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Homemade Jesse & Slinky Dog Costumes From Toy Story

Dude, I did it! I semi-DIYed my very first Halloween costumes, and I lived to tell the tale. It actually wasn’t too hard (do you believe that I didn’t sew a single thing?). Holla!

Halloween 1 Greeting

In case it’s not super obvious, Clara asked to go as Jessie (the cowgirl from Toy Story) and Burger gets to be Slinky Dog (also from Toy Story). Here were most of my supplies for Clara’s costume:

  • a “cowgirl hat” from a local pop-up Halloween store
  • red yarn and white duct tape from AC Moore
  • flared jeans from Old Navy (you know I used a coupon and bought them on discount Tuesdays)

Halloween 2 Materials

The first thing I tackled was making a long Jessie-ish braid from the yarn and used the white duct tape to connect it to the hat. Looks pretty bad from the inside, but thankfully it’s all covered up when Clara puts it on, and it doesn’t seem to bother her (she loves her Jessie hair, and it actually seems to help make the slightly-too-big hat fit her a bit better – even though it still slides around a little).

Halloween 3 Braid Taped

Oh and she needed winter shoes/boots, so I found these cowgirl-ish boots at Old Navy on sale, so they’ll not only serve as shoes for the costume but she’ll hopefully get lots of wear out of them this winter. I also picked up an on-sale white button down (in the boy’s section) that she can wear well beyond this costume. And speaking of wearing-beyond-the-costume, see the jeans? I cow-patterned them up with white duct tape that I cut into different cow-spot-ish shapes. So it’s 100% removable so the jeans, the shirt, and the boots can just be worn normally after Halloween until Clara outgrows them.

Halloween 4 Costume Done

As for slinky dog’s costume, I just got a quarter yard of brown felt from JoAnn (on sale for 50 cents), cut it into a small strip that wraps around Burger’s tummy, and used velcro at each side of the strip to secure it under his ribcage. Then for the “slinky” we just got two yards of silver trim (from the aisle with all the fringe and beaded trim that you buy by the yard at JoAnn). I didn’t even sew the slinky trim onto the felt since I secured it with safety pins on the outside of the costume under his belly (so they’re not against Burger’s skin, they’re on the outside of the felt sleeve). I intended to stitch it after pinning it just to see how it looked, but it seems to work as-is. Burger doesn’t exactly love Halloween costumes – he wiggles out of them in about 5.5 seconds – so I figured it wasn’t worth breaking out a needle.

Halloween 5 Burger Up Close

Oh man, and my favorite detail is the gold fringe that I added to the bottom of Clara’s flared jeans. She LOVES it (“look how they shake mommy!”) and I’m so excited that it was only $1 worth of trim from JoAnn which I safety pinned in place (so once again, it can be removed and Clara can wear these jeans for the rest of the year). Although she loves them so much, we might de-cow-spot them and leave the fringe on for a little while… just because she gets such a kick out of it.

Halloween 6 Clara Fringe Feet

Here’s Clara’s Jessie hair from the back. Isn’t that long braid adorable? Oh man, I think my brain will explode when she actually has hair I can braid. Squuuueeeee!

Halloween 7 Clara Back

Oh and the belt! I made that with another trim thing I found at JoAnn (it was woven leather-looking trim that was the perfect width for her pants). I secured it with a round plastic pin/button (you know, the ones people wear on their lapel that say “vote for me for student council”) but it was a clear fillable plastic button, so I opened it and put yellow construction paper in it with a star in front of it that I cut from leftover brown slinky dog felt. Since it has a safety pin on the back of it, it holds the woven trim together like a belt, so for around $4 I made her that little cowgirl accessory.

Halloween 8 Clara Smiling

Weirdly enough, Clara’s favorite Jessie activity so far has been sliding her legs out on the floor like this in her boots (and occasionally hurting Woody, if he’s nearby). She’s got the moves like Jagger.

Halloween 9 Stepping On Woody

What sort of costumes are you guys DIYing this year? Anyone else using odd things like white duct tape when it comes to your costume? Or are you happy to buy something cute off the rack if it grabs you? I gotta admit we did that last year…

Costumes Sucking Thumb

… and the year before…

Halloween Costumes

… and it was tons of fun too. Hope you guys all have a safe and happy Halloween!!! And I’d love to hear (and see!) what your kiddos are going to be this year. And any grown ups in costume = awesomeville. Links, links, y’all!

Comments

  1. Chelsea @ Riding Escalators says

    SO adorable! And I’m impressed with your avoidance of the dreadful sewing machine – I do my best to leave it in it’s intimidating box as much as possible as well! :)

    No costumes for us this year – though our dog naturally looks like a lion if that counts? We’re just enjoying handing out candy to the kiddos. Maybe once we have our own we’ll get back into the costumes! But for now I’ll just have to dote on my cowardly lion. ha!

    Happy Halloween!

