Costumes | Desert Chica

Bing Bong Costume Flower Pin

byKaren•August 20, 2015

I’m on an Inside Out roll after creating homemade Anger and Fear costumes. The boys next request is for Bing Bong. Riley’s imaginary friend, Bing Bong is definitely my favorite character from the movie. I MIGHT be creating a Bing Bong Costume but his crazy colorful attire scares me a little, what if I can’t pull it off?!?

So I’m starting with a simple project, something you would need for a Bing Bong Costume or even for a Bing Bong disneybound. Bing Bong’s flower lapel pin is super easy to make with just a few inexpensive supplies.

Bing Bong Flower Pin Supplies

Small button pin
Foam craft sheets: dark green, light green, yellow, orange, red, pink and light blue
Glue gun
Scissors
Pencil

I started by pulling up an image of Bing Bong on my computer and and zooming in until the flower was the size of the flower pin I wanted to create. Then I created a petal template using the image. Once I had a petal shape I liked, I used it to cut a petal out of each color except dark green. Cut a circle out of the dark green foam for the center of the flower.

Arrange the petals on the pin first, to make sure you like the design before you start hot gluing them on. Note the color order of Bing Bong’s pin as well.

The last step is to hot glue the green circle on the center of the pin.

That’s it. I made two of them in under 10 minutes.

The pin was easy enough to make. Should I try and make a Bing Bong costume? Do you think I am up to the challenge?!?

DIY Fear from Inside Out Costume

byKaren•July 24, 2015

You knew it was coming. I couldn’t make Quinn a new costume and not make one for Elliot. Quinn’s Anger Inside Out costume turned out awesome but I think I might like the Fear Inside Out costume a tiny bit more. And don’t miss my crazy Bing Bong costume.

I love that both costumes only require simple materials, some of which you may have on hand but all should be easy to find. My only struggle for the Fear costume was the purple knit cap. Finding a beanie in Arizona in the summer is almost ridiculous. 😉 So I ordered it on Amazon (I included affiliate links below for your convenience). I bought the duct tape at Michael’s with 40% off coupons and we already had the shorts and felt at home. I found a Carters blue and white striped shirt at a thrift store, it was fate and only $2.99! Bonus is that it’s a nice shirt that he can use for school pictures this year.

DIY Fear from Inside Out Costume Materials

Purple knit cap
black, white and purple felt
Houndstooth duct tape
Maroon/Merlot duct tape
purple sparkly pipe cleaner
ribbon
hair clip
blue and white striped button down shirt
blue pants or shorts
glue gun
hole punch
Fear template

Fear Hat

Start by printing out a copy of the Fear template. I printed it at 165%, to make the eyes exaggerated like in the film.

Start with the eyes and cut out using the white felt. I like using double-sided tape to keep the template secure to the felt when cutting it out. Then work inwards, cutting out the purple eye balls, black pupils and black eyebrows. Then hot glue it all together.

I actually pinned the eyes on the hat first to adjust the placement before hot gluing it in place. The final touch is adding the purple pipe cleaner through the top of the hat. I covered the end of the pipe cleaner with a piece of duct tape so it wouldn’t poke Elliot’s head.

Fear Vest & Bow Tie

Now technically you could buy a tie and vest. I saw a few houndstooth vest options for adults on amazon but they are pretty pricey and I needed a kid sized one for Elliot. I did find a cute maroon bow tie at a reasonable price but I figured if I had to make a duct tape vest, I could make a duct tape bow tie too.

I started by making a vest template out of newspaper. If you own a vest already, you could just use that as a template instead. Adjust the sides and size until it fits good.

Now make yourself some duct tape fabric. Basically you layer strips of duct tape, slightly overlapping each one until you get the size you need. Then repeat the process in a perpendicular pattern on top, so that you have double-sided duct tape fabric.

I ended up running short on my houndstooth duct tape and because I was crafting in the mountains, far away from a craft store I opted to make the back of the vest with the merlot duct tape I bought for the bow tie. Once you cut out your vest pieces from the “fabric” using your template, tape it together with extra tape.

