination, and a few zip ties.
Materials Needed
The tornado costume materials list includes not only the materials needed for the base, but great ideas for debris! Because what is a tornado without debris and destruction?
I found most of my supplies at Hobby Lobby. However, you can find everything for a reasonable price on Amazon!
Base
- A few yards of tulle (in ivory or white and a shade of gray)
- Plastic laundry basket (cylindrical) – I had one already, but you can find one at Walmart! You must have a basket with holes to help secure all the materials.
- 2 yards of fabric (gray, white, or storm-cloud patterned)
- Pool noodles x2 – I got mine at Dollar Tree.
- Hot glue gun + glue sticks – This cordless glue gun is my favorite!
- Zip ties
- Scissors
- Max strength adhesive spray – This is great for poly-fil, batting, and felt! Dries fast and clear!
Debris (Tornado Details)
- Quilt batting (for funnel)
- Toy animals (farm animals work best – be sure they’re 3+ inches so they stand out! Just make sure you have a cow. I found these to be much cheaper in-stores)
- Miniature dollhouse furniture – I chose a bench, mailbox, and some patio furniture
- Toy cars (be sure they aren't too heavy or they will pull at the tulle). A toy tractor would be cool!
- Sticks and leaves (real or faux for extra texture)
- Toy trees
Optional Materials to Make Yours Stand Out
- White Twinkling String lights (battery-powered, remote-controlled if possible) I used these exact ones. I like turning the lights off by remote so the batteries didn't run out.
- Low-odor gray spray paint – this is the one I used!
- Bluetooth speaker (optional but amazing for tornado sound effects!)
- Poly-fil (To add clouds to top and throughout tornado. You can also rip and bunch the batting to save money)
Broken House Trick-or-Treat Bag Materials
- Burlap bag with a sturdy inner backing – these are the ones I used!
- Cardboard (for structure) – I used leftover backing board for notepads.
- Felt scraps – I already had this pack of 4×4 felt pieces
- Hot glue gun + glue sticks
- Permanent adhesive spray
- Black Sharpie marker
Step 1: Prep the Laundry Basket Base
I want to preface this by saying that common sense would say to not flip the basket upside down because the bottom of the tornado needs to be thinner, like a funnel, right? I chose to do this the other way because I wanted my son to have plenty of room to walk.
Begin by cutting a hole in the bottom of the plastic laundry basket for your child’s head. Be sure it's wide enough for the child to move. My husband used a special tool to do this and then filed the edges of the plastic so the edges were less harsh, as to not cut my son.
Next, we had our son try on the basket and marked where his arm holes should be. With scissors, we cut holes in the sides for his arms — make these holes larger than needed so there’s plenty of room to move and add padding.
Next, we cut small slices off the ends of pool noodles, cut one side, slide them onto the edges, and hot glued them around the arm openings. This soft padding will protect your child’s arms from the basket’s rough edges.
I also glued a rounded pool noodle across the top inside (shoulder area) for extra comfort and stability, securing everything with hot glue and zip ties. To do this, flip the basket right side up and measure the very bottom, inside, with a pool noodle. You want to form it into a circle to fit snuggly. Cut as needed. This creates shoulder pads for the child.
Then, add a pool noodle around the top outside of the basket to widen it. Secure with zipties.
Step 2: Add the Fabric and Base Swirl
Wrap your stormy fabric (gray or white) around the basket to hide the holes. Use zip ties to secure the fabric as you go — this creates your base layer and keeps the laundry basket from being visible. Use scissors to cut holes in the fabric, as needed, to attach zipties.
Cut holes in fabric where the arm openings are. Twist parts of fabric around the basket to setup the tornado base.
NOTE: Be sure you tuck the fabric in the neck opening, for extra comfort and coverage, covering outer pool noodle.
Once the base fabric is secure, start wrapping your tulle around the basket. Spray lightly with fabric adhesive spray and twist the tulle as you wrap to create that swirling motion effect. Alternate your gray and ivory tulle for dimension and movement, hot gluing pieces as you go.
