Halloween is the perfect time for crafters to flex their creative muscles by making their own décor and costumes for themselves and their families. If you have a dog that you’d love to join in the festivities, spoil them with one of these adorable and awesome homemade costumes this Halloween.
The 20 DIY Dog Halloween Costumes
1. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Costume by Crafts by Courtney
| Materials: | Turkey pans, paint, Mod Podge, ribbon, Velcro, green shirt, fabric |
| Tools: | Hole punch, cutting knife, paintbrush, sponge brush |
| Difficulty: | Easy |
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are instantly recognizable characters regardless of what generation you belong to, making this adorable DIY TMNT costume a fun project that’ll please everyone in the neighborhood.
This is a relatively easy and affordable project requiring supplies you can buy from your local dollar store. To make the shells, you’ll need some brown and green paint and a foil turkey pan. Use your sponge brush to dab the pan with the brown paint first, then let it dry before adding your green paint. Mod Podge is helpful after the green dries to help prevent the paint from chipping away before your pup has a chance to wear the costume. Add straps to the shell with ribbon in your favorite TMNT’s color and add the shell to the shirt your dog will be wearing. Finish it off by tying a ribbon in a matching color around your pup’s neck and paws!
2. Spider Costume by Sea Lemon
| Materials: | Pipe cleaners, dog collar |
| Tools: | Scissors |
| Difficulty: | Easy |
There’s no scarier costume in my eyes than a giant, dog-sized spider. This simple and quick spider costume is a great option for dog owners who wait until the afternoon of Halloween to start tackling their pup’s costume.
To begin, twist four piper cleaners together and then twist another four together. Combine the two sets of twisted pipe cleaners to make your first leg. Repeat these steps until you have eight legs in total. Loop four of the legs on one side of your dog’s collar and the remaining four on the other side. Bend the pipe cleaners so they form a spider leg shape.
If your dog is small, you may need to use fewer pipe cleaners or even single ones for the legs. If you have a bigger breed dog, you may want to use giant pipe cleaners. These are available in craft stores like Michaels.
Pro tip: Wrap your dog’s collar in pipe cleaners before attaching the legs so it isn’t visible.
3. Doggy Groom by Hachii
| Materials: | White T-shirt, black fabric, thread |
| Tools: | Scissors, needle, glue gun |
| Difficulty: | Easy |
Make your male dog extra dapper this Halloween by fashioning this DIY groom costume. This simple project requires one of your old white, collared shirts, which will form the basis for your pup’s tux.
First, cut a bib-shape out from around the collar of your shirt. Remove two of the buttons from the other part of your shirt and hot glue them to the collar and bib to make it look like a complete shirt. Cut a small rectangle shape from your black fabric. Cut another small piece of black cloth to glue in the middle of the rectangle to form your bow tie. Attach the bow tie to the collar. Finally, cut the remaining black fabric to look like the remainder of your dog’s tux. Though there are no printable templates for this step, unfortunately, the original creator provides a great video tutorial to help you through this process.
4. Rocket Dog by Costume Works
| Materials: | Empty soda bottles, silver spray paint, duct tape, tissue paper |
| Tools: | Scissors, hot glue gun |
| Difficulty: | Easy |
If your dog gets the zoomies and zips around your house like a rocket, this rocket dog costume will be the perfect one this Halloween. It’s super quick to put together, and you probably already have most of the ingredients at home.
First, spray paint your soda bottles silver and give them plenty of time to dry. Use your duct tape to attach the two bottles in the middle, where the soda label would usually go. Cover the threaded portion of the bottle with silver duct tape, and then cut your red and orange tissue paper into flame shapes. Hot glue the flames to the silver duct tape.
Pro tip: Print out a NASA logo and attach it to the top of your rocket to make your pup an astronaut.
5. Fairy by ArtisticBabe
| Materials: | Metal hanger, translucent fabric, felt, acrylic or fabric paints, paint sealant spray, paint brush, Velcro, thread, decorative accents (e.g., fabric flowers, glitter, etc.) |
| Tools: | Sewing machine, needle, scissors, wire cutters, needle nose pliers |
| Difficulty: | Moderate |
This fairy costume is a super sweet DIY for the girl pup in your life. It’s a bit more of a process than some of the others on our list, so it’s best for dog owners with a lot of experience in the crafting department. It’s also not something we recommend trying to throw together the night of Halloween. Give yourself time to find the right materials and get the measuring right. Though a lot of materials and tools are required for this project, you probably already have everything you need to complete it, so it shouldn’t be too costly.