At this point you will want to adjust the vest with tape and scissors to make it fit properly. This vest opens in the back rather than in the front, I wanted to match the look of the character’s vest but keep it easy for Elliot to put on. The vest was stiff enough to stay on by itself but to be safe I punched two holes on either side of the back and used ribbon to keep it tied together.

To make the bow tie, make another piece of duct tape fabric out of maroon/merlot colored duct tape. Fan fold the duct tape fabric like an accordion then taped the center of it to create the bow tie shape. I used a small piece of duct tape to attach a simple hair clip on the back.

I think it turned out pretty cute, don’t you?

And the best part it was a really inexpensive project. I spent $6 on two rolls of duct tape (remember I used 40% off coupons) + $3 on the long sleeved shirt at a thrift store + $5 for the knit cap. We already had the colored felt, pipe cleaner and shorts, so the entire project was only $14. I think that’s quite a deal on a super cute costume!

Ok Anger and Fear are done… I’m tempted to make one for myself. Maybe Inside Out should our family costume theme for Mickey’s Halloween Party!

Don’t miss these other Inside Out Costume ideas:

DIY Anger from Inside Out Costume

byKaren•June 19, 2015

I had fun this week creating a DIY Anger from Inside Out costume. The boys and I watched a screening of the movie on Tuesday and one of their favorite characters from Inside Out is Anger. They also loved Sadness, Fear and Bing Bong too! Don’t miss Elliot’s DIY FEAR costume or my DIY Bing Bong costume!

I was surprised by how easy the costume came together and using fairly basic materials. I only spend $5 total and that included buying a shirt! This costume is fairly easy to put together with a few basic materials. You could even skip the outfit and just make the mask as a fun craft idea!

Anger from Inside Out Costume Materials:

white short sleeve button down shirt
dark slacks
red felt
grey ribbon
glue gun
paper clip
cardboard
red duct tape
Anger face template
tie template
red, orange and yellow construction paper
large craft stick or elastic (if you want to wear the mask)

I love costumes that start with basic clothes, preferably clothes you already own or clothes that you can easily obtain and reuse!

Quinn already had a pair of slacks to use but didn’t have a white button down shirt. I hit up our local consignment store and found a long sleeve one for $4. I easily converted it to a short sleeve shirt by cutting of the sleeves and using fabric fusion to hem up the cuffs.

Anger’s tie is very distinct, red with grey zig zags. Luckily the design is simple enough to recreate with red felt and grey ribbon. I had plenty of red felt leftover from my no-sew Price Charming costume, so I made use of that. I made a tie template from one of their existing ties and use it to cute out the costume tie. The shape is pretty basic but I’ve included my template here in case you need it too!

Download Simple Tie Template

I used 5/8″ wide grey ribbon (from my local dollar store) and hot glued it onto the felt in a zig zag pattern. Just glue one section at a time and it’s fairly easily. I used hot glue to attach a paper clip to back to create the “tie clip”.

DIY Anger Mask for Inside Out Costume

I LOVED how the mask turned out and it was quite easy to make. All you need is red duct tape, an ANGER face print out (see below), and cardboard. I recommend using a soda box because the cardboard is thinner and easier to cut.

Start by printing an enlarged copy of the ANGER face ( 165% worked great for me). Then cut out the general shape of his face to use as a template for the cardboard. I kept the shape a rounded rectangle as you can see in the picture below.

Download Anger Face Template

Once you cut the face out of cardboard, cover it with red duct tape. Then cut the eyes and mouth out of the print out and attach it to the cardboard with double-sided tape. My flames are a variety of triangles cut from red, orange and yellow construction paper. I attached them to the back of the mask using more red duct tape.

I wavered back and forth on whether to attach elastic to wear the mask or just tape on a large craft stick. In the end I kept it simple and went with the craft stick. If you do wear it as a mask, you’ll want to cut out eye holes out too.

What do you think? Pretty easy, huh? Two simple crafts to make, the mask and tie, and then just add a white button down shirt and dark pants. Done.

