DIY Olaf Costume

Everybody loves Olaf which makes this adorable DIY Olaf costume popular every Halloween. Easy costumes are my speciality, especially Disney costumes.

Olaf is definitely one of our favorite characters from Frozen and Frozen 2. And we aren’t alone. I am sure he will continue to be a super popular costume ideas for Halloween again this year.

Homemade Olaf Costume

Originally I came up with this easy Homemade Olaf costume so the boys could have it in their dress-up box at home. You couldn’t find Olaf costumes in stores yet. And it was the perfect excuse to make another costume.

When my boys were little they used to dress up in costumes all the time and it was so adorable. They don’t do it as much anymore, except on rare occasions like spirit week at school and of course Halloween.

My obsession with costume hoodies actually started with the Lorax costume I made a few years ago, and I’ve made quite a few over the years now. But I am pretty sure this Olaf costume hoodie is my absolute favorite.

Custom Sweatshirts as Costumes

Why do I love hoodie sweatshirts costumes? Well, it’s pretty easy to create a custom sweatshirt featuring a pop culture character. This is especially true for cartoon characters when they feature one color predominantly. A hooded sweatshirt is a great starting point when creating a DIY costume.

Plus, depending upon how elaborate the costume is, your kids can often wear custom sweatshirts to school. In fact, stores sell character sweatshirts all the time now.

Baby Olaf Costume

My little guy was 4 when I made this costume and he is super adorable in all the pictures. I may be a little biased. 😉 He was in preschool at the time but you can see it would be easy to create a toddler or baby Olaf costume simply by buying a white baby hooded sweatshirt.

Adult Olaf Costume

I still have this adorable Olaf costume and might pass it on to my little nephew in a few years. In the meantime, we may need to make a bigger version for my boys. All you need to do to create an adult Olaf costume is start with a white adult hoodie.

How to make a DIY Olaf Costume Hoodie

I made this costume freestyle with just a few craft supplies and a white hoodie sweatshirt. While I ran into a few kinks making it, I worked them all out so this should be an easy Olaf costume tutorial for you.

Add Face to Olaf Costume Hoodie

Start by cutting Olaf’s eyes, eyebrows, and buttons out of the black, white, and brown felt. In order to get the shape and size right, I utilized this Olaf printable to create an Olaf Eyes template. For this costume, I cropped just the face and printed it out at 250%. Depending on the size of the Olaf costume you are making, you can adjust the percentage to make the face bigger or smaller.

How to sew an Olaf Costume

After cutting out the felt, I used hot glue to layer the black and white felt and create Olaf’s eyes. When it was time to attach the eyes to the hood of the sweatshirt, I opted to sew it on. I was concerned about the placement of the eyes with the eyebrows and I could easily undo the stitches and adjust the placement if necessary.

Olaf’s buttons are a little bigger than his eyes, so cut out a black circle a little bigger than the eyes. Once you are happy with the size, cut out two more. I used a hot glue gun to attach the buttons to the front of the sweatshirt. Giant black pom poms would also be cute. The button placement felt less critical and I wasn’t worried about messing it up. If you want to make this costume temporary and reuse the white sweatshirt again, then I’d recommend sewing instead.

Add Olaf’s Hair

I used 5 brown pipe cleaners to create Olaf’s hair. I twisted two pipe cleaners together to create stiffer strands of hair because my pipe cleaners seemed flimsy. I did this twice to create the 2 taller pieces of hair. Then I folded the last pipe cleaner in half and twisted it together to create the shorter strand of hair.

I combined all three strands of hair by twisting them together at one end. Then I bent the end to create a short 90-degree turn. I used white duct tape to tape the hair to the top of the hood. Once attached, simply shape your strands of hair to mimic Olaf’s twigs. I did end up cutting a small portion of the right pipe cleaner off so that it was shorter than the middle strand of hair.

Make Olaf’s Carrot Nose

The most important part of Olaf’s cute character face is his cute carrot nose.

After multiple attempts of creating my own carrot nose, I found this carrot template which worked great. Once you cut your triangle out, stitch up the side of the carrot. Then you can stuff the carrot with pillow stuffing, fabric scraps, whatever you have on hand.

I didn’t want to simply pinch the base of the carrot closed and sew it shut. I think it’d take away from the overall look of the carrot. Instead, I cut out a little circle of white felt with a rectangle hanging off the end. You want the circle to be about the size of the carrot base, then you can sew it on.

You can see my sewing skills are pretty basic but totally acceptable for costume making. Don’t be afraid of using a needle and thread when necessary! A little white felt rectangle became Olaf’s teeth. I attached it just below the nose. Wrap two wood skewers in white duct tape then used duct tape to attach nose to the stick.

DIY Olaf Costume Materials

Are you ready to make your own homemade Olaf snowman costume? Check out the list of materials I used below and get started!

• White Hooded Sweatshirt (These hoodie jammies would be adorable)
• Orange Felt
• Black Felt
• Brown Felt
• White Felt
• Brown Pipe Cleaners
• Pillow Stuffing
• White Duct Tape
• 2 Wooden Skewers

The Olaf costume sweatshirt pairs well with black shorts or white pants. Or make a cheerful one-piece snowman using a one piece jumpsuit. Then you have the perfect all in one winter suit and Disney costume.

Bonus points if you swap out the white sleeves with brown sleeves to create brown stick-like sleeves. Just using sewing machines to attach the long sleeves of a brown shirt or sweatshirt to the arm opening of your Olaf costume.

More Olaf Halloween Costume Ideas

I think a long sleeve white shirt with knit cap would also work well or a white jump suit. You could also make a simple snowman tunic. It’s really all about what materials you have on hand or what style kids costumes you child wants to wear. That being said, I think this would translate well to a fun Olaf dress as well.

Want to go extreme with a fun Olaf costume? My friend has a crazy foam tunic with hidden-face headpiece. Check out this DIY intense (but super cool) idea.

Is Olaf a Snowman?

Good news! Yes, Olaf is a snowman. Olaf makes a cute snowman costume.

Who is Olaf?

Olaf is Elsa and Anna’s snowman friend come to life in the movie Frozen. He becomes their adorable sidekick in the movie and happens to love summer.

What Movies is Olaf in?

We first met Olaf in Disney’s Frozen, when Elsa and Anna’s snowman creation came to life. Olaf was hands down most people’s favorite character and has been seen a few more times since then. He appeared in the Disney short movie Frozen Fever which played before Cinderella in theaters.  Olaf’s Frozen Adventure was a holiday-themed short that opened before Coco in theaters.

This year Frozen 2 arrives in theaters. It will be a full length animated film featuring Elsa, Anna, Olaf and all their friends from Arendelle.

Where to buy Olaf Costumes:

When I first made this DIY Olaf costume, almost 5 years ago, there weren’t any Olaf costumes in stores yet. Of course, now you will find custom Olaf creations on Etsy, mass-marketed options at big box stores during Halloween and Amazon sells a variety of options year round.

More Frozen Costume Ideas

Do you wanna build a snowman? Or maybe make another Frozen costume for Halloween next year? Check out these other fun Frozen ideas.

• Anna Frozen green dress Disneybound
• Fun Olaf ideas for a Frozen themed party
• Kristoff costume
• Olaf T-shirt
• Olaf running costume.

This post was originally published August 29, 2014.