DIY Elsa Costume for Adults

DIY #2: Elsa from Frozen!

The girly princess side of me just couldn't resist being a princess -- excuse me, queen -- for Halloween. But when I looked for an Elsa costume, the price of the costume didn't justify the look of it. So my solution - DIY, of course!

This costume took quite a bit of time because this costume was made specifically for adults, and I wanted the skirt to be a full-length one, not one of those mini-skirt-esque ones that aren't exactly appropriate for my workplace. But if you're making this for a child or if you want your skirt to be shorter, this shouldn't take as long as it took me.

Let's get started on this no-sew fun!

You'll need:

- Tulle. A lot of tulle. I'm not kidding. Do not underestimate how much tulle you'll need. I used three different types of tulle: dark blue, glitter blue, and glitter light blue. (Glitter tulle is optional, obviously, but I just really wanted to be a sparkly queen). I'm 5'4", and I needed:
- 80 yards of dark blue tulle
- 50 yards of glitter blue tulle
- 50 yards of glitter light blue tulle
As you can see, I needed a total of 180 yards of tulle. For those of you who are doing the math, that's 540 feet of tulle! You might have a little extra left over by the end of the project, but it's better to have too much than too little.

- Ribbon or elastic (I used a blue ribbon that matched my tulle, but that was only because I couldn't find elastic. I definitely recommend elastic for a better fit.

- A blue shirt

- A white shrug or something similar

Procedure:

1. Measure and cut your ribbon. I measured around my waist and added about a quarter of an inch for when I would have to adhere it back together.

2. Measure and cut your tulle. I initially measured and cut one spool of tulle at a time, but as I kept working, I found it easier to just cut several spools of tulle at once. I measured how long I wanted the skirt to be, and then doubled that length and cut it.
The glitter tulle cooperated much better than the non-glitter one. They were a little more stiff, so they folded more easily, as you can see in the picture below.

(You'll also notice that I lay down a lot of newspaper. My apartment is carpeted and I learned the hard way that glitter is not easy to get out of carpet, so I had to prep my work area by laying down lots of newspaper to avoid a headache when it came time to clean up. I highly recommend either doing the same or working outdoors if you're using glitter tulle, because glitter never leaves)

3. To start working on your skirt, take two pieces of the plain blue tulle and fold them in half. The length should now be the length of your skirt. Make a slip knot around the ribbon to secure the tulle to the ribbon. Repeat the same process for the glitter blue tulle. Then again for the glitter light blue tulle. Continue this pattern until you're out of tulle or until you're satisfied with the way the skirt looks. Here's a look at my in-progress skirt to give you an idea of what it should start to look like as you make your skirt. (This was also before I added the glitter light blue tulle)

                           (Once again, notice the newspaper on the floor to catch falling glitter)

4. Now that you're done with the skirt, the top is significantly easier in comparison. All you need is a blue shirt (I chose a v-neck to kind of imitate the curves on Elsa's actual dress). Then I threw on a white shrug because Elsa's top is made of one dark against one light material. Although Elsa didn't have a crown in the movie (not toward the end, anyway), I sprung for a plastic tiara anyway. Here's the finished look: 

I really loved the full-length skirt. It seemed more true to Elsa's original dress than a short little tutu. 

Happy crafting! 

X

DIY Cruella De Ville Costume

DIY Halloween costume #1: Cruella Deville!

No way was I going to let this Halloween pass without a nod to something scary and Disney! Of course, I could have picked from several other Disney villains, but if I'm being honest, Cruella was really the most affordable and cost-friendly option for me. Unfortunately, I was so busy trying to perfect the costume that I didn't stop to take many progress pictures, but hopefully the written directions will be clear enough to make up for the lack of visuals.

Here we go!

You will need:

- A large white furry coat or shawl
- Red fabric
- Hot glue gun
- A black outfit
- A black and white wig
- Red gloves, or black & red nail polish

I actually couldn't find a white furry item of clothing in my closet, so I had to do some shopping for one. I didn't go out with high hopes. I would have been content with just a regular old white coat. But I couldn't believe my luck - I found the perfect white fuzzy coat that was super soft and fit exactly the way I hoped it would. I found mine in the bathrobes section of TJ Maxx. It was even on sale! I bought mine in a size L because I wanted it to fit a little looser than a typical coat.

Next, I measured out my red fabric and cut it so that it was the size of one side of my coat. That sounds a little confusing, but the picture below shows what I mean. You can cover the entire inside of your coat with the red fabric if you want, but since only the sides will be visible, I figured I'd just cover up the visible portions. Less work that way.

 As you can see, I cut my fabric so that it fit just nicely on the inside of the left and right sides of my coat. I seriously recommending splurging for fabric scissors. They're sharp and made specifically for cutting fabric without making those awful jagged marks as you go. Just remember not to use it for any other material than fabric. Fabric scissors cost a pretty penny, so it's helpful to make it last for more than just one project.

I have zero sewing skills, so my hot glue gun has very quickly become my best friend in DIY projects. I carefully glued the piece of fabric onto the coat. It stuck surprisingly well. I was initially worried that it wouldn't adhere nicely because of the material of the furry coat. You'll have to adjust the fabric as you go. Don't rush this process - since this fabric is visible, you'll want to make it look neat.

After doing the same to the other side of the coat, you're done! That's the main part of this costume, other than the wig. Then slap on some red gloves, or, if you're in a warmer climate like me, you can opt to paint your nails black and then add some nice red tips. Add some red pumps (or just any pair or red shoes, really), and voila! You are Cruella Deville! If you want to go the extra mile and add a cigarette holder to finish off the look, you can easily paint a straw black, white, and gold.