    Reply

    • Leah says

      My husband and I are the same — no costumes. We both like Halloween but imagine we’ll get more dressed up and such when we have our own kids. For now, we really enjoy buying lots of candy and handing it out to our neighbors’ kids.

    • Heather says

      No costumes for us either! My husband isn’t a costume kind of guy, and didn’t really grow up doing Halloween either. I on the other hand have a costume designer for a mother. I’ll definitely get back into it when we have kids. In the mean time my husband has LOVED taking over the road of haywagon driver from the farmer next door. Every year they fill up the hay wagon with hay, he decorates it with the neighbors, and they tow the kids around from house to house on it with the tractor. I hop on and when they get next door I jump out and run home to hand out the candy, and then jump back on with the dogs in tow!

      Eventually I’m sure I’ll dress up again (most of the adults do!) while Andy continues to drive the hay wagon. I think it might be one of his favorite things.

  7. Rachel says

    I made two costumes this year. Both my girls looked on pintrest…that is what I get for that addiction. My oldest is a Gameboy and my youngest a jellyfish. I am quite proud of them both.
    Love the Jesse Costume. I went as that last year and made my husband be Woody. We were a hit a the church halloween festival.

    Reply

  9. kate says

    I’m a lazy halloweener. Mae is a cupcake I got off the wrack at Target. It may be my favorite costume yet. Clara (and Burger) look adorable!

    Reply

  10. Brittany says

    My daughter is an Ewok this year. (Last year Leia and earlier this year I photoshopped her red riding hood cape black and tossed a light saber in her hand to make her a Sith).
    Just in time for Lucas to completely sell out to Disney and promise three more movies. Womp Womp. But I digress.

    Reply

  11. Julia @ Chris Loves Julia says

    I die. That little Jessie is too much. Her braid! I love it all and I love that is all removable and wearable. Chris and I were Waldo and Carmen Sandiego (both using clothing that we now wear all season) and Greta was Mowgli for our costume party over the weekend. I know Mowgli from Jungle Book is a little boy, but I couldn’t help myself–the resemblance was uncanny!

    http://www.chrislovesjulia.com/2012/10/costume-party-2012.html

    Will you and John dress up?!? It might be my favorite thing to do. :)

    Reply

  12. Lisa says

    I am DYING over her costume it is so cute!! I’m a Disney nut so i got so excited to see this cute Jessie costume! Gotta remember all your removable ideas for when I have kids….or for myself lets be honest.

    Reply

  13. Nicole says

    My husband and I went as characters from Community (he went as the Greendale human being and I went as Britta dressed up as Michael Jackson from the celebrity impersonation episode), with mostly store bought pieces. Our friends totally DIY’ed their dia de los muertos costumes though, and I was so impressed! You’re never too old to dress up and have fun in my opinion.

    http://dutchielove.wordpress.com/2012/10/29/why-halloween-rocks/

    Clara’s Jessie outfit is adorable! I actually considered going as the same thing :)

    Reply

  15. Monika says

    You guys! Your creativity has been off the charts this week! The chalkboard was killer, the shadow box fun, and this is amazing. Super creative, original, and just unbelievable. Just giving you a thumbs way up :) My son is Woody this year (a store bought costume, although now I of course think it would have been better to DYI).

    Reply

  16. Courtney says

    I love it!! I wonder if I could rock the Jessie look?? I still don’t have a costume yet and time is running out, but think I have all of those things around my house!! Hmmmm…

    Reply

  17. Taya says

    I love the Jessie costume!!! It’s so cute and clever. I love halloween costumes that can be reused as either regular clothing or repurposed into a dress up box for a playroom.

    Glad the CT book tour date is still on! I’ll be there!!!!!

    Reply

  18. Rachel says

    I LOOOOOVE to make costumes, although I usually get myself in a heap of trouble and I end up cursing the process. Last year I made my son’s costume, he was a Lima Bean Monster (its a book). This year I made both of their costumes. My son is a ghost (pretty easy) and my daughter is a hot air balloon….NOT so easy. Oy.

    Reply

  19. Christa says

    I usually find costumes at yard sales, and for my oldest daughter she likes princess dress up costumes. Anyway, I put together a montage of Halloween costumes from years past on my blog here: http://controllingcraziness.blogspot.com/2012/10/halloween-costumes-of-years-past.html
    I love costumes that serve double duty such as wearing as regular clothes or ones that can fit year after year after year (as long as your kid still likes it!)
    Clara and Burger look so cute. Great job!

    Reply

  20. emily says

    I love homemade costumes, and Clara’s is great, good job! My daughter is going as a hot air balloon, which required weaving strips of kraft paper onto a cardboard box, adding “sand bags” which are just paper lunch bags, and a 3′ latex helium balloon from the party store. Total cost is $5, and it is going to be SO FUN to ride in! I’m jealous.

    Reply

    • Rachel says

      OMG, I want to see a picture. I too did a hot air balloon for my daughter (funny that your post was right below mine). When I called about getting a helium balloon from the store, they quoted me $20!!!!! I did a beach ball instead and it turned out fine, but it was very challenging getting it to balance. I was also nervous about the balloon popping.

