Chesney Terry dressed her daughter as a s’more last year — an idea that came to her the night before her daughter needed it
Chesney Terry, a Texas mother of three, is a dedicated DIYer, and last year, she dressed her daughter up as a s’more — and the “last minute” costume went viral on TikTok
Terry hand-painted the cardboard with realistic-looking chocolate squares, and the whole project took about two hours, which was perfect, because it needed to be done for an event the next day
“I was a little humbled, honestly, and taken aback,” Terry, 32, tells PEOPLE
People are really wanting s’more of this mom’s Halloween costumes!
Chesney Terry, an East Texas mom of three, tells PEOPLE she’s ready to treat her followers to another sweet dose of DIY after the overwhelming response she got on TikTok to the costume she made for her daughter Noah Mae, now 3, last year.
“I was a little humbled, honestly, and taken aback,” Terry, 32, tells PEOPLE. “I thought it was cute, I was proud of it.”
But nothing prepared Terry for the feedback she got from her followers, who both complimented her creativity — and wanted the recipe. so to speak.
“I posted it last year after I did it, and that was before I was really making a lot of TikToks,” Terry says. “I got 30,000 views and I was blown away and floored and everything.”
The sweet video now has over 200,000 views.
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The idea to dress her then-2-year-old daughter as a campfire mainstay started when the Lindale resident visited her local store “last minute” and couldn’t find any ready-made costumes she liked.
At home on Pinterest, she came across the idea to make a s’more costume. Fortunately, she didn’t have to look far for most of her materials.
“I realized I needed a tutu, so I went to the store. But other than that, I had everything already at my house,” she says.
Terry hand-painted the cardboard with realistic-looking chocolate squares, and the whole project took about two hours, which was perfect, because it needed to be done for an event the next day.
“I feel like I’ve always been a little creative my whole life, but I don’t feel like I’m a professional by any means,” the humble DIYer tells PEOPLE. “I just kind fake it ‘til make it. Most of the time people ask me how I do it, and I’m like, ‘I really don’t know.’ I just start doing it, and it just kind of comes along.”
And part of the key is just trusting the process.
“The more you do it, you just have to have a little confidence,” she adds. “Most of the time when I start doing something, it looks kind of bad to begin with, and then I’m like, ‘Oh, no.’ But then I just keep going, keep going, keep going, and then I’m like, ‘Oh, okay. Okay, this actually turned out okay.’ “
Last year’s finished costume included a cardboard piece that was fitted around Noah Mae’s waist and a smaller piece affixed to her headband. Sandwiched in between, Terry’s daughter wore a white tutu and white top for a marshmallow effect.
And Terry’s pitch-perfect execution had her followers drooling.
“Tell us how to make this. Please!” wrote one commenter alongside the video of Noah Mae posing in the precious costume.
Another fan lauded the mom’s effort: “I’m yelling out to my family in the other room describing this while I oooo and ahhhh. So d— cute!!!”
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This Halloween, Terry will keep the dessert theme going by dressing her daughter up as a piece of cotton candy.
Sadly, Terry says that her older kids — a 13-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son — don’t share their younger sibling’s love of being dressed up as confections.
“As your kids get older, they don’t really want to [dress up],” she says. “So I’m just going to enjoy this while I can.”
