Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

| By | | 576 Comments

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. Diana says

    So glad your family is safe! For the rest, I mean the book stores, you won’t believe how much you are loved by your readers.

    I just love how you don’t force Clara into pink/frills/ballet, unless it comes from her. She seems so at ease in her crocs/boots/barefoot. Hats off, mummy and daddy! The costumes rock!

    Reply

  3. Amanda K says

    You are so creative! They look adorable.

    I got an email from Amazon this morning telling me my YHL book is arriving next week! Can’t wait to see it and meet you guys in Dallas!

    Reply

  4. laura says

    love the jessie costume!! So cute. My 3 year old son Ryder is going to be a train engineer because he is obsessed with trains! All I bought was some mechanic striped bib overalls from OshKosh and my mom had bought him a striped engineer hat a while back just because he likes trains so well, a red bandanna around his neck(which we already had from his train birthday party in July) and boots(which I bought for him as dress shoes to wear to church/sunday school)! So, I spent $16 total but the pants are something he can wear daily…which I love!! rambling ends here. :)

    Reply

  5. Kim says

    Ahh, Burger and Clara are so cute! I would give them tons of candy if they showed up at my house tonight. What creative no-sew costumes! (I’m glad your family in NY and NJ are okay! What a relief.)

    Reply

  6. Caroline says

    Oh my gosh, I love her braid! You are so clever and crafty – I especially love that she’ll be able to wear all of her “costume” clothes again. But I think the best part every year is the matching Clara/Burger costumes. It raises the cute factor by an order of magnitude, at least!

    Reply

  8. Abby says

    LOVE the braid. Such a clever idea!

    My boys are going as Mario (from Target) and Toad (DIY). Thanks to other Internet lovelies, I found the suggestion to make a vest with gold trim (a cut-up Goodwill tee) and a shower cap with red dots (felt, hot glue, batten to make it puffy). Fingers crossed my 16-month-old will wear the mushroom cap bc it will be SO CUTE.

    Happy Halloween!

    Reply

  10. Tammie says

    Clara is the cutest Jessie!! You need to bottle up that smile and sell it. That first picture just makes you happy when you see it. Burger is a pretty good slinky dog, too!!!

    Reply

  12. Emily Simpson says

    I don’t have kids, but it doesn’t mean I can’t get treats for Halloween. I just ordered your book on Amazon! I know I’m a little late, but I’m so excited!

    Reply

  14. Melissa says

    For a non-sewer, I’m pretty proud of myself (and my husband, without whose support I would have cried my way through some/most of the work). My 3.5 year old son requested that he dress up as Buddy the T Rex from Dinosaur Train. Thankfully, PBSkids.org must have received a kagillion requests for Buddy costumes/patterns, because they had a FREE pattern. I modified it by buying orange sweatpants (oldnavy.com with a discount) and a long-sleeve orange t-shirt (also oldnavy.com; turned inside out to hide the halloween 2012/pumpkin graphics but he doesn’t notice or care), then sewing a Buddy tail and hood/head covering. The effort was totally worth it when he woke up to find his costume yesterday morning. Sheer joy!

    My daughter, age 16 months, will be a very loosely interpreted Angelina Ballerina….or pretty much just a ballerina mouse (made a mouse hood with ears…based on the Buddy hood pattern, gray tunic with pink belly, and a tail…and a little treat bag with a cut-out felt piece of Swiss cheese glued to the outside). Or, if she balks at the whole thing, she may just be a little cutie wearing a gray tail and maybe a pink tutu if she doesn’t yank that off too…

    The best part was that I scored the fabric for both costumes (orange fleece for him, gray fleece for her…we’re in New England, where kids often have to wear turtlenecks under their costumes and winter coats over them for trick or treating) in the discount remnant bin at our local Jo-Ann fabric stores. I think my grand total for both costumes, including felt and webbing/buckles for belts for the tails, was under $20. Can’t wait to see them all dolled up tonight!

    Reply

  16. Sarah @ The Ugly Duckling House says

    Ha, unfortunately I won’t really be participating in Halloween costuming this year because of school. Small price to pay for my MBA but I’m still bummed. So I took a look back at some of my favorite homemade ones on the blog today. Love Clara’s cowgirl outfit! I think my favorite kids costumes this year have been the Incredibles ones. And there are some really awesome linkups from the Challenge for homemade kids costumes!