6. Lego Dog by Amy Tokic
| Materials: | Shoebox, plastic cups, spray paint, elastic straps, Velcro |
| Tools: | Hot glue gun |
| Difficulty: | Easy |
This Lego costume is one of the easiest ones to put together for people who like to wait until the last minute to get ready for Halloween. That said, it’s best for toy and small breed dogs, as finding an appropriate-sized shoe box for a St. Bernard might be a bit difficult. All you need to do is cut a hole big enough for your pup’s head to fit through on one end of your shoe box. Next, glue six plastic cups separated evenly to the top of the box. Spray the box and cups with whatever color you have on hand. Secure the costume to your pup with elastic straps.
7. Prom King or Queen by Dream a Little Bigger
| Materials: | Adhesive-backed craft foam, felt, elastic cord, glitter ribbon, heat transfer vinyl, suit or dress, pre-made paper letters (optional) |
| Tools: | Scissors, cutting machine (optional) |
| Difficulty: | Easy |
While this prom king or queen costume does require you to buy a suit or dress for your pup, there is still a DIY component to fully complete the look. Your job will be to put together the props your dog needs to take the throne on prom night. To create the sash, use a cutting machine (like a Cricut) or premade paper letters from the craft store and attach them to a piece of thick, glittery, wired ribbon. The width of your ribbon will depend on your pup’s breed; 2.5 inches is a good starting point. Choose the length of the sash so it’s comfortable for your dog to wear. Pin it in place with a small safety pin. Use glitter craft foam for the crown. The project link contains a printable PDF crown pattern so you can get it the right shape on your first try.
8. Garden Gnome by Crafting Chicks
| Materials: | Foam sheet, felt sheet, faux fur, stretchy string, |
| Tools: | Hot glue gun, scissors |
| Difficulty: | Easy |
This super sweet garden gnome costume takes only half an hour to whip together, so it’s a good option for those who waited until the last minute to get their ducks in a row. Cut a cone shape from your foam sheet. Make sure the cone will be an appropriate size to fit on your dog’s head. Cover the cone with a felt sheet. Next, use the faux fur to cut out a white beard. With your hot glue gun, attach stretchy string from the beard on both sides to your hat.
9. No-Sew Lion by HGTV
| Materials: | Felt, snap tape |
| Tools: | Hot glue gun, scissors, |
| Difficulty: | Easy |
This no-sew lion mane costume is a fantastic last-minute DIY project to tackle on Halloween day. First, cut two pieces of felt into triangles shaped appropriately for your dog’s size. These triangles will act as the base for the head and chest pieces. Next, cut two pieces of snap tape the length of the long side of your triangle, but leave a few inches on both sides for overhang. Affix the stud side of the snap tape to the long edge with your hot glue gun. Try this on your dog by snapping two pieces together and adjusting accordingly. Cut off excess tape and any overhanging felt but leave the socket side of the snap tape long enough that it can wrap all the way around your costume.
To create the mane, cut strips of felt two to four inches wide in various lion-y colors. Fold each strip in half lengthwise and cut small slits every quarter inch. Hot glue the fringe to the headpiece. Use different colors and felt lengths to make the mane more interesting. The project also contains instructions for making ears if you’d like your costume to have them.
10. Unicorn by Craft Box Girls
| Materials: | Felt, gold fabric, rainbow yarn, thread, Poly-Fil, ribbon |
| Tools: | Hot glue gun, scissors, needle |
| Difficulty: | Moderate |
This unicorn costume is a cute and relatively quick project to put together. You will need some materials you may not have at home (e.g., Poly-Fil), so keep that in mind before you begin.
The first step is to create your unicorn horn with your gold fabric. Form it into a cone shape and add hot glue to seal it. To keep the horn upright, stuff it full of Poly-fil and then close it by sewing a piece of leftover fabric onto the edge.
Use yarn in fun, bright colors to create rainbow hair. Cut stacks of yarn four inches long and hot glue the yarn to a felt pad. Try to keep the yarn the same length for consistency’s sake.
Sew the ribbon to each end of your felt pad. One ribbon will be used to keep the horn on your pup’s head, and the lower ribbon will go around your dog’s body to keep the hair in place.
11. Cupcake Dog by Lovely Indeed
| Materials: | Paper mache box, felt, Poly-Fil, scrapbook paper, elastic, thread |
| Tools: | Scissors, thread, hot glue gun |
| Difficulty: | Moderate |
This adorable cupcake costume is a great way to show off how sweet your pup truly is, and the best part is it only takes around an hour to put together. However, we consider this project to be moderately difficult due to the number of steps required to complete it. Don’t worry, though; the original creator includes plenty of pictures for reference, making it much simpler to understand.
