
Looking for an easy DIY Garbage Man Halloween costume for your toddler? Here’s a look at some inspiration and product links from Jack’s costume last year to help you out.
Last Halloween was the first year Jack was old enough to pick out his own costume. He absolutely loves garbage trucks, so I was not surprised when he asked to be a garbage man (well, technically a recycle man)…I just needed to figure out how to pull it off.
Jack was so proud wearing his costume to school and trick or treating, and the trash can actually made a great candy collector. Here are the details from his costume and links to where you can buy the materials we used. Happy Halloween to your little garbage man!
GARBAGE MAN VEST: HOW-TO
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Here’s the vest we bought for Jack – direct from Waste Management. So smart of them to have branded costumes and toys for all the kids that love garbage men and trash cans. Here’s a link to a woven recycle patch they offer along with a hat. They also sell a full Waste Management outfit with branded t-shirt.

We added an iron on patch to the vest with Jack’s name, which totally elevated the overall look of the costume with a more custom look. Here is the link to the monogrammed name patch from Etsy store, where we order the patches for both Jack and my husband.

If you prefer Amazon, here’s another option for a monogrammed name patch, which also looks great.

To complete the family look, we also purchased these Adult Safety Vests. Amazon also offers a great Toddler & Kid Sized Safety Vest in smaller sizes than on the Waste Management site.


Garbage / recycle can how-to
We waited a little last minute to create the trash can, so we created a few work arounds to get it done quickly.
For starters, I definitely recommend purchasing a trash can with a connected lid. From there, we spray painted with two coats of green spray paint and added this recycling decal from Amazon you can find here

For our time savers, we borrowed the wheels from our Step2 push car and drilled a hole and stuck a shovel handle into it. If we had more time, we probably would have built it more from scratch, but it worked!

Last, but not least, here’s a link to our favorite garbage truck pajamas for putting your little one to bed after a fun evening of trick of treating. We have these and love them! Very soft and great quality for the low price.

Hope this post helped provide a little help and inspiration. Happy trick or treating to your little garbage man!
