Things You'll Need:
- Costume catalogs
- Scissors
- Dress or leotard (gently used bridesmaid, flower girl or dance outfits)
- Shoes (dress-up shoes, slippers, canvas sneakers, or ballet flats)
- Hot glue gun and 2 glue sticks
- Craft or fabric glue
- Wooden dowel
- Headband
- Accessories such as fabric dye, glitter paint for fabric, spray glitter, sequin or lace trim, loose sequins, costume jewelry, needle and coordinating thread, appliqués or satin ribbon
-
Step 1
Start by looking through costume catalogs (see Resources). Have your daughter help to select 3 to 6 of her favorite princesses or fairies. Print or tear out the pictures and these will be your inspiration.
-
Step 2
Examine the selected costumes. Talk about and list what you like about each one. Is it the sparkly sequins on the dress, the glittery shoes, the rhinestone tiara or the star-shaped magic wand? The beauty of creating your own costume is that you can combine the best elements of several costumes into one design.
-
Step 3
Start with the dress or leotard. The most inexpensive place to find the base for your costume is a thrift shop. Look for gently-used dance outfits or formal wear such as bridesmaid or flower girl dresses. Be open to colors that can be altered to fit the theme.
-
Step 4
While at the thrift store, check out the shoe department for slippers, dress-up shoes, or even basic ballet flats or canvas sneakers. Again, look for the right base and size rather than color, as this can be easily altered.
-
Step 5
To dress up shoes or slippers, dye anything made of satin, cotton or canvas following the dye package directions (found in craft or grocery stores). Consider coating them with glitter paint, which comes in many colors at craft stores. You can even adhere sequins with craft glue or hot glue.
-
Step 6
To add pizzazz to the dress or leotard, stitch strands of sequined or lace trim or attach them with craft or fabric glue. You could also apply appliqués such as stars, moons, hearts, butterflies, or flowers either the iron-on type or use craft glue, depending on the fabric. Consider adding spray glitter over the bodice.
-
Step 7
Jewelry to complete the look can be found inexpensively at thrift shops, yard salesor discount stores. Look for vintage beads, chokers, rings, clip earrings and bracelets or make them out of left-over sequin trim. Cut to size and secure with a few stitches of thread or craft glue.
-
Step 8
If you don’t have old magic wands to adorn, make one from a wooden dowel. Wind and periodically hot glue sequin trim or satin ribbon around the dowel. Leave some ribbon and trim loose around the base for streamers.
-
Step 9
Tiaras can be made from plain plastic head bands. Hot glue old costume jewelry (even broken pieces) onto the top of the band. Glue sequin trim or a string of beads along the length of the band.
