A mum spent three weeks handcrafting a costume for her daughter's World Book Day - and surprised her with it this morning.
Donna Gray, 44, painted, built and hot-glued eight-year-old Fleur Hopson's costume from scratch - after she wasn't able to find one online. Fleur fell in love with 'The Christmasaurus' - a character from a series of books by McFly's Tom Fletcher, after Donna gifted them to her last Christmas. She immediately knew she wanted to dress as him for World Book Day - and Donna wanted to make it work in any way she could.
The supplies cost her around £60 and lots were sourced for free. Donna, a laboratory technician from Billingham, Stockton-on-Tees, said: "The Christmasaurus is Fleur's favorite book at the moment - it was a costume we couldn't buy, so I thought, if I can, I'm going to try and make it for her.
"You can't just go and get the Christmasaurus online - so I spent all my free time in three weeks making it. She used to be really, really big into dinosaurs. She thinks the Christmasaurus is so cute, and just loves him." Donna started by finding "dinosaur head" templates online - and printed one out for free.
Fleur Hopson was surprised with it this morning (Donna Gray/SWNS)She hot-glued it to a cardboard sheet, covered it in papier-mache and spray painted over it in blue and white. The tail and spikes were made out of foam material, and Fleur dressed up in white leggings and a white top. "The entire costume came to around £60," Donna said. "I papier-mached the head, cut out all the spikes from foam sheets, and spray-painted it all with acrylics.
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"I was going to stitch the spikes to the back of the tail, but I don't really sew, so I hot-glued it. I know not everyone can afford it and stuff, but she's an only child - I want to help her make some memories." As well as the costume, Donna spent £40 on a rare Christmasaurus soft toy from Vinted - and wrapped it up for Fleur alongside her costume.
She added: "Fleur now has a matching Christmasaurus toy - you can't get them anymore, they were discontinued in 2016. I found it on Vinted - it was £40, and at first I bid £24. But I didn't hear anything back for a two hours, and I was getting more and more anxious. So I just bought it at full price. It was all worth it to see her face this morning. I surprised her with the toy, I thought I was going to cry."
Fleur Hopson in her Christmasaurus costume (Donna Gray/SWNS)Donna says Fleur's school gave them the option to come in comfy clothing or full costume - and she said she wanted to go "all-out". She said: "We hadn't really done costumes at the school before - and we'd had 'storytime' pyjama days instead, in previous years. Now I think everyone's a bit more involved - but it's nice to have the option, as not every parent will be able to buy a costume."
FLEUR'S COSTUME AND HOW MUCH IT COST
Cardboard - free
Template - free
White and blue acrylic paints - £2 each
Foam spikes - £10 for 10 sheets
Spray paints - £10
White top and leggings - £15
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Stuffing for tail and spikes - £4
White and blue material for spikes and tail - £10
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