Halloween | Desert Chica

Dark Voyager Fortnite Costume

byKaren•January 14, 2019

I am a such a sucker for Halloween costumes themes that I gave in and agreed to Fortnite Costumes this year. I am not a huge fan of the game but it does offer a million different Fortnite Halloween Costume options. After Elliot chose Tomato Head, Quinn opted for a Dark Voyager Fortnite costume.

DIY Fortnite Costumes

Elliot had already picked a Fortnite costume that wasn’t super easy. Thankfully the Dark Voyager costume turned out to be much easier than the Tomato Head Fortnite costume. Thankfully, there wasn’t vinyl or paper lanterns involved in the Dark Voyager costume.

Dark Voyager Costume

The bulk of the Dark Voyager Fortnite costume is a black jumpsuit and duct tape for the details. Because I like to DIY costumes on a budget, the hardest part for me was finding a black jumpsuit and a motorcycle helmet second hand.

If you are a mechanic or know someone that wears black coveralls then you can borrow them. A long-sleeve jumpsuit of some sort also works. I ended up finding one of those costume onesies at a thrift store that I was able to repurpose. It was a solid black cat costume, so I just cut off the hoodie and tail.

How to make a Dark Voyager Costume

I referenced a screenshot of Dark Voyager from the Fortnite game while I added strips of brown and orange duct tape to the arms, legs, and chest of the costume. The control box on the front of the costume was just a small cardboard box with a few details.

Fortnite Dark Voyager Costume

Borrow a black motorcycle helmet if you can. Otherwise check out craigslist, yard sales, etc. We have a sporting goods store that sells used equipment and I was able to find a basic helmet for about $15. I cut the bottom section of an old black t-shirt off and attached it to the inside of the helmet with velcro. This helped cover Quinn’s neck and create the illusion of the space helmet look that Dark Voyager wears.

Black boots and black gloves finished off the costume. We borrowed a pair of black snow boots and bought black industrial gloves at the dollar store. Use orange duct tape to add details to the black boots. If you use parchment paper when drawing your designs, it will be easier to cut the duct tape because it prevents the scissors from sticking to the tape.

Dark Voyager Fortnite Costume Materials

Black coveralls or adult onesie
Black motorcycle helmet
Orange, brown, black duct tape
Black boots
Black backpack
Old black t-shirt

DIY Dark Voyager Backpack – Optional

A plain black backpack is a great addition to the costume because you can see the straps when looking at the Dark Voyager character. It can also double as a trick or treat bag.

We decided to go the extra mile and model the backpack after ‘back bling’ from the Space Explorers set on Fortnite. It just took some cardboard, tubing and duct tape to add details. I didn’t love how it turned out and it wasn’t very durable.

Fortnite Halloween Costumes

Family costume themes are one of my favorite holiday traditions. Fortnite offered plenty of Halloween costume ideas. From elaborate Fornite skins or costumes to simple ideas, there really is plenty of options for any large group that wants to dress up together in the same Halloween theme.

The boys’ costumes were fairly detailed but the rest of our Fortnite costume ideas were fairly simple. I’ll be sharing another post with SUPER easy Fortnite costumes soon. If you like the look of DIY but not the time or work involved, check out some of the fun Fortnite options on Etsy I found including a pink bear head and drift mask.

More DIY Boys Halloween Costumes

DIY Olaf Costume

byKaren•January 10, 2019

With Frozen 2 opening later this year, it’s time to update this adorable DIY Olaf costume post. Olaf is definitely our favorite characters from Frozen, and I am guessing he will be super popular again this year for Halloween.

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. 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

Elliot 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 3 black circles a little bigger than the eyes in my template. I used a hot glue gun to attach the buttons to the front of the sweatshirt. 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

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)
Felt: Orange, Black, Brown, White
Brown Pipe Cleaners
Pillow Stuffing
White Duct Tape
2 Wooden Skewers

Is Olaf a Snowman?

Yes, Olaf is a snowman.

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 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.

Save on Disney Tickets & Packages

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Do you wanna build a snowman?

Don’t miss this HUGE list of over 75 Olaf ideas including my friends’ projects, Sara’s Olaf T-shirt and Allison’s Olaf running costume.

Easy Incredibles Pumpkin Ideas

byKaren•October 25, 2018

With Incredibles 2 released in theaters earlier this year, I bet we’ll see lots of Incredibles costumes on Halloween. And why stop the fun with costumes? How about an easy Incredibles pumpkin?

I opted to make the Incredible pumpkin using a plastic pumpkin bucket and craft pumpkin, just like our BB-9E pumpkin last year. However, you could totally make your own Incredibles pumpkin using real pumpkins as we did for our BB-8 pumpkin.

Easy Incredibles Pumpkin

Start by painting both pumpkins red. Then hot glue the smaller pumpkin to the bigger pumpkin.

Disney Incredibles 2 is available on Blu-ray and DVD starting November 6th. They kindly sent me a copy, so I can share details with you. They also sent this awesome template for creating your own Incredibles costume. I decided the template also worked great for creating an Incredibles pumpkin!

