a very poorly-coordinated 4 year old has made it, because that, in fact, is what it is?
He wants to go as a cow and had the brilliant idea that he could get some old clothes and cover them with black and white tubes that he would have coloured with his felt-tips 
. He was so enthusiastic but was finally persuaded that painting the outfit would work better, great though his plan was. He was so excited, insisted on doing it himself and the result...is not so good. A total mess. Even dh, who is usually relentlessly positive about everything ds does looked a little at it.
A little background - ds has been hugely relucant until very recently to do anything remotely crafty. He would cry to have his hand washed as soon as paint went near them (though I have never been obsessive about wiping) and all attempts at drawing were scribbles until a few weeks ago. As a result, I am really pleased with his new-found enthusiasm and that is why I let him have free-rein with the costume, am now thinking that was maybe a mistake.
So what do I do - pretend a mystery accident befell it in the night and begin again/buy one? Brazen it out - the party is the child of a new acquaintance at his new school so I don't really know other people there and what their reactions may be, which makes me more nervous than if it were the party of an old friend. The third option is to try and make the headwear and mask that he is plannig (oh dear lord) really good (do them myself) to try and rectify it a little.
So what would you all do?