I think making the mask by itself would be a fun Inside Out party idea too! Speaking of fun ideas, don’t miss these posts:

DIY Han Solo Run Disney Star Wars Costume

byKaren•May 15, 2015

Running may not be fun but running in fun costumes can be! If you’re a regular reader than you know I love making DIY costumes, usually for my boys but sometimes for me too. I was super excited to hear a fun run would be happening at the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration again this year. This year we started at the Yacht Club and made our way into Epcot just before sunrise. I joined forces (good and evil) with some blogging friends to form a fun Star Wars theme running group. I could have taken the easy route and reused my Boba Fett costume but decided a new run deserved a new costume. This time I made a DIY Han Solo costume! (Affilate links included below.)

Han Solo Costume Materials:

Black Vest (I made out of a basic t-shirt)
Blue Running Shorts or Pants
Blue Duct Tape
Red Duct Tape Pen
Off White 70’s style shirt
Han Solo Belt and Gun Tutorial

Han’s vest is sort of tactical with a few pockets on it. I was concerned with overheating in my costume, so I made a simple black vest out of a black t-shirt. It’s easy and lightweight and can be made for any size. There are lots of tutorials online to make a vest out of t-shirt, I kept my design very simple.

If you know a fishermen, you could always borrow a black fishing vest. It would look authentic with all the pockets and zippers on it. Personally I think it would add more bulk and weight than I’d want in a running costume though. It would work great for a Halloween costume though.

I’m a pretty big fan of using duct tape on costumes, it’s the perfect way to make things temporary costumes. Originally I planned on borrowing a pair of blue capris, so I wanted to temporarily add the Corellian Bloodstripes to each pant leg. Duct tape and duct tape paint marker was the perfect answer. After adding a strip of duct tape down the side of each leg, carefully paint stripes using a duct tape marker. It’s no-sew and easy to redo if you don’t like your first attempt.

I found the perfect shirt on Amazon. It’s “70’s” looking with a v-neck and collar. I have no idea what the odds are but it’s weirdly perfect for this costume. You could just go with an off white v-neck t-shirt too.

Scissors, duct tape and Amazon took care of most of my costume. My Han Solo belt and gun holster required the most work. I detailed out how I made it in a separate post but it mostly just requires simple stitching, a hot glue gun and brown craft foam.

The costume was easy to put together and really fun to wear with my friends.

We’re home Chewie! #gogofunrun #DisneySMMC #starwars

A photo posted by Karen (@karenheffren) on May 10, 2015 at 3:31am PDT

Don’t miss the whole Star Wars Run Disney crew!

Han Solo Costume <– See above 😉

Chewbacca Running Costume

Stormtrooper Running Costume

Darth Vadar Running Costume

R2D2 Running Costume

BB-8 Running Costume

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Run Disney events are the perfect excuse for making DIY costumes!

DIY Han Solo Belt and Gun

byKaren•May 15, 2015

I decided to detail out my DIY Han Solo Belt and Gun Holster for anyone that wants to make their own. Don’t miss my other post detailing out the rest of the Han Solo Costume.

I started off using this tutorial and modified it to simplify the design and keep the belt lightweight since I was running in it. It was also very inexpensive. The only thing I had to purchase was the craft foam.

Han Solo Belt Materials:

2 sheets of brown craft foam
glue gun
brown thread and needle
thin Cardboard (I used soda 12 pack box)
black and silver duct tape
paper coin wrappers (could substitute something else if necessary)

I started by cutting three 1 1/2″ – 2″ strips from a sheet of foam. I needed a little more than 2 strips to create the main part of the belt. Han wears his belt low slung on his hips, so keep that in mind when you’re making the belt. I connected the strips together using hot glue along the edges and then sewed brown foam squares over each connection. This hid the glue, made the connection more secure and also created a more rugged look.

It took a few attempts to get the right shape and size for the belt buckle. I started by tracing the shape and “eyeballing” the design next to the belt. Once I had the right design, I cut it out of a piece of spare craft foam and then covered it with silver duct tape.

I attached the buckle to the end of one side of the belt using my hot glue gun. To keep the belt lightweight I used velcro instead of snaps or actual buckles on the belt. Hot glue helped adhere the velcro to the belt. Once the belt was on, the velcro wasn’t visible.

I added a few more details to the belt but kept the design simple. In addition to a few more square pieces of foam, I attached a few bullets to the belt. I cut a paper coin wrapper in half and then covered each side with silver duct tape. I used more brown craft foam and hot glue to attach my bullets to the belt. This added a little more detail without too much weight.