No-Carve Incredibles Pumpkin

I love working with duct tape, so it made sense to cut the Incredible emblem and mask out of duct tape to create my Incredible pumpkin. Be sure to trace the templates on to parchment paper first. Then cover the backside of the parchment paper with the appropriate color of duct tape.

The parchment paper allows you to easily cut through duct tape without getting it stuck on the scissors.

Once our duct tape is cut out, you can easily peel the parchment paper from the duct tape. Then carefully place the mask on the top pumpkin and recreate the Incredibles emblem on to the bottom pumpkin.

Want to make your own Incredibles pumpkin? Click the button below to download a copy of the mask and emblem template.

Carve an Incredible Pumpkin

Do you want to try carving an Incredible pumpkin instead? Disney has you covered for that one. Check out the Incredibles 2 Jack Jack templates you can download below.

In “Incredibles 2,” Helen is called on to lead a campaign to bring Supers back, while Bob navigates the day-to-day heroics of “normal” life at home with Violet, Dash and baby Jack-Jack—whose superpowers are about to be discovered. Their mission is derailed, however, when a new villain emerges with a brilliant and dangerous plot that threatens everything. But the Parrs don’t shy away from a challenge, especially with Frozone by their side. That’s what makes this family so Incredible.

Buy Incredibles 2 Now

One of the best reasons to buy a movie is to check out the cool bonus features that are included.

Incredibles 2 BONUS FEATURES (may vary by retailer)

Digital Exclusives:

The Coolest Guy in Show Business – In this partially illustrated documentary, Samuel L. Jackson reflects how his childhood and love of comics shaped his passion for film and imaginative storytelling.

2 SuperScene Breakdowns – Casual commentary-style pieces looking at specific scenes in the film (The Racoon Fight and Mrs. Incredible) through a particular creative focus like action choreography, set design or story.

Incredibles 2 Blu-ray & Digital:

All-New “Auntie Edna” Mini-Movie – When Bob Parr visits super-suit designer Edna Mode looking for help with his high-energy toddler Jack-Jack, Edna pulls an all-nighter designing a suit to harness the baby’s seemingly limitless powers.
10 Deleted Scenes With Introductions – Suburban Escape, Kari Revisited, Return of the Supers, Chewed Out, Late Audition, Slow Day, Frozone and Honey, Restaurant Robbery, Fashion Show and Security Breakdown.
Super Stuff – From buildings and vehicles to costumes and props, every action movie requires a lot of really cool stuff. Meet the makers and learn what it takes to design and build such a uniquely incredible world.
Heroes & Villains – A collection of mini-docs about the backstory and major design ideas behind the “Incredibles 2” characters — featuring voice actors, director Brad Bird, and Pixar artists talking about the many elements that make these characters feel real.
Ralph Eggleston: Production Designer – This short piece explores the many ways a single production designer has influenced the look, feel and character of the Pixar universe, culminating in “Incredibles 2.”
Strong Coffee: A Lesson in Animation with Brad Bird – Brad Bird’s passion for animation dates back to his childhood and mentorship under Disney’s Milt Kahl, and that enthusiasm and powerful insight emanates from every film he’s made. Take a deep dive into Brad’s early years at Disney Animation Studios and his time at Pixar.
Paths to Pixar: Everyday Heroes – At its heart, “Incredibles 2” is about family dynamics and the challenges of being a working parent. Meet the parents of Pixar as they discuss their personal connections to the film and their experience with stretching to balance work and family.
SuperBaby – A documentary/hip-hop music video hybrid hosted by Frankie and Paige from Disney Channel’s Bizaardvark. This piece explores how Jack-Jack came to life onscreen — from design to special effects to animation. All set to a hot beat.
Commentary – Get inside commentary from animators.
Theatrical Short: “Bao” – An aging Chinese mom suffering from empty nest syndrome gets another chance at motherhood when one of her dumplings springs to life as a lively, giggly dumpling boy.
Making “Bao” – Director Domee Shi shares her secret recipe for making an animated short — discussing how her rich cultural heritage, unique relationship with her mom, and her love of food all informed the making of the food-fantasy “Bao.”
Outtakes & Stories – Raccoon Fight Story, Evelyn Animation Outtakes, Puppet Animator Interview, Outtakes Goofy Arms Story and SuperBaby Music Video.
Character Theme Songs, Vintage Toy Commercial TV Spots , Toolkit Montage and Global “Incredibles 2” Trailers

DIY Fortnite Tomatohead Costume

byKaren•October 2, 2018

My kids have joined the Fortnite craze and as a result, I have made my first DIY Fortnite Costume. Perhaps there are more Fortnite costumes on the horizon, we shall see. For now, check out this fun Tomato Skin Fortnite costume.

How to make a Fortnite Costume in Real Life

The bulk of Tomato Head Fortnite costume is regular clothes with a few modifications and an oversized head made from a large paper lantern.

Homemade Fortnite Costume Materials

First, you need green pants and a green long sleeved shirt. We bought a green sweatsuit at Target that works pretty well. The sweatshirt and pants match each other and could be used again when the weather is cooler. The sweatshirt does have a hood but I thought it was a good compromise since green pants aren’t super easy to find.

I used duct tape to add orange around the wrists of the sweatshirt. And a piece of brown duct tape to create the patch on the left leg of the sweatpants.