    Reply

  18. Jessica @ Quirky Bookworm says

    Such a great idea! Pretty sure I’m gonna have a 3 year old Jessie next Halloween. :) But this year I have a 2.5 year old Minnie Mouse, who’s pretty excited.

    {Speaking of hair though: Eleanor’s has been long enough to braid for a while, and she’s obsessed now.

    “Mommy I want 2 braids today.” (Mid-braid) “No Mommy, now I want 1 ponytail.” (switching) “Mommy, can I have a really big braid now?” etc… Have fun with that in your future!} :D

    Reply

  21. Renee says

    I don’t really love Halloween (I know…I’m weird), but the one thing I do like (OK…LOVE) is seeing all the kids costumes! I don’t have kids, so I anxiously await all the trick or treaters to come to my home so I can ooh and ahh over their costumes! I LOVE Clara’s costume – she looks adorable (and Burger too!) Good work on the DIY!

    Reply

  23. Kate says

    YAY for Old Navy boots that are cute on their own but even cuter in a costume!

    I bought a pair of cute “suede” western looking booties for my 1 year old in September before I figured out what her costume would be. So when she came home from day care doing a little Indian call over and over and over, I decided she had to be an Indian princess. Lots of searching and one nail-biting eBay bidding war later, I got her a little Indian costume complete with a headband with a feather, which happened to be originally from…Old Navy. And matches our boots perfectly!

    Clara looks adorable. Hope you have a fun Halloween.

    Reply

  24. Lisa G says

    I made Richard’s costume- he’s a green Lego- it was easy, and turned out cute! I bought Sophie a pink princess costume, and it was worth the money- she wants to wear it every day :) Happy Halloween!!

    Reply

  25. Katie says

    So cute!!!! I love that she & Burger dress up together. I’m 7 months pregnant, so I’m a pot-belly pig today!! Can’t wait to dress our little girl up next year (and maybe the dog, too!).

    Reply

  26. Koliti says

    Clara is TOTALLY rockin’ her “Jessie”! Look at her smile!

    Sherry – you are a clever, creative genius…
    What a brilliant use of supplies and clothing – everything can be used again.

    How about the day after Halloween? Clara’s gonna have a pair of jeans with blingy-fringe! Doesn’t get much better than that!

    Reply

  28. Gabby says

    Aww, I love this! Those pictures are ‘aww’-inspiring!!

    Clara and Burger look adorable, not that I’d expect anything less!!

    You did a wonderful job with Claras costume and how smart of you to work it that she’ll get the wear out of the stuff in the coming months! I love those jeans on her and I agree – keep the fringe!!

    Happy Halloween to you and the family and of course to the YHL readers!!

    Reply

  29. Tara D says

    Clara is so adorable!!

    I also made a costume using white duct tape! Three rolls to be exact :).

    https://twitter.com/extarafitzxx/status/263656400775942145

    I was a “mail order bride”. I took some old fabric, covered it in strips of white tape, and then cut it out and taped the seams together to make the bust, and then taped a bunch of envelopes and bubble wrap together to make the skirt. We went to a Halloween party last Saturday and I had like 10 people following me around all night popping the bubble wrap :).

    Reply

  30. LauraC says

    Oh man, awesome job on Jesse!!! Clara looks fantastic! This is the second year I made Sophia’s costume and I sewed my first skirt!!! (still bought Jonathan’s – can’t beat a $4 Thomas the Train outfit at Goodwill). You get some credit because I know how you were intimidated by sewing and you made yourself learn, and I knew there was no reason I couldn’t either. Thanks. ;) Anyway, Sophia wanted to be a mermaid so I just made a straight skirt and sewed on some shiny, scale-y fabric for a tale. That, plus a red “wig” from the dollar store, made her very happy. I love how kids are so easy to please, they’re not interested in the best or most perfect costume, they’re just happy with your best efforts!