12. Loofah Dog by Crafts by Courtney
| Materials: | T-shirt, multiple colors of thread, thread, decorative mesh |
| Tools: | Needle |
| Difficulty: | Easy |
This loofah costume is an easy, magazine-worthy outfit you can put together on Halloween afternoon and still have it ready for your trick-or-treaters at night.
First, bunch up your mesh and hand sew it into place, starting from the back of the neck of your shirt. Work your way around to the front of the neck but try to keep the mesh nice and full when bunching it up to give it that loofah look. Next, move on to the area around your dog’s waist. Once your shirt is entirely covered in mesh, cut off any excess fabric that doesn’t fit. Finish the costume with a matching rope leash!
13. Superman by Brit + Co
| Materials: | Iron-on transfer paper, red and blue fabric, Velcro, yellow fabric or ribbon, Superman logo |
| Tools: | Hot glue gun, iron, scissors, fabric scissors |
| Difficulty: | Easy |
This Superman costume is a great way to show the world your dog’s superhero side, and it only takes a few minutes to put together. Begin by measuring their chest area and cut out a pentagon shape to fit that size. Iron a Superman logo to the blue fabric and attach a yellow ribbon along the top edge. Cut out a cape to fit the length of your pup’s back, and iron on another Superman logo. Attach a piece of Velcro to the cape with your hot glue gun.
14. Pirate by Luigi and Me
| Materials: | Tank top, elastic, black material, pirate props kit, pirate cap, |
| Tools: | Glue gun |
| Difficulty: | Easy |
This DIY pirate costume should take you no more than 20 minutes to assemble and cost less than $5 to make, making it both budget- and procrastinator-friendly. It does require you to buy a pre-assembled pirate props kit and pirate cap, both of which can be found in your local dollar store around Halloween.
Begin with a tank top just big enough for your pup’s size. You may need to adjust the top so it fits your pup properly. The original creator used a red striped tank, which fit perfectly with the pirate theme, but if you don’t have one exactly like that, don’t fret. A red tank top would work perfectly, too.
Glue your pirate knife handle in the middle of your black piece of fabric. Attach it around your dog’s stomach so it sits on their back. Tie it with a knot, though please ensure you’re not tying it too tight. Pop on the pirate cap, and you’ve got yourself a buccaneer to help you steal all the booty on Halloween night.
15. Businessman by HGTV
| Materials: | Dress shirt, clip-on tie, thread, straight pins, Velcro |
| Tools: | Sewing machine, stitch ripper, scissors, needle, iron, ruler |
| Difficulty: | Moderate |
Is there anything quite as cute as pets wearing clothes that humans would wear? We think not, which is why this businessman is an adorable and hilarious option to consider this Halloween.
Begin by removing the collar from your shirt by cutting along the seam as close as you can. Using a ruler, measure one inch from the seam of the cuffs. Mark it and remove the cuffs, plus an additional inch. Fold the extra cuff fabric and press it with a hot iron. Pin the fold and sew on the front over the cuff’s existing stitches to make a clean seam. Remove the buttons and then hand sew them back onto each cuff. Wrap them around your pup’s “wrist” to determine where you need to sew Velcro to keep them in place.
To make the collar, remove the placket (the piece of fabric on the shirt with the buttonholes) by cutting as close to the seam as you can. Remove any extra buttons that may be on the placket. Sew a new collar closure (instructions provided in the tutorial) and dress your pup in his dapper business attire.
16. Rainbow by The Dapple
| Materials: | Dog hoodie or tee, yarn, thick white rope, round cake pad |
| Tools: | Hot glue gun, scissors |
| Difficulty: | Moderate |
This rainbow costume is a bright, colorful, and not-at-all-scary DIY, perfect for people who don’t particularly care for the spooky side of Halloween. This is definitely not a project you can leave until the last minute, as the yarn-wrapping step can be very time-consuming.
Start by cutting your cardboard cake pad in half and outlining its curve with rope in a half-circle formation. Leave room for fray at the ends, so add an extra two to three inches of rope on each side. Repeat this until you have five half-circles. Dab some hot glue to the end of one of your ropes and begin wrapping your yarn around it. This is monotonous, so turn on your favorite podcast or Netflix show to pass the time. Work your way around the rope with your yarn until you’re about an inch from the end, then dab more hot glue there to secure the yarn in place. Trim off the loose ends and repeat this process for the other rainbow colors.
Finally, glue your wrapped rope segments to your round cardboard in a rainbow formation. Repeat this process with the other half circle of your cake pad, so you’ll have two rainbows to attach to your dog’s shirt or hoodie.
