'Gold medal': Kiwi dad goes viral after amazing DIY Olympic costume for twins

Kiwis are known for their number 8 wire, do-it-yourself attitude.

But one dad has gone viral after taking his DIY skills to the next level, bringing the Olympic games from Tokyo into his living room and local preschool.

On Wednesday Christchurch father Andy James was picking up his kids from preschool when he came across a note reminding parents to dress their young ones in Olympic costumes on Thursday.

Instead of a stock standard sports shirt or sports equipment, Andy took it to the next level which left his wife Karen and twin boys Harry and Jake stunned.

"After reading the note I thought, oh bollocks. We were a bit short on time and my wife said just put them in a tracksuit and get a rugby ball," he told the Herald.

"That didn't sit too well with me so I went to Kmart and had a look around to see if there's something I could knock up reasonably quickly."

You could forgive most Kiwi parents for using rugby as their go-to theme for a sports dress-up.

Not Andy, though. Instead, he decided to dress his boys up as badminton shuttlecocks.

He told the Herald the idea sparked from a simple household item - the laundry basket.

"I got my trolley and grabbed a couple of items. Then shuttlecock came to mind. I walked past a laundry basket and thought that could work.

"And so the shuttlecock costume was born."

Using a laundry basket, straw bowls, curtain tassels and badminton racquets, Andy put his hands and the hot glue gun to work before completing the hilarious costumes.

He also made two gold medals for his twins to wear with the number 1 written on them.

But it wasn't until the morning when his wife and kids discovered what he had created.

"My wife and kids woke up the next morning expecting to find a tracksuit and rugby ball. She walked in and thought 'what the?'...

"One of the boys was straight into it, while the other one was a bit grumpy but eventually warmed up into it.

"I dropped them off at school yesterday and it got quite the reception from teachers and other ankle-biters."

Andy's wife Karen had posted the costumes to social media, which has since blown up.

Her post has received more than 6000 reactions from parents around the world stunned at his creative genius.

"And the gold medal goes too ... Frickin amazing," one wrote.

Another said: "This is so freaking clever what the... Dad of the year!"

Andy has been blown away by the response, saying "The response has been ridiculous, but I do it for the enjoyment".

It's not Andy's first rodeo when it comes to creativity.

The 47-year-old also created a jungle-themed room for his twins, kitted out with themed music, monkeys hanging from the ceiling, snakes in the trees and wildlife soft toys in different pockets of the room.

"I just enjoy doing it. The jungle room was more just about me being an excited dad and me just wanting to give my children somewhere fun to sleep.

"We put Bluetooth jungle sounds in the room and had it all lit. You can change the colour in the room. The light bounces off the leaves and ropes.

"It is a lot of fun."

This article was first published by the NZ Herald and is republished here with permission.