With two young boys, there’s always a brand new obsession, from trains to trucks, to our most recent craze – Angry Birds. With Halloween around the corner, my son decided he wanted an Angry Birds costume this year. But knowing how easily kids change their minds, I decided to go the cheap and easy (homemade) route, rather than spend $40-$50 for a kid’s costume online. The costumes I created were cheap, adorable, and incredibly easy; we’ve decided to now make them for the rest of our family as well (we’re all pretty obsessed with the game at the moment). Here’s how to make your own easy kid’s Angry Birds costume:
Required materials:
– Two medium-to-large sized pieces of heavy cardboard
– heavy-duty scissors or utility knife
– pencil
– acrylic paint
– painting supplies
– straps: suspenders, ribbon, twine, or fabric (and adhesive)
How to make an Angry Birds costume:
1. Use the internet or your Angry Birds game for reference, and draw out your desired Angry Birds character on one piece of cardboard. My boys chose a little green pig and the blue bird.
2. Cut out the character using scissors or a utility knife. To make sure your character is kid-sized, have your child hold up the shape in front of them, then reduce the size if needed.
3. Lay the shape on top of the other piece of cardboard, then trace and cut out the second identical shape.
4. Look at your image, then blend acrylic paint to match the background color of your Angry Bird (we mixed a pale blue for our blue bird, and a mint green for our green pig). Paint one side of each piece of cardboard. Be sure to paint the ‘front’ of one piece, and the ‘back’ of the other, as these will be worn like a sandwich board.
5. When dry, look at your reference image, then draw the face onto your Angry Birds character. This should be easy, as the faces have relatively little detail. Decide if you want to paint faces on the front and back, or just the front. Mix colors, then paint the faces onto each figure. Paint a black outline around the edges of each shape.
6. When dry, attach straps to the stop of your shapes. Try the easy way – attach suspenders to the tops of both pieces, which then lay across your kids’ shoulders. Or, for a different look, adhere ribbon, twine or fabric strips between the two cardboard pieces, leaving a gap for shoulders. Heavy tape, hot glue, or other adhesives can be used.
Since I was low on time and resources, and wanted something simple to make that was easy for a preschooler to wear, I decided to make this simple cardboard sandwich-board-style costume. Underneath the costume, kids can wear a color-coordinating outfit (like black pants and a light blue shirt).
While a fancier, fabric costume would be nice, I didn’t want to invest into a pricier or more labor-intensive kids costume that might not stay on all Halloween night. With this style, I found a way to create my kids’ Angry Birds costumes, while spending $0, and barely any time at all.
More from this contributor:
– 5 Art-Themed Kids Halloween Costume Ideas
– Famous Artist Halloween Costume Ideas
– 5 Halloween Side Dishes: Easy Recipes for a Spooky Menu