In the interest of minimizing weight, I made my own cardboard gun. You could get more accurate with this but I just found a simple gun profile online and used it to cut a gun shape out of a soda box (extra thin cardboard ;-)). Then I covered it with brown foam, and silver and black duct tape. I used leftover brown foam to create the holster. Be sure to trace the holster on paper first to make sure it’s big enough for your own “gun.” I used a rough stitch to finish off the holster and attach it to my belt.

There you have it, a fairly easy, and lightweight Han Solo belt and gun holster. It’s perfect for a Star Wars costume or a Run Disney Event!

Don’t mis the rest of my Han Solo costume details!

More Star Wars Fun:

Big Hero 6 Costume: DIY Hiro Sweatshirt

byKaren•February 27, 2015

This DIY Hiro costume post is sponsored by the Big Hero 6 release at home.

Making Elliot a Big Hero 6 costume has been on my to-do list ever since I made Quinn a DIY Baymax costume last year. Hiro is Baymax’s little buddy just like Elliot is Quinn’s little buddy, it’s the perfect costume pair for my two guys!

I kept this costume completely no-sew by utilizing a purple hoodie sweatshirt, felt or fleece, a pair of gloves and fabric adhesive.

Sometimes making a costume can be a little overwhelming so I always start with the easiest part. I cut out red circles of felt and attached it to the chest of the sweatshirt using fabric fusion. When tracing on felt, I like to use a sharpie of the same color. You can turn the felt over and the marker outline doesn’t show through!

The center red oval was a little trickier because I used a zipper sweatshirt. I cut it in half and carefully glued it along the edge of the zipper so it fit back together perfectly.

For Hiro’s helmet stripes, I had Elliot try the hoodie on and used duct tape to mark where I wanted them to be on the hood. I used a ball inside the hood to hold its shape while I glued on the red stripes.

The trickiest part for me was the ears on the helmet. I started by cutting out purple circles and then sketching the rest of the ear on cardboard for a template. Then I cut out purple and red felt to create the ear tip. I ended up sticking a piece of thin plastic between two felt “ears” to make sure it stood up on the helmet. Hiro doesn’t have floppy ears on his helmet!

The fabric fusion won’t work with the plastic so I used a hot glue gun to attach the felt pieces to either side of the plastic ear shape.

To create the illusion of a black under shirt, I glued two full sheets of felt to the bottom of the sweatshirt. I also added a strip of purple felt above the knuckles of black knit gloves to complete the look. Elliot wore black pants but if you wanted a full costume effect you could add felt to the pants as well!

I think our Hiro costume turned out pretty cute. What do you think?

We are ready for some sweet Big Hero 6 movie re-creation with our costumes!

Who’s your favorite character from Big Hero 6?

Don’t miss my other Big Hero 6 posts:

DIY Baymax Costume

Big Hero 6 Printable Coloring Pages and Activities

Baymax Easter Eggs

Big Hero 6 Chex Mix

Baymax Rice Krispie Treats

Baymax Cookies

DIY Sheriff Callie Horse

byKaren•February 18, 2015

Sheriff Callie’s Wild West has taken Disney Junior by storm! Our post with Sheriff Callie Party ideas is one of our most popular articles right now so we are sharing even more Sheriff Callie fun today.

It’s the start of Rodeo Break here in Tucson, so after crafting a stick horse for Quinn to ride in the kindergarten parade, I made a fun version of Sheriff Callie’s blue horse, Sparky!

Sparky Supplies

Wood stick, dowel or mop handle
Blue yarn
Blue duct (blue electrical tape would be easier)
Googly eyes
Black and blue felt
Blue sleep sock
Tan rope or twine
Blue handkerchief (I think a pink one would be cute too)
Stuffing
Zip tie

Quinn helped me make most of his horse, so I promise it’s very easy to make. In fact it would make a fun craft activity at a Sheriff Callie Party! It’s also inexpensive to make, I found most of the items at the dollar store. Check out my stick horse tutorial for all the details!

If you make your Sheriff Callie horse, we’d love to see it!

