When it comes to Halloween, I do NOT do scary things. I love fall and dressing up, but bloody costumes and haunted houses are not my vibe. Last year I didn’t have the intention to dress up because I was going out of town, but the friend I was visiting had bags full of costumes that he was given. We went through them, and stumbled across a Mrs. Claus costume… um what?! Nothing could have been more perfect for me! I threw that sucker on, and it fit like a glove; a dream come true. With as much as I love Christmas, you would think I would have thought to dress up as Mrs. Claus sooner haha. But needless to say that was a perfect costume and a great Halloween.
With that costume being such a hit last year, I had to have something just as good this year! So, when I decided to be an elf, I started looking up costumes. Before long, I realized I could make my costume just as easily as I could buy one, and save some money while I’m at it.
What You’ll Need
- Red pants, leggings, or tights
- A large green shirt
- A belt
- Red and white felt ($.39 a sheet at Michaels!)
- Small jingle bells
- Cheap elf shoes (sold on Amazon) or black boots
- Elf or Santa hat
- Hot glue gun
- Scissors
First thing first is the hat. I found my elf hat at the thrift store – threw it in the washer and slapped it on my head, and it completed the look. If you can’t find an elf hat out or don’t want to spend the money on Amazon for one, then honestly a Santa hat will work just as well (those are always at the dollar store and Walmart this time of year).
Now for the fun part – the shirt! Here’s where the crafting comes into place. When I bought this t-shirt at Michaels, I purposely got it bigger because generally, it looks like elves are always wearing dresses (still probably could have gone up another size). So, the first step is to get the zigzag hem line at the bottom, and that would be just as easy as you would think. Cut triangles up and down from one end of the shirt to the other lol. Once that is done, take one of the triangles that were cut out and use it as your template for cutting the felt for the collar. Depending on the size of your shirt, cut triangles from the white felt and hot glue them along the collar of the shirt (I only needed four triangles). After they’re glued on, go crazy with those jingle bells, putting as many or as little as you’d like. I put as many as I could because I had no other use for them, and I liked jingling a lot when I walked around haha. Once you’ve gone jingle happy, cut larger circles from the red felt and smaller circles from the white felt. Glue those on down the center like a snowman and add more jingle bells if you want (you already know I did). Let everything dry, add your belt, and you’re done! The shirt is the main craft aspect of the costume, everything else you piece together gradually.
As for the pants, I just wore red leggings I had from a set of Christmas pajamas, but any red jeans, or red tights if your shirt is long enough, would do the trick.
And lastly, the shoes. Of course when we think of elves we think pointy ears and pointy shoes. Although my hat had the ears, I was slacking with the shoes. They sell them on Amazon for about $15, but wanting to save the time and money I made what I had work. If you have any type of black combat boots, sparkly tennis shoe, or even black mules they will work just as well.
I think my costume came together well and it was super easy and affordable to make! If y’all have any questions, comment below or DM me on Instagram. I hope you all have a great week!
XO, Delaney