How To Make a Tomatohead Costume

An embellished red tank became the pizza jersey by adding strips of white duct tape. I also bought a purple polo at a thrift store and cut off the collar. Then I hand sewed the purple collar to the neck of the red tank.

The last detail is a pizza graphic on the center of the tank. Not just any slice of pizza, a slice of Hawaiian pizza! Download my Fortnite Pizza graphic here. I considered printing it on sticker paper but ended up just printing it on cardstock and using double sided tape to stick it on the jersey.

How to Make a DIY Fortnite Costume

We covered shin guards with orange duct tape and cut the tips off a pair of purple garden gloves to create the fingerless glove look that Tomato Head wears.

I splurged on a new-ish pair of boots since Elliot didn’t have any. They were in great shape and only $12. They are perfect for the costume and can be worn again.

DIY Tomato Head Fortnite Cosplay Costume

The hardest part of the Tomato Head Fortnite costume is the oversized tomato head. I decided to go with an extra large paper lantern to create the head, I’ve created a few paper lantern projects, so I’m fairly familiar with them.

I couldn’t find a large red paper lantern locally, so I ended up painting a 16″ white one with red acrylic paint first. If you go that route make sure you wait for the paint to be completely dry before moving on to the next step.

I cut a hole for his head on one side of the paper lantern directly in the middle. You can’t use the existing holes on the top or bottom of it without comprising the integrity of the paper lantern.

Use cutting pliers to snip the wires before using scissors to cut the hole. I suggest making a smaller hole and gradually making it larger as needed.

Cover the edges of the hole with red duct tape. This prevents the wires from poking you and also from the hole from ripping further.

I used green pipe cleaners and felt to create the leaf and stem top. I used a simple leaf graphic I found online to use as a template. Then push a little of the stem through the head and cover it with red duct tape on the inside to hold it in place.

I then used my Cricut to cut the Tomato Head face out of vinyl. The top of the paper lantern had the smaller pre-existing hole, so that’s where I placed the vinyl stickers to create the face. There was a small hole left between the two eyes that you can see out of when wearing the Tomato Head.

Cut your own Tomato Head face with this Cricut file. Or you can use this image as a template for making the face another way.

Paper mache is another way to make the round head. I am just not a paper mache girl. If you are interested in trying paper mache, check out this youtube video for a Tomato Head I found.

Tomato Head Fortnite Skins Costume Accessories

I used a plain red backpack to create Tomato Head’s pizza basket. I used black duct tape cut in half lengthwise to create the edging. Then added a piece of black construction with the same pizza graphic from the shirt. It will double as a candy bag for trick or treating!

More Fortnite Skins Costume Ideas

What are some other fun Fortnite costume ideas? I asked my kids and they think the following characters would all make cool Fortnite costumes: Drift, Ragnarok, and Raptor.

How to make a Zoey Fortnite Costume

A Zoey Fortnite costume starts with a bright green wig. Then you can embellish a cold shoulder hoodie and leggings. Don’t forget to add gold spurs to a pair of simple gold sandals.

How to make a Havoc Fortnite Costume

One popular and possibly easy Fornite costume to make would be a Havoc Fortnite costume. He relies on a military gear and lots of grey camouflage. These are items that you may own, be able to borrow or find at a thrift store.

Or go the easy route and buy online. I found a grey camouflage sweatshirt, grey camouflage pants, grey camo beanie, heavy duty black gloves, and black bandolier. You could DIY a couple of big red pieces of ”ammo to add to the bandolier.

How to make a Drift Fortnite Costume

Making a Drift Fortnite costume for Halloween is fairly easy because there are Drift costume masks available to purchase. The rest of the Drift Fortnite costume is easy to pull together, check out this Drift Fortnite costume tutorial for details.

Quinn hasn’t picked a Halloween costume yet, so I might have another Fortnite costume on my docket this month!

Don’t miss our other costume made from a paper lantern:

No Sew Prince Charming Costume

byKaren•August 14, 2018

After making Elliot a Hiro costume sweatshirt recently, I figured I’d be out of the costume making business for a little while, at least until the fall. Elliot must have had other plans because he randomly asked for a Prince Charming costume.

All the talk about princess costumes at his preschool must have triggered his request. With Disney’s live-action Cinderella now in theaters, I figured a prince costume would make a fun and timely blog project too!

**Want to download a printable copy of this tutorial? Check out my costume ebooks.**

Looking for a DIY fairytale costume for little boys? This homemade Prince Charming costume tutorial is an easy DIY idea, perfect for a baby, toddler or even an adult. It's a no sew and perfect for Halloween or a trip to Disney World or Disneyland. #Halloween #Costume #PrinceCharming #Cinderella

More Boy Prince Costume Ideas:

You don’t have to make a Prince Charming costume, I have a few more boy prince costume ideas you can choose from including Snow White’s prince and the Beast!

Snow White Prince Tutorial

Beast Costume

DIY Prince Charming Costume

No sewing machine? No problem! I came up with a super easy NO SEW Prince Charming costume that anyone can make. Seriously, my own sewing skills are based on nine weeks of 7th grade home economics.

And look how amazing my costume turned out! Check out my little Prince Charming on our swing set.

You can also buy a few elaborate ones already made. Check out this blue and gold version from YaffieDreams or this red and gold version from MackAboo both are pricey but if you’d rather just buy one, they are cute options.

How to Make a Prince Charming Outfit

That being said, if you are a seamstress or no one with mad skills, you need to hop over to this amazing tutorial and follow it instead. Everything is handmade and she details out each step in her tutorial. Both her design and mine are based on the Prince Charming version you see at Disneyland or Walt Disney World

Are you ready to make your own Prince Charming costume? You need to pick up a few supplies. I try to use items we have on hand first, so I always raid our closets and craft supplies before heading to the store. Don’t forget you can shop at thrift stores, consignment shops and borrow things when possible as well.

We don’t dress up much so I didn’t have a spare white shirt in Elliot’s closet. I hoped to find a button-down white shirt at a local thrift store but never did. I ended up buying the perfect white shirt on Amazon though. It was sateen (a fancier look than plain cotton) and no pockets.

Diy Prince Charming Costume shirt and pants

I did find a pair of shiny red track pants in Elliot’s dresser which worked well for my prince charming pants. They had a stripe down the leg but that wasn’t a big deal because I planned on added gold ribbon down the leg anyway.

DIY Prince Charming Costume Ribbon and Embellishments

Buying the gold ribbon and trim was a little tricky. I went down to my local fabric store and just kept referring back to the picture on my phone. I ended up using red fleece as my accent fabric because it doesn’t need to be hemmed.

My first plan was to just run gold ribbon down each pant leg, covering the athletic stripe. Unfortunately, my ribbon wasn’t wide enough. So I used my seam ripper to remove the athletic stripes from each leg. Once that was done, I used heat n bond to attach my gold ribbon down the length of each pant leg.

DIY Prince Charming Costume Mandarin Collar

Originally I wanted to buy a white shirt with a mandarin collar to use for the costume. I didn’t find many mandarin options for little boys and none at a reasonable price so I just made my own. To create a mandarin collar on a regular button-down shirt, just cut away the collar just above the top button. The existing seam around the collar serves as the hem.

I removed the regular buttons and hot glued the gold buttons on the front of the shirt. They were a little too big to fit through the existing button holes so I opted to add velcro down the edge of the shirt. Bonus, it made the shirt easy for little hands to put on and remove.

DIY Prince Charming Costume Ribbon Collar Detail

For the collar detail, I layered red ribbon, gold ribbon, and gold trim together with my glue gun and then attached it to the collar with the glue gun.

I used red felt to cover the ends of the shirt sleeves and then used heat n bond to attach it to the cuffs. I added one gold button to each sleeve with my glue gun.

DIY Cinderella's Prince Charming Costume Shoulder Detail

For the shoulder detail, I sandwiched the gold fringe between two pieces of red felt using my hot glue gun. Then I attached each fancy shoulder piece to the shirt.

DIY Prince Charming Costume Shirt Detail

The fancy gold detail on the front of the shirt was the hardest part for me. I hot glued each loop, one at a time and that seemed to work ok. After all 6 were done, I hot glued the finish pieces to the shirt.

Cutting the red felt to make the belt was also a little tricky because I am scissor challenged. I can never cut a straight line. I might have had to cut out several strips before I thought it was “good enough”. You definitley want to use very sharp scissors though.

I attached a length of the pant striping (that I removed from the pants earlier) to give the belt a little substance. You could use anything, maybe even doubling up on the felt if you want. Then I added gold ribbon to embellish it. I opted for velcro on each end for belt closure.

Need an adorable prince costume for your favorite little (or big) guy? Check out this no sew Prince Charming costume tutorial. It's an easy DIY, perfect for Halloween or a trip to Disney World.

That’s it. I think it turned out quite cute and honestly way better than I expected. I have new found respect for my hot glue gun. It rocks! Ready to make your own prince charming costume? Check out the list of supplies below.

No Sew Prince Charming Costume Supplies:

Button Down White Shirt –this shirt is perfect
Red Pants (We used shiny track pants like these pants)
Gold ribbon and trim
6 Gold Buttons
Red Fleece
Glue Gun
Iron
Heat n Bond
Scissors

I think a blue and silver version similar to Prince Kit in the Disney’s new live-action Cinderella would be a fun version of this costume too! I think Prince Eric from the Little Mermaid is my next prince costume goal.

Looking for more easy costume ideas? Don’t miss my other costume tutorials!

Save on Disney Tickets & Packages

More DIY Costume Ideas:

There are over 50 DIY Halloween costumes including homemade costumes for kids, for families, for boys, for toddlers, for babies, preteens, siblings, for groups and friends. These ideas are cute, clever, creative, quick and fairly easy making many of them perfect for last minute parties.

Toy Story Costumes | Disneybounding at Toy Story Land

byKaren•July 5, 2018

Toy Story Land is now open in Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World. We spent last week Playing Big in Andy’s backyard as guests of Disney for their media preview event. Attending the grand opening of Toy Story Land seemed like the perfect opportunity to disneybound as characters from Toy Story.

Disneybound at Walt Disney World

Disneybounding at Walt Disney World or Disneyland is a fun way to add extra Disney magic on your trip. Some may ask, What is Disneybounding? Disneybounding is simply dressing up in DIY costumes or outfits inspired by your favorite Disney characters. You can disneybound casual or dress it up for fancier occasions like Dapper Day.