This post was originally published on Disney in the Desert.

Disney Costumes For Girls Of All Ages!

byKaren•February 16, 2015

Do you need some ideas for DIY Disney costumes for girls? We have found some for you! We linked to instructions when we could find them, but some links are just to pictures.

DIY Disney Costumes for Children

Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather

DIY Disney Costumes for Teens

Darla from Finding Nemo

Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas

Snow White

DIY Disney Costumes for Adults

DIY Disney Costumes for Families

The Incredibles – Mom Incredible!

Peter Pan and the Neverland Crew – lots of girl costumes in the Neverland Crew!

Phineas & Ferb girls – there are several opportunities for girls/moms in this show!

Planes – Moms could be a flight attendant, ground crew or a pilot!

What’s your favorite costume idea?

Run Disney Star Wars Costumes

byKaren•January 24, 2015

Just one week ago today, I was “running” my first official Run Disney event: the Star Wars 10k at Disneyland! After attending DisneySMMoms last year and participating in their 2 mile RunDisney fun run, I had my sights on a real Run Disney event! I plan on sharing more details about my experience all weekend soon but first I wanted to talk running costumes! Part of the fun of a RunDisney event is dressing up!

Our Run Disney Star Wars Costumes

I already owned a green sparkle running skirt from my DisneySMMoms run so I went as Boba Fett. I saw lots of guys dressed as the Fett but not many girls. I purchased a Boba Fett costume shirt on amazon and layered it over a long sleeve grey shirt to stay warm! Add grey leggings and my new grey Minnie Mouse New Balance shoes and I was set!

My friend Lee bought a super cute Star Wars skirt on Etsy. It’s not a running skirt which worked out fine since we really didn’t have to run a lot to maintain the minimum RunDisney race pace. Topped with a black shirt and her red Minnie Mouse New Balance shoes and she had a Star Wars inspired costume!

Wearing Disney inspired costumes doesn’t have to be complicated. Becca and I wore Avengers inspired costumes last year, pairing cute Avengers shirts with fun sparkle skirts for the DisneySMMoms fun run. Our friend Amy paired her tutu with a cute Peter Pan inspired shirt! It’s an easy way to dress fun without going without spending a lot of money or time creating a costume.

Speaking of over the top costumes, here are a few fun ones I saw over the Stars Wars Marathon Weekend…

I really loved the idea of an Ewok costume, everyone loves Ewoks!!

The Elsa Fett costume was super cute and unique. And I loved the simplicity of the AT-AT Walker costumes, they didn’t seem too bulky for running.

Speaking of bulky though… these crazy Stormtrooper LEGO costumes are cool but I can’t even imagine running in them!

Leia and Hans Solo were fairly popular costumes, they were especially cute when it was a couple running together!

I saw a few Hans Solo girl costumes that were cute too!

More fun costume ideas, if I had a blue skirt I definitely would have gone as R2D2!!

Save on Disney Tickets & Packages

I can’t wait to start planning my costume for the next RunDisney Star Wars Marathon Weekend!

Baymax Costume

byKaren•October 22, 2014

Who else is excited about Disney’s new movie, Big Hero 6? Quinn has been counting down the days until we can see it. It’s October and costume season, so I though I would surprise him with a cute Baymax sweatshirt hoodie. Add red pants and you have an easy DIY Baymax costume. 🙂

This costume is actually easier than our DIY Olaf costume because its simply a red sweatshirt (which I think is easier to buy) and a few pieces of felt. No pipe cleaners or special carrot nose required!

Baymax Costume Materials

Red Sweatshirt – it needs a hood but you can go with a pull over or zip up
2 pieces of purple felt – standard size (29¢ at Michaels)
1 piece of red felt – standard size
1 piece of white felt – standard size
1 piece of black felt – standard size
needle & thread or glue if you want to go that way….

I started by having Quinn try the sweatshirt so I could mark where I needed to attach the felt. Then I pulled up a picture of Baymax and matched up the design as best I could. I found a standard piece of felt was the right width for us and then I could simply fold the corners in to create the sides.