  24. Kathy says

    Great job on the Jessie and Slinky Dog costumes! Brilliant! Both look absolutely adorable. That Clara is such a cutie pie! Just a tip on the braid – I did one for one of my granddaughters. Made it extra long and just hot glued across a plastic headband. That was over a year ago and it’s still going strong!

    Reply

  27. Melissa says

    Love the Jessie costume! We got off easy this year with consistent requests to be a Ghost (white sheet + eyeholes + baseball hat to anchor it in position = done). Previous DIY were an octopus and a star. We’ve also done off the shelf, and I’m honestly limited on my craft skills. But have to admit Halloween costumes is the one area where I really enjoy giving it a whirl. Hopefully I’ve got a few more years where they’ll let me.

    Reply

  29. Katie says

    So cute! Good job!
    My nine year old decided he wanted to be a ghost (bless him) so he’s good to go with some white hair spray, white and black makeup and light colored clothes. My four year old is obsessed with Angry Birds, so I just bought him an Angry Birds costume. My six year old decided she wanted to be Captain America, but it had to be a dress! So that one I made. Thank goodness I know how to make tutus and they’re easy.

    Reply

  30. Lindsey says

    That’s so adorable! What a cutie she is. Happy Halloween!

    I just got word that my copy of your book that I pre-ordered is going to arrive a few days early! I’m so excited!

    Reply

  33. Amy G says

    Too cute! My 16 month old is going as Charlie Brown (which works, since he’s basically bald) complete with Snoopy tag-along :)
    Have a happy, fun Halloween!

    Reply

  35. Phoebe Koehler says

    They look great! I DIYed my dogs’ costumes as Santa and Mrs. Clause this year and took them to our city’s pet parade on Saturday. I also used felt and Velcro and they seemed more tolerant of it than the store bought costumes I got for them last year. Victorious animal mortifying!

    Reply

  36. Emma (Broke Ass Home) says

    OMG Could Clara BE any cuter?! That was really genius of you to do things she could use the rest of the year. Instead of just another costume in a bucket.

    We did a whole family thing! Nate was Captain Quint from JAWS, I was JAWS the shark and the three poochies were the three yellow shark barrels. I DIYed them too using less than $3 of material a piece (rope is expensive…)

    Here’s our pictures! I still get a kick out of it. I totally put a Tutu on the Puppy’s costume because she’s sassy and I thought she needed one…

    http://www.brokeasshome.com/2012/10/and-winner-is.html

    Reply

  38. Katherine says

    Happy Halloween!!! Adorable costumes. Even though I’m technically a “grown up”, I still made costumes for my fiance, myself and our chihuahua. We dressed up as Finn and Princess Bubblegum from the show Adventure Time, and I made a Jake the Dog costume for our chihuahua Chili. :)

    Reply

  40. Lisa says

    Adorable! This year, I have a zombie for a kid and Underdog for a pet. Both costumes are homemade and cost next to nothing. I totally love Halloween!

    Reply

  41. Gabriella @ Our Life In Action says

    SO CUTE! We got Mo Mo (aka Molly our Retriever) some devil horns. They were fitting since she shredded an entire box of kleenex and left it proudly for us to discover. My little man was supposed to go as Batman but this morning decided he wanted to go as a black bat – got to love the last minute costume change (enter raised eyebrow here). ;-)

    Reply

  42. Alison says

    So sweet!! And very creative.

    My 11 month old is a bumble bee complete with a yellow and black tutu. I got everything off etsy so it’s homemade (even if I didn’t make it).

    Reply

  43. Kristin says

    I didn’t know Clara had gone as a hamburger! My little man Jackson went as the same thing (same Old Navy Costume) for his first Halloween! Great minds think alike. :D

    P.S. The Jessie costume is awesome!

    Reply

  44. Pam M says

    Love the costumes! She is so cute (and so is Burger). Can I ask what your brother said the situation is like in Jersey City? My SIL is supposed to be going there on Monday and she can’t get in touch with anyone. Is it all flooded? Do they have power? Thanks if you can give me any info…

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      They don’t have much power (my brother said his apartment has it temporarily from a generator but he doesn’t think it’ll last long). They do have a lot of water damage/flooding and cell phone service was spotty yesterday but it seems to be back today (although if their phones run out of battery and can’t be charged it’s hard to get through to them). Since it’s such a coastal area, it has taken a big hit from the storm, so I’m not sure if your sister will be able to get in touch with people for a few more days.

      xo
      s

  45. Kayleigh says

    Ahhh NO WAY! I’m going as Buzz Lightyear and my 5 month old lab/pit pup is Woody! Can we come trick or treating with you guys?!

    Reply

  46. Eva says

    I love this! You did a really great job putting everything together. I can’t wait to have kids of my own to get all creative on their halloween costumes.

    Again, really cute!

    Reply

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