- Nidra Cummings made an adorable Popeyes chicken sandwich costume for her 2-year-old son, Nathan.
- The mom dressed as the Popeyes spokeswoman, Annie, to complete the duo’s adorable Halloween ensemble.
- Her photos of Nathan dressed as the popular sandwich went viral just in time for the chain’s announcement that the menu item is returning November 3.
- She shared with Insider her clever costume-making tricks, like using Corn Flakes cereal to give the illusion of fried chicken texture.
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Nidra Cummings, a traveling nurse and mom to a 2-year-old son, says she falls into the category of parents that go “above and beyond” when it comes to Halloween.
“I’m definitely that mom who goes all out for costumes,” she told Insider.
Cummings’ expert costume-creation skills recently went viral after she shared photos of her son’s adorable Halloween ensemble: the popular Popeyes chicken sandwich.
For the clever costume, Cummings drew inspiration from her son's love of food.
"When he was first born, he spent a month in the NICU with stomach issues. He was having trouble feeding. But since then, he has become a grade-A, No. 1 eater, and that's kind of how we bond. He loves being in the kitchen with me, and I thought I could make him into some type of food [for Halloween]," Cummings said of her son, Nathan.
She picked the ever-popular Popeyes sandwich, which sold out nationwide two weeks after it was released in August.
In a serendipitous turn of events, the fast-food chain announced on Monday - a day after Cummings completed the costume - that the beloved menu item is making its return November 3.
"To me, it was divine intervention that they're bringing back the sandwich," Cummings said.
Cummings, who is currently based in Las Vegas, created the different sandwich elements from pieces of felt she bought at a craft store, plus used serving platters from the dollar store for the structure of the hamburger buns.
She asked staff at a local Popeyes restaurant for a few extra food boxes and attached the restaurant's logo to a piece of foam board to create the sandwich box.
For her own costume, Cummings added the Popeyes logo to a simple apron.
"It was so easy, and I always wanted to do a 'mommy and me' costume, so it worked out perfectly," she said.
Cummings said she wants other parents to know that creating a memorable Halloween costume doesn't require a ton of time or money.
"You don't have to break the bank, and I think even if [Nathan] were older, he would still enjoy this costume more than something store-bought," she said. "It's more special."
As if her son's costume couldn't get more adorable, as a finishing touch, the creative mom used Corn Flakes cereal to give the illusion of fried chicken texture.
"I got a shirt from Target that was a light brown color, then I spray-glued the sleeves of the shirt and dunked them in Corn Flakes and shook it off," she said.
"We've been to a couple trick-or-treating events, and we did leave a trail [of cereal], but that's fine. We got raving reviews."
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