Items for Painter Costume

I would use either an old button down shirt of yours or hubby's OR get one from a thrift or Goodwill store. I would look at a thrift store for a beret as well. Make a palette out of thick posterboard or carboard and use marker or paint to put "paint" dabs on the pallette. A craft store should have a paint brush (or you can borrow one from the school's art department)...keep in mind you may want one of the longer ones so it looks like it is really an artist's brush.

Consignment shops?

You can make an artist's palette out of sturdy cardboard - cut in a curved pattern and put splotches of paint (or use marker), and just hang it off the coat. You could use any large shirt as a smock and not try to go for a lab coat.

You could try calling a medical uniform company to see if they have anything that's damaged that you could just have or buy for $1 - tell them it's for a 7 year old's costume. They may have some samples or an odd size that they can't sell, and they might take pity on you! Even if there is dirt or a stain on it, you could put paint over it to make it look like a spotty artist's smock. Also call your pediatrician's office to see if they have something in the back closet they don't want. You never know!

Go to a thrift store. You will have to spend some time looking but will find some great stuff.

How are your thrift stores? That's where to check. Look for a woman's smock or a lab coat (or a big ol' man's white shirt). For a beret, see if there is one there, or make one with two large circles of fabric; cut a head-sized circle (you might want to put elastic in it to make it the right head size) out of the center of the bottom circle. You could even put a little stuffing inside the sewed-together circles to make the beret "pouf" as it should. And VERY large, very long artist paint brushes! Do you know any artists? Maybe you could borrow some very used brushes.

If your child is a girl, there are some cute wool berets for children that she could re-use as a winter hat after Halloween. (The beret style is maybe not such a good hat for boys...if your child is a boy, just look at thrift shops or make a cardboard beret.)

-Thrift store
-Little girls' section of a department store. They always seem to have them. They my fit.
-Walmart (online if you don't have a store near you) should have some
cheap ones.

Another possibility rather than a lab coat is a cooks' bib apron with large pockets.