Little Red Window

DIY Fire Hydrant and Poodle Costume

Crafts, Halloween

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You can make this DIY fire hydrant, the perfect accent to any dog costume or dog themed party, out of materials you already have at home!

A red DIY fire hydrant made from recycled materials, set against a black background. The text above reads

How did I end up making a DIY fire hydrant, you ask? This year my youngest decided she wanted to be a poodle for Halloween. Who I am to argue? Expecially since she has reached the age where I can no longer “convince” her otherwise about things like this.

So, of course, first things first I designed her a poodle hat knitting pattern . We added some white pajamas, a furry vest and tutu that we had already in the dress up bin. And, I thought I was pretty smart to do this, I ordered a set of 8 furry scrunchies to go on the ankles and wrists to look like a classic poodle haircut.

A child wearing a fluffy white hat resembling a poodle smiles while sitting next to a red fire hydrant. They are holding a tennis ball. Text reads,

So if you’re doing a DIY poodle costume, here are the white fur scrunchies I used, they worked perfectly! We went to with 2 per ankle/wrist to add some extra fluff. (And we though we might tie dye them afterwards just for fun.)

However, ever since my oldest had an architect Halloween costume years ago, my kids decided that the absolute best thing is to have a costume coordinated candy holding receptacle. The architect collected candy in his tube of blueprint drawings. A pencil carried candy in a giant pencil sharpener. You get the idea.

A red fire hydrant made of recycledcardboard and plastic stands against a dark background. Its shiny surface and cylindrical shape closely resemble a real hydrant.

For a poodle costume, we went back and forth and decided this year the poodle should collect candy in a DIY fire hydrant. Mostly because it made us laugh and I knew it would be fun to make. In the end this DIY fire hydrant cost me $1 for extra red paint. And didn’t require anything you may not already have at home.

I realized crafters say that all the time, but it really didn’t!

A small DIY cardboard fire hydrant, painted in bright red, stands on a brown surface against a black background.

Are you ready to find out how to make a DIY fire hydrant, let’s do it!

DIY Fire Hydrant Instructions

  1. The base of my DIY fire hydrant was the largest oatmeal canister we had. I transferred the oats to a plastic storage container and then looked around in my cabinets for other bits and piece that I could use to make a fire hydrant shape. I gathered a selection of takeout containers, paper cups, paper bowls, and some cardboard.
    A tabletop with stacked cups and bowls, some in red and white stripes, others transparent, alongside a large oats container. Various small lids and a green bowl lid are scattered around.
  2. Next I decided which of these things would make the best fire hydrant shape. I started with those red and white paper cups. They need to be cut to fit the curved shape of the oatmeal container which took a little trial and error but once I got one to fit, I used it to trace two more.
    A hand holding a red and white striped paper cup, cut in half, with another cut cup in the background. An oatmeal container with visible text is nearby, all on a cutting mat surface.
    A person holds a red and white striped paper cup attached to the side of a large container of rolled oats, partially cut out to fit the side. The container's nutrition label is visible.
  3. A small plastic storage container ended up fitting perfectly on top of the oatmeal container to create the top of the DIY fire hydrant. A small sauce container, like the kid that would hold salad dress or ketchup was easy to cut down to put on top and on the paper cups on the sides. A takeout container lid made a perfect fire hydrant base.
    A plastic bowl placed upside down on a circular oats lid.. The background includes a grid-patterned surface and scattered paper strips.
    A large container of oats with a plastic lid and another plastic takeout lid as the base is placed on a wooden table.
  4. Next I cut some small hexagon shaped “nuts” to go on the sides and top.
    A cardboard piece with cut-out shapes, including a hexagon to look like a hardware store nut, lies on a gridded cutting mat. A sharpened pencil rests nearby.
    A craft project showing an oatmeal container being transformed into a DIY fire hydrant. The container has a plastic lid, red and white striped tape, and a cardboard circle with a nut in the center on the front. Craft materials are scattered around.
  5. Finally, I attached all of these parts very securely with hot glue. I was careful with the hot glue around the seams to make it look as tidy as possible.
  6. I wanted to use acrylic craft paint to paint my DIY fire hydrant red, but in my experience, the color red takes MANY coats to cover well and I knew I would have difficulty covering up the images and text on the oatmeal container with only acrylic paint so I took my hydrant outside and gave it a coat of red based primer. That covered everything really well. Then I painted over that with red acrylic paint.
    A fire hydrant is sprayed with a fresh coat of orange-red primer, placed on two pieces of cardboard on a grassy lawn. A log can be seen in the background.

    If you are wondering why I didn’t just spray paint the whole thing, there are two reasons, I don’t like the finish of spray paint, it can look uneven. And also spray painted items STINK and I knew my child wouldn’t like that. Added acrylic paint on top of the primer, encapsulated the smell and gave my DIY fire hydrant a great smooth finish. But if you prefer spray paint, go for it!

And that’s it! The lid of the oatmeal container is still removable so you can easily put candy inside. I will probably add a strap of some kind to make it easier to carry while trick-or-treating. And now I own a very realistic DIY fire hydrant. Ha!

A bright red fire hydrant against a dark background, featuring two side nozzles and a domed top. The hydrant is clean and prominently positioned.

If you liked this, you may also like some of my other posts…

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Cassie May
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