    Reply

  31. Ally says

    Well Howdy, Miss Clara! :)

    Poor Woody appears to be at the mercy of Cowboy Clara…he’s probably laying there thinking:

    “Maam, would you be so kind as to remove your boot from my spleen?” :)

    Happy Halloween, Youngsters! (And the safest of travels :)

    xox

    Reply

  32. Shannon B says

    I’m sure you’ll be excited to hear that my 3 year-old just saw Clara’s picture and said, “That’s Jesse!” Job well done!! :)

    Reply

  33. Crystal says

    I found this idea on Pinterest, it was super easy. I had to DIY the superman shirt since I couldn’t find one in his size at the store. It is just a onsie with felt cut out hot glued to the front. The glasses were old cheap sunglasses that the lenses had actually popped out of already. I had to cover the sides with electrical tape since they were bright yellow and then add an elastic strap to keep them on. I took him out to a Halloween party on Saturday and he was the hit of the party! Check him out! ;-) http://www.crystalharperphotography.com/2012/10/happy-halloween.html

    Reply

  35. Michele says

    You guys are the best! Missing those days when we DIYed every Halloween! My baby is now a college freshman.

    Happy Halloween, Clara!

    Reply

  36. Cate says

    I totally used yellow duck tape over black sweats to make a fireman costume for my three year old. Duck tape for the win!!

    Reply

  37. Jaime says

    That costume is so dang cute that I can barely stand it! Clara and Burger’s expressions in the top photo are PRICELESS!! Great job!

    Reply

  40. Alison says

    Happy Halloween! I love how you’re reusing the costume elements as real clothes for Clara. That’s so creative and so very green!

    Sir Chester is going as an indomitable dragon slayer. Though where he’s going we’re not really sure. Probably just to the door to greet trick-or-treaters.

    Reply

  41. Jill says

    So adorable I may die! So nice to read about something that is not hurricane related.

    Thanks Sherry!

    Jill

    BTW-Just got an email last night that my copy of your book will ship earlier than expected! Horray!

    Reply

  43. Kristin Lynn Connor says

    OMG! I loved what you did with Clara and Burger’s outfit this year!! They are so adorable!!! I also laughed at the outfits from last year and two years ago so hilarious but CUTE!

    I cannot wait to see what you have plan for next year!

    HAPPY HALLOWEEN! :)

    Reply

  44. littleoakcreations says

    Too cute! I helped my sister-in-law make costumes for her two babies this year and we both were commenting that the costumes we remembered best from our childhood were the ones that were handmade for us. It seems so much easier to go buy off a rack sometimes but the prices of those cheap-y costumes are ridiculous and what wonderful memories we get from the handmade ones!

    P.S. – Those boots are awesome!! I wonder if they come in adult sizes? ;) Clara looks SO grown up in her little flare jeans and those boots. :)

    Reply

  45. Ann L. says

    So cute and great that a lot of Clara’s costume is stuff that can be reused. It still amazes me that you can get Burger to wear ANY sort of costume. Ours wouldn’t tolerate it, not even the antlers we try to get them to pose with at Christmas for a card.

    Every year in our office we have trick or treating for the kids of the employees and also have an adult costume contest. This year, I was a walking carnival. I had carnival music, a knock-over-the-cans game for the kids to play and glowstick prizes to give out to anyone who tried it. DIY’d everything and even though it was a lot of work, everyone really enjoyed it so the hours were well-spent.

    Hopefully the link below will take you to the picture.

    http://annnewjerz.smugmug.com/For-Fun/Other/Miscellaneous-Pics/6191241_RzGbz9#!i=2186709118&k=zt9pCwh&lb=1&s=M

    Reply

  46. Betsy says

    Adorable! I’m the girl who walked up to you in Jo Ann’s while you were looking for something to make the belt – with my freshly cut wet hair and all. I was so excited to have a Sherry/John/Clara sighting! :)

    Reply

  48. Kati says

    We dressed up for the first time in many, many years…myself, my husband, my sister and her friend…check on the picture on my blog..

    http://katichristensen.blogspot.com/

    Love Clara’s braid! And don’t worry, I too had to wait almost 6 years before my daughters hair was long enough to braid, it was one of the happiest days! :)

    Reply

Stuff We Love

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *