Halloween is fast approaching, which means it’s time to plan your costume. If you’re looking for something more interesting and less expensive than the store-bought options, these five easy DIY animal headbands — bird, mouse, dog, cat and rabbit — are a perfect dress-up solution. The charming headpieces take only a few minutes to construct, and they should stand up to even the most intense trick-or-treating.
Each version can be sized for an adult or a child. (Just adjust the size of the headband). Looking for more of a costume? Use makeup to create whiskers, a nose and spots or cat eyes, and add a tail (either store-bought or made from leftover felt from the headband craft). A leotard and leggings or sweat pants and a long-sleeved T-shirt make a perfect animal body. Be creative — the possibilities are endless!
Basic Supplies (What You Need to Make Every Animal)
Fabric scissors (or very sharp regular scissors)
Hot-glue gun
Bird
Thin headband (either clear plastic or a color that matches your hair)
Green felt
Yellow felt
Feathers in varied sizes and colors
Googly eyes (optional)
Step 1
Start by cutting an oval out of the green felt; ours measured 5 inches by 3 inches. It will sit on top of your head, so don't cut it too big. Next, cut a triangle out of the yellow felt. This will serve as the beak. We made ours about 4 1/2 inches long and 4 1/4 inches wide.
Step 2
Fold the green oval in half lengthwise; make a good crease in the fabric. Then take your larger feathers and glue them so they are lined up along the crease from the fold.
Tip: Lay the feathers out before you glue them to make sure that they are where you want them to be.
Step 3
Once the glue is dry, take the bottom of the green felt and fold it so the feathers are sandwiched between the two halves of the oval. Glue the two halves together over the feathers. Glue the bottom of the green felt to the top-center of the headband.
Step 4
Next, take your smaller feathers and glue them to the front of the green felt.
Step 5
Glue the yellow triangle over the smaller feathers that you glued down in step 4.
Step 6
If you're using googly eyes, glue them so that they are at the top of the yellow triangle.
Note: When wearing this headband, the beak (or yellow triangle) will and should fall down over your head a bit.
Mouse Ears
Gray felt
Light pink felt
Thin gray headband
Step 1
Cut four circles out of the gray felt; trim one edge of each circle so it is flat. Cut two slightly smaller circles from the pink felt. These should also have one flat edge each.
Step 2
Glue the two pink circles onto two of the gray circles.
Step 3
Glue one of the gray circles without the pink to the back of one of the gray circles with the pink. Leave the bottom edges unglued. Repeat with the remaining loose circles.
Tip: You want the ears to stand up straight when you're wearing
the headband; gluing three layers of fabric together makes them stiffer.
Step 4
Take the headband and sandwich it between the two unglued flaps of one ear. The ear should be slightly off center on the headband. Glue the open flaps to the headband and hold until dry. Repeat on the other side with the second ear.
Dog With Spots
Dark brown felt
Light brown felt
Thin brown headband
Step 1
Cut two dangly ears from the dark brown felt. These can be any shape you want and do not have to be exactly the same. We made ours slightly smaller at the top and larger at the bottom, so they look almost like bowling pins. Each ear measured about 8 inches long. Cut spots out of the light brown felt; these can be any size or shape you want. Arrange them on the darker ears to make sure they fit and look the way you want.
Step 2
Glue the spots to the ears.
Step 3
Glue one ear to each side of the headband so they hang down over your actual ears.
Tip: Experiment with other color combinations (black and white, for example) to make ears for different breeds of dogs.
Cat Ears
Black felt
Pink felt
Thin black headband
Step 1
Cut four small triangles out of the black felt. Ours measured approximately 2 1/2-3 inches on each side. Cut two smaller triangles out of the pink felt. Ours were approximately 1 1/2 inches each.
Step 2
Glue the two pink triangles on top of two of the black triangles so the bottoms of the pink triangles are flush with the bottoms of the black triangles.
Step 3
Glue the remaining two black triangles to the backs of the first two. Leave the bottom edges unglued.
Step 4
Sandwich the headband between the two unglued flaps of one ear. The ear should be slightly off center on the headband. Repeat with the second ear.
Tip: Gluing three layers of fabric together will make the ears more sturdy when you're wearing the headband. You want them to stand up straight.
Rabbit Ears
White felt
Pink felt
Thin headband (either clear plastic or a color that matches your hair)
Step 1
Cut two long isosceles triangles from the white felt. The longer you make these, the more floppy they will be. Ours measured approximately 8 inches tall and 3 inches wide at the widest point. Cut two long (but slightly smaller) isosceles triangles from the pink felt.
Step 2
Place the pink triangles approximately 1/2 inch from the bottom of the white triangles to create the two ears. (Note: In photo, bottoms of white triangles have been folded back — see Step 3.) Glue to secure.
Step 3
Fold the bottoms of the white triangles back 1/2 inch so that the pink parts are flush with the headband. (See photo in Step 2.) Glue folded-back white flaps to headband.
Tip: Your ears will be floppy — if you want them to stand up straight, start with shorter triangles and cut four white triangles (instead of two) from the felt. Follow the steps in the instructions for the cat and mouse ears for gluing the layers together.