Here's the final look (minus hair and nails) :

This costume took all of 40 minutes to put together, so it's a great costume if you're trying to come up with a last minute costume for Halloween. Plus it's warm, too, so you can be comfy and cute! 

Have fun!

X 

Halloween Prep Week!

One of the perks of teaching -- I mean, other than the actual act of teaching -- is seeing how hyped up kids get over Halloween. Now, I'm honestly not the type of person to be in the Halloween spirit. I tend to not get invited to many Halloween parties, and when I am invited to one, I politely decline because I'd rather be sitting in the quiet comfort of my home binge-watching a TV series on Netflix and drinking hot tea. However, now that I'm a teacher, I'm just as excited as my students are to get in the spirit of Halloween.

To celebrate Halloween, staff members are highly recommended to come dressed up in Halloween costumes for the entire week before Halloween. They say highly recommended because they can't really require us to do dress up. After some initial reservations, I have come to terms with being whole-heartedly in the spirit of this. Unfortunately, my coworkers don't seem to share my enthusiasm. I'm hoping they're just playing it cool and are also planning on showing up dressed in some fabulous costumes so I don't look like the only idiot teacher there dressed in a costume.

I've been thinking about what I want to be a lot, and have come up with some ideas. Some ideas include Carl from the movie Up, Cruella Deville from 101 Dalmations, and Elsa from Frozen. I wanted to keep my costume as easily recognizable as possible so even my youngest students will know what I'm supposed to be. I started making my Elsa costume today, and the more I worked on it, the more excited I got. I've also started browsing and shopping for a Cruella costume as well, so I'm stoked to go to work dressed as Cruella one of those days as well. I'm planning on DIY-ing my way through most, if not all, of the costumes during Halloween week, so stay tuned for some tutorials in the near future!

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DIY Peter Pan's Escaped Shadow Costume

Hey all!

With Halloween creeping up so close and me being the world's biggest procrastinator, you can imagine how stressful it was for me to come up with a costume. Since I'm a teacher, I figured it's an unwritten requirement for me to dress up for my kiddos. I wanted something easy to put together, cost me as little as possible, and comfortable to wear (New Jersey is getting cold around this time of year, y'all). I came up with Peter Pan's escaped shadow.

I looked online for some ideas, but everything I looked for involved a morph suit, and as much fun as that would be, I feel like it's pretty important for my students to be able to see my face. So I tweaked it as I went, and I have to say, I am very happy with the final product. So here's a super easy, no sew DIY Peter Pan's shadow costume. It took me all of an hour to make, and that was at a pretty leisurely pace.

What you'll need:
- Black XL t shirt
- Black tights or leggings
- Black belt or rope (to cinch the waist)
- Black feather (or a colored feather that you'll have to paint black)
- Two sheets of black felt
- Hot glue gun (plus the glue sticks, of course)
- Scissors

Since I already had most of the materials, all I really needed to get were the pieces of felt and the feathers, which cost me a whopping $5 from Walmart. I guess my thrifty broke-college-student ways haven't quite left me yet.

Here's how to put your costume together:

1. Take your pair of scissors and cut triangle shapes on the bottom of your XL t shirt and sleeves. It's okay if the cuts aren't perfect. I think that actually gives it a more authentic feel. There's no set amount of triangles for you to cut. Cut out however many you want, but make sure the sizes of the triangles aren't too big or too small; we're trying to recreate the look of Peter Pan's tunic.

That's the bottom hem of my shirt. As you can see, my triangles were  very rough and jagged, but ultimately, it gave my costume a good look.

That's one of my sleeves. Like I said, it's not really a professional-looking cut, but it gets the job done. I was a little pressed for time and didn't have time to make everything perfect.

2. Now for the hat. It's really a lot easier than I thought it would be. If you have sewing skills and can power sew in a pinch, kudos. But I chose the no-sew route, so my hot glue gun was my best friend. I found a Peter Pan hat pattern online and traced it on my pieces of felt. I taped the two pieces of felt together during this part so I wouldn't have to worry about ending up with two uneven patterns.

* Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures as I was making the hat, so I don't have any process pictures to share for this part*

3. Once I was done tracing the pattern on the felt, I cut the shapes out and hot glued the two top edges together. Make sure you don't glue the longest side together; that's the part that will go on your head. I chose to not glue the flat back part during this step; it made the next step much easier to do.

4. Once the two top sides were glued and dried, I folded the brim up and hot glued it to the body of the hat. It was almost like making those paper boats when I was a kid. When I glued the brim up, the front was too pointy for my liking, so I just folded it down and glued it in place.

5. Now for the feather. I couldn't find a black feather, so I used a purple one and painted it black with plain old acrylic paint. Once that dried, I glued the feather to the hat, tucking the "stick" end of it into the brim.

Wait for the hat to dry and you're done! Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

I wore my t shirt over a pair of fleece-lined leggings (which were seriously the most comfortable things I have ever worn). Because it's getting a little chilly out, I wore a long sleeve black shirt under my t shirt. The hat didn't fit in a way that would stay on my head without me constantly holding onto it, so I bobby pinned it on the sides and I was good to go. I also added a dagger to my costume by cutting it out of a cardboard and painting it black.

And there you have it! An easy, cheap, and totally comfortable way to go out for Halloween this year!