17. S’Mores Dog by Studio DIY
| Materials: | White dog shirt, cardboard, felt, elastic (optional) |
| Tools: | Scissors, hot glue gun |
| Difficulty: | Easy |
This s’mores DIY is an adorable and quick-to-put-together project you can whip up on Halloween night.
To begin, cut out two squares from your cardboard to act as the graham cracker in your puppy s’more. Be mindful when cutting the square destined for the bottom, as it needs to be small enough to ensure your pup can move comfortably without their legs hitting it.
Next, cut your brown felt into a shape to mimic the chocolate drips of a s’more. It should be approximately the same length from top to bottom as the shirt.
Hot glue your “chocolate” to the white shirt, and then glue one cardboard piece on top of the chocolate. The bottom “graham cracker” can be glued next to the bottom of your shirt to complete the look.
18. Spaghetti & Meatballs by Wear Wag Repeat
| Materials: | Felt, chunky yarn, Velcro dots, foam craft balls, paint, floral wire |
| Tools: | Glue gun, scissors |
| Difficulty: | Easy |
This spaghetti and meatball costume is not only super adorable but incredibly creative as well. It’s relatively easy to put together with supplies you can find at your local dollar store.
First, cut a piece of felt in such a way that it will wrap around the front of your pup’s neck and halfway down their back. The original creator used a doggy raincoat they had on hand that they knew would fit their dog as a template. Use Velcro to attach everything to your dog’s belly.
Paint foam craft balls brown for the meatballs. Once dry, feel free to use a rolling pin or hammer to whack them if you think they’re too round and not quite meatball-y enough. Once your desired shape is achieved, paint some red splotches on top to act as spaghetti sauce.
For your “spaghetti,” wrap your chunky yarn around your hand and elbow to make long loops and around your fingers to make smaller ones for the middle of the costume and your pup’s hat. Attach your meatballs to the spaghetti with floral wire (or hot glue if you prefer).
Follow the same steps above to make the cute spaghetti and meatball hat.
19. Chia Pet by Stacie Tamaki
| Materials: | Plastic aquarium plants, felt fabric, muslin, dog sweater or horse blanket |
| Tools: | Scissors, glue gun |
| Difficulty: | Easy |
Chia Pets were the pinnacle of home décor in the 90s. If you couldn’t keep yours alive or weren’t allowed to have one growing up, this Chia Pet costume is for you.
This DIY is super quick and easy to put together. Use your glue gun to attach your faux aquarium plants to the sweater. If you prefer, you can follow the original creator and use a horse blanket as the base for the costume.
Use an orange fabric and muslin to make your “terracotta” legs. The tutorial provides a detailed image to help you put the legs together.
20. Lightning Bug by DIY Show Off
| Materials: | Fuzzy black socks, small LED light, tape, Velcro, pipe cleaners, glitter felt |
| Tools: | Scissors, hot glue gun |
| Difficulty: | Moderate |
This lightning bug costume DIY is a great option for people who plan to take their dog trick or treating with them. Because it lights up, your pup will be the talk of the town.
This project is relatively easy, but there are quite a few steps involved. Lucky for us, the original creator includes plenty of images to help you along the way.
Conclusion
Your dog won’t know the difference between a $50 costume you buy from the store and one you make yourself, so don’t fret if you don’t have the funds to buy them a high-end costume this Halloween. Making your own Halloween costume is not only cost-effective but rewarding, too!
See also:
- 10 Halloween Dog Movies to Watch With Your Pup in Spooky Season
- 8 Halloween Safety Tips for Dogs (Vet Approved)
Featured Image Credit: Kashaeva Irina, Shutterstock
Contents
- The 20 DIY Dog Halloween Costumes
- 1. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Costume by Crafts by Courtney
- 2. Spider Costume by Sea Lemon
- 3. Doggy Groom by Hachii
- 4. Rocket Dog by Costume Works
- 5. Fairy by ArtisticBabe
- 6. Lego Dog by Amy Tokic
- 7. Prom King or Queen by Dream a Little Bigger
- 8. Garden Gnome by Crafting Chicks
- 9. No-Sew Lion by HGTV
- 10. Unicorn by Craft Box Girls
- 11. Cupcake Dog by Lovely Indeed
- 12. Loofah Dog by Crafts by Courtney
- 13. Superman by Brit + Co
- 14. Pirate by Luigi and Me
- 15. Businessman by HGTV
- 16. Rainbow by The Dapple
- 17. S’Mores Dog by Studio DIY
- 18. Spaghetti & Meatballs by Wear Wag Repeat
- 19. Chia Pet by Stacie Tamaki
- 20. Lightning Bug by DIY Show Off
- Conclusion