Toy Story Costumes & Disneybounding Ideas

There are so many fun characters in the Toy Story franchise that it makes it easy for a large group to disneybound together as a Toy Story theme. We stuck with a few of the main characters Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Jessie, and Alien. There are lots of fun Toy Story character ideas though including Forky, Wheezie, Slinky, Prospector, Army Men, Rex and Zurg.

Woody Costume Idea

Our Woody disneybound idea was easy because I’ve already shared our DIY Woody costume. We scaled back the pieces a bit to make sure Elliot would be more comfortable in the sweaty summer heat. Swapping out a button down shirt with a plain yellow t-shirt and going with shorts instead of jeans. We kept the red bandana, sheriff badge and DIY cow print vest. I think a brown cowboy hat would have been cute but I wasn’t sure if he would want to wear it in the park all day. I KNEW I didn’t want to carry the hat around if he didn’t wear it though, so I left it at home. 😉

cow print vest
yellow t-shirt
brown shorts (or jean shorts)
sheriff badge
red bandana
cowboy hat

Toy Story Alien Costume Idea

The key to the Alien disneybound is sticking with colors, blue, bright green with a smidge of purple. My mom bought the perfect blue tank to wear and we added bright green beads and a purple sunglasses to complete the look. My sister-in-law once wore a blue dress with green tights for her Toy Story Alien costume.

Buzz Lightyear Costume Idea

My oldest son is a tween and a little harder to convince to participate in costume type things, especially outside of Halloween. So we just stuck with a cool Buzz Lightyear costume t-shirt and called it a good. I think a pair of Buzz Lightyear ears or Pizza Planet cap might have been a fun addition.

Jessie Costume Idea

I really loved how my Jessie disneybounding outfit turned out. I made a Jessie inspired t-shirt to wear using a plain white t-shirt, and red and yellow iron-on vinyl. I opted for jean shorts instead of jeans because Florida in June is brutal! In lieu of a red hat, I went with red sunglasses. I also added a little more cowgirl with a red bandana belt. I swapped out her boots and wore brown sandals instead. My hair is just long enough for a little side braid, tied with a yellow ribbon. To incorporate Jessie’s signature cow-print, I made a super simple cow print t-shirt tote bag.

jeans or jean shorts
Jessie inspired cowgirl t-shirt
red sunglasses
brown sandals
yellow ribbon
red bandana (belt)
cow print bag

How to Make a No-Sew Cow Print Bag

I took a plain white t-shirt and made a no-sew tote bag. It was my first time making one and it was super easy, just find a tutorial online. This is the no-sew tote bag tutorial I followed. I then cut out random shapes of black iron-vinyl to create the cow print design and ironed them on to the bag. I loved finding a good use for my pieces of scrap vinyl! You could also use a fabric marker or paint to create the cow print design. This bag was a great tote to use in the park and super inexpensive to make! Or skip the DIY part and just buy this one on Amazon.

More Easy Amazon Toy Story Costume Pieces

Pixar Pier Disneybounding Ideas

These Toy Story Disneybounding ideas are perfect for Pixar Fest at Disneyland as well. With the opening of Pixar Pier last month, there is a whole lot of Pixar fun happening at Disneyland as well. Other fun Pixar Pier Disneybounding ideas could include characters from Inside Out, Monsters Inc and the Incredibles!

Disneybound at Disneyland

You can also Disneybound during Halloween Time at Disney Parks. If you aren’t comfortable in a full-on costume, Disneybounding is an easy way to get in the spirit using everyday clothes and not spending a ton of money. Check out these cute disneybounding ideas for kids I shared last year! It’s really easy to disneybound as one of the Fab Five!

DIY Forky Costume

How about dressing up as the adorable, zany new character from Toy Story 4! We couldn’t decide which Forky version was best because dressing up as a spork is a little difficult, so we came up with 4 different Forky Costume ideas.

DIY Cowboy Woody Costume

byKaren•June 24, 2018

Toy Story is one of favorite Disney films, so we are so excited to be checking out the new Toy Story Land opening at Walt Disney World this summer. We plan on disneybounding as Toy Story characters on our trip, so I needed to make a few fun costume pieces including Woody’s vest.

Don’t miss our Toy Story inspired disneybound outfits, Duke Caboom Costume, and our Forky costume, the zany new character from Toy Story 4 that Woody can’t help saving over and over again. Forky and Woody would make a fun Halloween costume pair!

Woody’s Vest for Adults

I’ve made a No-sew woody vest several times over the years including Elliot’s first Halloween when our family costume theme was Toy Story! That year Peter was Cowboy Woody. I found the perfect fleece cow print blanket at a thrift store, a cow print jacket or cow print tablecloth would work too. You just need something big enough to cut out the super simple woody vest, essential for any Cowboy Woody costume!

Woody Costume Vest for Kids

A few years later, I used the leftover fabric to make both boys their own Cowboy Woody’s vest. We celebrate Rodeo days in Tucson every year with a couple days off from school. Little kids often dress up as cowboys at school during that week and participate in stick horse rodeo games and activities.

Toy Story Costume Patterns

This time around I needed lightweight material to make Woody’s vest. The Florida heat in June is no joke and there was no way I could ask Elliot to wear a fleece vest just for a fun disneybound. I found a thin cotton cow print material at my local fabric store that worked perfectly. The hardest part of making the vest is cutting out the material. The first time I made the vest I sort of guessed at the shape and freestyled the design. Thankfully this time I found a super sweet (and free) vest pattern online. The pattern is actually for a stylish vest with pockets and buttons but I just used it for sizing the front and back vest pieces.

DIY Cowboy Woody Vest Materials

How to make a Woody costume vest

Start by printing and cutting out the pattern pieces. I made the biggest version of the pattern for Elliot, figuring a little bigger was better than a little smaller. The pattern I used was made for kids, you’ll need to find another pattern if you are making Woody’s vest for an adult.
Fold your fabric in half and place the back piece of the pattern along the fold. Pin the pattern piece to the fabric so it doesn’t slip when you are cutting it out. After cutting it out, unfold the fabric and you will have the back part of the vest.
Don’t place the front part of the vest pattern along a fold but you do want to fold the fabric in half before you pin the pattern on the fabric. This will allow you to cut both sides of the vest front at the same time.
Now you have three pieces of fabric that you will piece together to create Woody’s vest for a DIY Woody costume. You could simply sew the pieces together quickly if you have access to a sewing machine at this point. I don’t have a sewing machine so I attached the pieces together using Heat’n Bond Iron-On Adhesive. Attach the sides and the top edge of each front piece of the vest to the back piece of fabric. You can also hem the fabric using the Heat’n Bond as well if you like.

Heat’n Bond is pretty easy to use. Think of it as tape you place between two pieces of fabric. Iron over the fabric and it melts the ‘tape’ and turn it into a glue that adheres the two piece of fabric together.

That’s it, now you have a simple cow print vest perfect for a homemade Woody Costume.

The rest of Woody’s costume comes together fairly easy once you have his cow print cowboy vest. You just need a few simple pieces, some of which you may have already at home or you can pick up at a thrift store.

DIY Woody Costume Materials

Homemade Woody Vest using cow-print material
Yellow button down shirt
Jeans
Cowboy Boots
Cowboy Hat
Red bandana
Sheriff’s Badge

If you find a plain yellow button shirt you can draw stripes on it using a fabric marker. We did that once, we’ve also just found yellow plaid shirts that we were ‘close enough’. This cowboy accessory kit includes a red bandana, badge and hat!

If you don’t already have a sheriff’s badge in your dress up box or from a cowboy themed party, you can skip buying one and simply make one using yellow craft foam. I used this pattern to cut out the star from craft foam and then hot glued it together, add a safety pin and you are set.

DIY Cowboy Woody Vest & Costume

Woody Costume Ideas from Amazon

Are you less of a Pinterest mom and more of an Amazon mom? You can still pull together a semi-homemade costume with a few key pieces from Amazon. Who doesn’t love Amazon Prime? Perfect for last minute costume changes!

More Fun Ideas

Beast Costume Shirt

byKaren•October 29, 2017

It’s only taken me 6 months to share this but earlier this year, I made Elliot a sweet Beast Costume Shirt to wear to Walt Disney World. It was a really fun and easy Disneybounding idea. While he wore the Beast costume shirt for Disney bounding, if you added a mask you could have a sweet Beauty and the Beast costume too!

How to Make a Beast Costume Shirt

You will need a royal blue shirt and iron-on vinyl to make this shirt. Download the Beast costume cut file here. I used my Cricut Explore Air to cut the design out of vinyl. You can size the design up or down depending on the size of the shirt you are making. Then iron it on your design using a regular iron, steam press or Cricut Easy Press.

Beast doesn’t usually wear a rose but I added it the Beast shirt for a little more pizazz and an ode to the enchanted rose from the fairytale. You can use any rose you like, I bought this rose file on Etsy. Using the same rose, I also created a rose Mickey shirt for me to wear. I just used 3 roses to create a Mickey Mouse head.

Beast Costume Shirt – Costume Pants

Once you’ve made the shirt, pair it with black shorts or pants. For Walt Disney World, we paired the Beast shirt with black shorts which is more comfortable in the Florida heat. If you want a more costume look, try black pants with gold duct tape embellishment like I used for our DIY Beast Costume. It’s pretty easy to make black pants look more formal with the gold stripe down the side whether it be duct tape or ribbon.

Beast Costume Shirt – Mask

If you are making the Beast shirt to wear as a costume you will want to pair it with a Beast mask. The easiest mask is the printed one we used for our DIY Beast Costume. But if you want to go all out with your costume don’t miss this AMAZING Beast mask we found in the Halloween section at Target (also available on Amazon). Elliot looked just like the Beast in it. 😉

That’s it. A pretty simple project and Beast costume using a t-shirt and vinyl. Leave a comment and let me know what you think about my Beast costume shirt!

Cars Land Halloween Shirt

byKaren•October 23, 2017

Cars Land at Disney California Adventure is decorated for Halloween for the first time ever this year. The residents of Radiator Springs actually celebrate “Haul-O-Ween” and the town is fully decked out with spooky decorations. I always love wearing a fun themed shirt when I visit Disney, and this trip was no exception. To celebrate the first every Haul-O-Ween, I wore a cool Cars Land Halloween shirt. In fact, I wore adorable matching shirts with several of my blogging friends. My friend Becca made them for everyone and they turned out amazing!

Trunk or Treat Cars Land Halloween Shirt

The design is based on an awesome decoration in Cars Land that you see in the picture. Our shirts were made with glitter vinyl but I think I’m going to make Elliot one with regular vinyl so it’s a little less girly. If you’d like to make your own shirt with regular or glitter vinyl, download the Trunk or Treat Halloween shirt design here.

Spooky Face Cars Land Haul-O-Ween Shirt

While we were at Cars Land for Haul-O-Ween, we came across more festive “cars themed” decorations. Some of my favorite ones were spooky Halloween faces strung across the street made from traffic cones and car parts!

It inspired me to create another Cars Land Halloween shirt, one I knew my boys would love. I was right! 😉

If you’d like to make your own spooky face Cars Land shirt, download the SVG file for this Cars Land Halloween shirt right here. I used my Cricut Maker to easily cut out the design using black, white and orange vinyl.

Disneyland Halloween Treats: Cars Land Haul-O-Ween Cookies

byKaren•October 18, 2017

Last week I spent an evening at Disneyland to experience Halloween Time during the Thor: Ragnarok press trip. When I found out we would be taking some time to enjoy the Disneyland Resort on our trip, I was beyond excited. Disneyland is my favorite place to hang out in and write about, especially during the holidays!

Cars Land Inspired Cookies

This year Disney California Adventure joined the fun with Cars Land getting a very immersive “Haul-O-Ween” celebration. Radiator Springs is completely decked out with festive decorations. Naturally, some scary treats are also available during Haul-O-Ween like Spoke-y cone macarons at the Cozy Cone Motel. Those cookies (picture below) inspired me to me to make my own version of Cozy Cone spooky cookies.

HALLOWEEN-THEMED EATS AND TREATS at the Disneyland Resort

Aren’t they adorable? They are perfect for a Cars themed Halloween party. Check out how easy the Cars Land inspired Halloween cookies are to make below.

Cozy Cone Spooky Cookies Ingredients

Yellow Cake Mix
3/4 C butter
1 large egg
2 TB Milk
orange food dye
buttercream frosting
candy corn
black frosting/gel icing

Cake mix cookies are fairly easy to make. Simply combine the cake mix, melted butter, egg, and milk. Don’t forget to add the orange dye. Then chill the dough for a few hours before rolling it out.

I didn’t have a cone-shaped cookie cutter but I made my football pennant cookie cutter work. A simple Christmas tree cookie cutter would work even better since all you really need is a triangle.

I used a knife to cut at the bottom of the cookie off, making it into a basic triangle shape before I transferred the cookies to a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 6-8 minutes and cool completely. The cookies sort of puff up and round out, so it’s a very forgiving cookie shape.

Decorate Cars Land Haul-O-Ween Cookies

There was a little inconsistency between my cones, but I managed to pair most of them up by size and shape. Then I slathered one cookie with buttercream frosting and added candy corn around the edges.

Top it with it’s matching cookie and then decorate the top with black icing. I think chilled black gel would have been easier to use. Mine was at room temperature and it was a hot mess. So I used black icing from a tube that worked ok.

I think the faces are supposed to be scary car grilles? I’m not sure. This is a picture of the real Cozy Cone Motel decorated for Haul-O-Ween so you can see the inspiration for the original cookies.

These are ridiculously sweet cookies, so there’s no need to make too many of them.

Who’s ready to make their Cars Land Haul-O-Ween Cookies?

DIY Star Wars BB-9E Pumpkin

byKaren•September 19, 2017

One of the coolest announcements from Force Friday earlier this month was a new character reveal, a new droid that looks a little bit like everyone’s favorite buddy from The Force Awakens, BB-8. Only this droid is from the dark side and his name is BB-9E. He is almost as cute as BB-8, so I decided to make a few BB-9E crafts starting with a BB-9E Pumpkin.

I made my BB-8 pumpkin using real white pumpkins, I found at our local pumpkin patch. This time around I decided to use fake pumpkins so we could decorate with our BB-9E pumpkin next year too! My local dollar store has small craft pumpkins for $1 and I improvised using a plastic trick or treat pail for my large pumpkin, also only a $1.

Star Wars BB-9E Pumpkin Supplies

1 small pumpkin
1 large pumpkin
black acrylic paint
silver, red and blue duct tape
silver sharpie
BB-9E template
parchment paper

How to make a DIY BB-9E Pumpkin

Whether you use real or fake pumpkins, you will need to start by painting them black. I used a black acrylic craft paint.

It’s no secret I love working with duct tape. Duct tape is an easy way to create designs without too much of a mess. In order cut the BB-9E designs out of silver duct tape, I created a simple BB-9E template that I traced onto parchment paper. Parchment paper is the key to easily cutting duct tape with scissors.

Sneak Peek of BB-9E Pumpkin Tutorial

After you’ve applied the silver duct tape design to each side of the pumpkin, draw even silver lines to mimic BB-9E’s design.