Now you could get away with fabric adhesive or hot glue but I opted to just sew the felt. I think it’s more secure AND I still get do-overs if I’m unhappy with the placement… glue is usually more permanent! Sewing is also the way to go if you are only using a red sweatshirt to temporarily make a costume, remove the stitches and you are back to a plain (boring) red sweatshirt. 🙂

The ears are simple red triangles, I actually cut out a square and folded it in half so it would have a little more substance than just a single triangle of felt. Add purple circles at the shoulders, wrists and ears.

The eye mask portion was a little tougher. On my first attempt (so glad I didn’t use glue), I simply sewed the face mask to the top of the hood. It was cute but stuck straight out like a visor (Elliot’s demonstrating it above).

My next attempt worked a lot better. I cut out a new white eye mask with a longer top part. This allowed me to sew the top edge of the mask on the inside of the hood. If you don’t want to freehand the mask, use the mask template I made from a Baymax picture.

The end result is a super cute Baymax sweatshirt that can easily be used as a Baymax costume if you added red sweat pants!

Q insisted on his soccer ball when I took pics of him in his #MeetBaymax sweatshirt, I didn’t understand why until I saw him reenacting the scene from the #BigHero6 trailer! Silly, smart kid!

A video posted by Karen (@karenheffren) on Oct 10, 2014 at 8:18am PDT

Check out this Big Hero 6 Trailer, it shows the silly scene Quinn is reenacting above.

Quinn is actually going as Emmet for our LEGO Movie family costume theme but I know this cute sweatshirt will get a lot of use when our weather finally cools down!

Don’t miss these fun Big Hero 6 Printables. Big Hero 6 opens in theaters on November 7th! #BigHero6 #MeetBaymax

Are you excited to see Big Hero 6?

More fun DIY sweatshirt costumes:

Disney Planes Costume: Dipper

byKaren•September 26, 2014

After the success of our Dusty and El Chu costumes last year, I couldn’t help but create two more this year with the 2nd Planes movie. I wanted to mix things up a bit so first I made Blade Ranger, a helicopter costume and it turned out pretty cute. Today I am sharing another Disney Planes Fire and Rescue Dipper costume idea.

The Lil’ Dipper Costume is very similar to my past airplane tutorials, it’s very easy to make but does take a lot of duct tape and time. The most important thing to do is reference an actual picture of Dipper, so recreate the same details with the duct tape.

Dipper Costume Materials

Cardboard Box (I used a legal size banker’s box)
Duct Tape: Red, Yellow, Black, Silver, White
2 Plastic sand buckets
Wood Skewers
Material for straps (I used the straps off a grocery tote bag)

Last year I used random cardboard boxes we got from Costco, this year I discovered that banker’s boxes actually worked really well. The lids were utilized for airplane wings and the tail. I was making the Dipper costume for Quinn, who is a big 7 year old so I needed a legal size banker’s box. I turned the box upside down and cut out a hole big enough for Quinn to stand in.

The biggest change to this costume vs. Dusty last year is the addition of sand buckets on the wings to create that bulky red part. I found the buckets in the dollar section at Target. I had Peter slice down the sides (about 1/2) so I could slip them on to the wing. Then I used silver duct tape on the front and red duct tape around the sides.

I created the blades by cutting wood skewers in half and then duct taped them together (to create a wider blade). I added yellow tape to the ends of each blade. Then I simply used a blade to create a hole in the buckets and inserted 3 blades into each side.

After covering the majority of the costume in yellow duct tape, I added more details with different colored duct tape. I also added Dipper’s numbers using double-sided tape.

If you’re looking for more details on how to create an airplane costume using a cardboard box and duct tape, reference my Dusty Crophopper costume or El Chupacabra Costume. And don’t forget about my Blade Ranger helicopter costume. 🙂

Disney Frozen Costumes for BOYS!

byKaren•September 18, 2014

I’ve seen a MILLION Anna and Elsa costume ideas, from simple Disney bounding type ideas to elaborate homemade options. Plus there are plenty of dresses to be found on Etsy, Ebay, Amazon and 1,000 other retail stores. What about the darn boys? I made our cute Olaf Costume for Elliot and I’m working on a Kristoff costume for Quinn. I’ve found a few other options and thought Frozen Costumes for Boys would make a great roundup.