TIP: Bunch up tulle and glue together in random spaces in a swirl, so make the tornado more wide and frankily, more obnoxious. haha.
Continue layering until it looks like a tornado funnel forming around your child’s body/the basket.
Step 3: Add Tornado Details & Debris
Now for the fun part! Using hot glue, attach toy animals, mini furniture, and even small sticks or leaves you find outside. Random placement makes it look more realistic — like debris caught in a twister!
TIP: Be sure the items are placed randomly and flipped sideways and upside down. You want it to look unintentional.
Once your decorations are on, use poly fill (optional) to form clouds around the top and random spots throughout the tornado. Glue it down with fabric adhesive spray, then lightly mist the poly fill with gray spray paint to give that stormy, cloudy vibe.
Finally, add your twinkling string lights throughout the tornado. Try weaving them behind layers of tulle and underneath poly-fil to make them glow subtly, like lightning inside the storm.
Step 4: Create the Funnel
At the bottom of the tornado, gather some batting into a funnel shape. Cinch it with zip ties, hot glue to the basket, then twist leftover tulle around it to form the tapered end of the tornado. Adjust the length so it doesn’t drag on the ground when your child walks. I shaped mine with hot glue and zipties.
NOTE: I sat on the floor and placed the tornado on a chair to hang the funnel on the front side of the DIY tornado costume. The front side is simply the side you think looks nicer. Using hot glue, add the funnel to the INSIDE of the bottom of basket/tornado.
Step 5: Final Touches
Stuff poly-fil around your child’s neck area to blend their body into the tornado and make it look like their head is emerging from storm clouds. Glue it lightly and spray with gray paint for consistency. Be mindful to not cover where child's face would be.
To top it off, hide a Bluetooth speaker inside their trick-or-treat bag, and play a tornado siren sound while they walk around. It adds such an incredible effect — people loved it.
Also, I used hair glue to make my son's hair look wind-blown and added gray makeup to his face, arms, and legs in random spaces to make him look dirty.
And that’s it! Your very own DIY tornado costume that’s as creative as it is unforgettable. My son twirled into the party like a full-on storm and won first place in our local Halloween costume contest!
Tornado “Broken House” Trick-or-Treat Bag
No tornado is complete without a little destruction, right? For his bag, we made a broken house trick-or-treat bag to match the costume.
Materials Needed
- Burlap bag with a sturdy inner backing – these are the ones I used!
- Cardboard (for structure) – I used leftover backing board for notepads.
- Felt scraps – I already had this pack of 4×4 felt pieces
- Hot glue gun + glue sticks
- Permanent adhesive spray
- Black Sharpie marker
How to Make It
My husband took charge of this part! Using clip art of a broken house for reference, he cut up pieces of felt to look like shattered boards, torn roof shingles, and a cracked door. He colored in missing shingle spots with a black Sharpie to add contrast.
He then glued all the felt pieces onto a cardboard background, forming a “broken house” scene. Once it was assembled, we hot glued the cardboard panel onto the burlap bag.
The result? A realistic, storm-wrecked house that perfectly tied the whole tornado theme together.
This DIY tornado costume for Halloween was such a hit that people are still talking about it! It’s creative, comfortable, and packed with personality. If you want a costume that makes a serious statement and shows off your crafty side, this one’s a total winner.
(Stay tuned — next up, I’ll show you how we made the matching DIY storm cloud costume that completed the look!)
f you loved our tornado and storm cloud costumes, you might also enjoy seeing our UP Movie family costumes! 🎈
From Carl and Ellie’s adventure outfits to a little Russell and Dug, we went all out recreating this beloved movie for Halloween. It’s a fun idea for families who want a coordinated, whimsical theme that everyone will recognize and love.
Check out the full tutorial and photos of our UP Movie family costumes for inspiration on your next Halloween ensemble!