Refer back to images of BB-9E online to add the details of BB-9E’s head. The shapes are pretty simple, so no template is necessary. Remember to use parchment paper when cutting duct tape.

Photo Credit: Lucasfilm/Disney

The very last step is attaching the BB-9E head to the BB-9E body. I opted for duct tape but hot glue could work as well. That’s it. Now admire your adorable, although likely evil Star Wars pumpkin.

You can see the real BB-9E in action when Star Wars: The Last Jedi opens in theaters on December 15.

Vampire Donuts

byKaren•September 13, 2017

Halloween is coming and along with it all the fun Halloween decorations, costumes, and treats. I recently started watching Van Helsing on the Syfy channel. Vampires aren’t as cool as zombies but the show is fun (and a bit intense). It’s definitely not a show I can let my boys watch though. We can, however, start watching the adorable new Disney Junior show, Vampirina next month. It looks super cute! In honor of Halloween and its ultimate mascot, how about making some vampire donuts?

Vampire Donut Ingredients

1 box of cake mix + required ingredients
White Wilton Candy Melts
Black Icing
Red Icing
Wilton Candy Eyes
Brach’s Vampire Teeth
Wilton Donut Pan

Make Vampire Donuts

Start by making the cake mix according to the directions. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray the donut pan with non-stick cooking spray. Use a measuring cup for easy pouring. Pour the donut mix into the donut pan, making sure not to fill all the way to the top. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Let the donuts cool for 5 minutes.

Decorate Vampire Donuts

Melt white candy melts in the microwave or with this Wilton Melting Pot. Dip the top of the donuts in the white candy melts.

Everyone loves donuts, even the undead! Check out these homemade vampire donuts, perfect for a fun Halloween themed treat.

Place two candy eyes above the donut hole. Place two vampire teeth below the donut hole. Use the black icing to create hair above the eyes. Don’t forget the V of the hair! Then use red icing to create blood coming from the teeth. Done!

DIY Fortnite Costumes

Dark Voyager Costume

How to make a Dark Voyager Costume

Fortnite Dark Voyager Costume

Dark Voyager Fortnite Costume Materials

DIY Dark Voyager Backpack – Optional

Fortnite Halloween Costumes

More DIY Boys Halloween Costumes

Homemade Olaf Costume

Custom Sweatshirts as Costumes

Baby Olaf Costume

Adult Olaf Costume

How to make a DIY Olaf Costume Hoodie

Add Face to Olaf Costume Hoodie

How to sew an Olaf Costume

Add Olaf’s Hair

Make Olaf’s Carrot Nose

DIY Olaf Costume Materials

Is Olaf a Snowman?

Who is Olaf?

What Movies is Olaf in?

Where to buy Olaf Costumes:

Save on Disney Tickets & Packages

Do you wanna build a snowman?

Easy Incredibles Pumpkin

No-Carve Incredibles Pumpkin

Carve an Incredible Pumpkin

Incredibles 2 BONUS FEATURES (may vary by retailer)

Digital Exclusives:

Incredibles 2 Blu-ray & Digital:

How to make a Fortnite Costume in Real Life

Homemade Fortnite Costume Materials

How To Make a Tomatohead Costume

How to Make a DIY Fortnite Costume

DIY Tomato Head Fortnite Cosplay Costume

Tomato Head Fortnite Skins Costume Accessories

More Fortnite Skins Costume Ideas

How to make a Zoey Fortnite Costume

How to make a Havoc Fortnite Costume

How to make a Drift Fortnite Costume

More Questions about Fortnite Costumes

How to get a Fortnite costume for free?

How to get a new Fortnite costume?

How to get a Twitch Fornite costume

Don’t miss our other costume made from a paper lantern:

More Boy Prince Costume Ideas:

DIY Prince Charming Costume

How to Make a Prince Charming Outfit

No Sew Prince Charming Costume Supplies:

Save on Disney Tickets & Packages

More DIY Costume Ideas:

Disneybound at Walt Disney World

Toy Story Costumes & Disneybounding Ideas

Woody Costume Idea

Toy Story Alien Costume Idea

Buzz Lightyear Costume Idea

Jessie Costume Idea

More Easy Amazon Toy Story Costume Pieces

Pixar Pier Disneybounding Ideas

Disneybound at Disneyland

DIY Forky Costume

Woody’s Vest for Adults

Woody Costume Vest for Kids

Toy Story Costume Patterns

DIY Cowboy Woody Vest Materials

How to make a Woody costume vest

DIY Woody Costume Materials

DIY Cowboy Woody Vest & Costume

Woody Costume Ideas from Amazon

How to Make a Beast Costume Shirt

Beast Costume Shirt – Costume Pants

Beast Costume Shirt – Mask

Trunk or Treat Cars Land Halloween Shirt

Spooky Face Cars Land Haul-O-Ween Shirt

Cars Land Inspired Cookies

Cozy Cone Spooky Cookies Ingredients

Decorate Cars Land Haul-O-Ween Cookies

Who’s ready to make their Cars Land Haul-O-Ween Cookies?

Star Wars BB-9E Pumpkin Supplies

How to make a DIY BB-9E Pumpkin