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DIY Halloween Zebra Costume

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In honor of planning for a Green Halloween, I decided to make the little one a Halloween costume this year.  I’m not all that crafty so the costume had to be easy.  Plus, I didn’t want to spend a lot so it had to be mostly made with things I could find around the house.  We settled on a cute, little zebra costume.  Well, I had hoped it would be cute when I started. Here’s how I did it:

Things You Need:

  • Black hoodie
  • Black sweatpants
  • White duct tape
  • Waxed paper
  • One sheet of white craft foam
  • One sheet of black craft foam

Step 1: Make the Stripes

velcro stripes
how to make zebra costume

Putting the duct tape on wax paper will make it much easier to cut. Cut a sheet of waxed paper long enough to wrap around one leg of the sweatpants with a little overlap. Gently lay strips of cut duct tape down on the waxed paper but be sure to leave exposed wax paper on the ends to grab. Do not press the tape down because it will make it harder to remove.  

Step 2: Separate and cut the stripes

stripes of velcro

Cut the duct tape strips apart.  Then cut along side the strips of duct tape to make the edges wavy. This will give the stripes that real zebra look. 

Step 3: Remove the duct tape from paper

Remove the stripes of tape from the wax paper and wrap around the leg of the pants. Repeat this with many more tape stripes. Since a zebra’s stripes are never the same – your tape stripes don’t need to be either.

zebra pants for a toddler

Step 4: Add Stripes to Jacket and Hood

Next add stripes to the body of the jacket and the hood. Adjust the size of the wax paper to accommodate for the longer stripes to wrap the jacket.

DIY Zebra costume
DIY Toddler Zebra costume

 Step 5: Make and Add the Zebra Mane

Cut many pieces of 4-6″ strips of craft foam.  The more pieces you cut, the longer and fuller the mane will be.  Take a long piece of duct tape (about 2 feet long) and roll it with the stickiness on the outside so that you have a long sticky piece to attach your craft foam pieces to.  Like blades of grass stick the craft foam piece alternating colors to the rolled piece of tape. Finally, attach the mane to the back of the hoodie.

homemade zebra costume

 Step 6: Time to Trick or Treat!

toddler boy in zebra costume

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DanaB

Friday 31st of October 2014

Yep, i didn't read the comments....left it on overnight......arghhhhh! Struggled but was able to get paper off of most, but still wasted a bunch and had to cut new stripes.

Dani

Thursday 30th of October 2014

Thank you so much for this! My son (2 years old) wanted to be a zebra and I had no idea how to do it (and didn't want to spend 30 bucks on a costume). I, too, am less than crafty and this came out great! I also added ears using the craft foam and made a tail using a black sock (finally a use for those lost socks!), the duct tape and some more pieces of the craft foam for the hair. Can't wait to give it to him! Thanks again!

Jennie

Saturday 27th of October 2012

Loved the idea, just be sure not to leave the duct tape on the wax paper overnight, it won't come off!

Kat_momof3

Friday 14th of October 2011

why not also make a tail?

just take some black and white yarn , knot it at the top to make it easier to secure it, then have it be under one of the stripes on his booty!

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