We promised a dog costume, and tonight we bring you a cool, cheap, and easy-DOG COSTUME! This is our first in a three-part series where we will outfit each of our three dogs in an easy and cheap do-it-yourself Halloween costume.
Our first victim… ahem… I mean participant was the smallest of the bunch- Alvin. Now, Alvin is a bit of a pup-about-town so we wanted to give him a costume that matched his busy, go-go, lifestyle. We chose a Starbucks Puppuccino!
This is a really easy costume to make at home, and it only took us about thirty minutes to complete from start to finish.
You only need a few supplies:
Cardboard
- size will vary, but it needs to be big enough to comfortably wrap around your dog’s torso.
Rope or String
- This will also wrap around your dog’s stomach so be sure to choose something that won’t irritate their skin. We used a soft, braided poly, clothesline.
Starbucks Logo
- Printed on a white sheet of paper in color ink. Be sure to get a high-resolution image if you have a big dog. You don’t want it to pixelate too much if you have to blow up the image.
Tape or Glue
- We used normal translucent tape.
A Starbucks Lid
Step 1:
First, you’ll need to fit the cardboard onto your dog. Wrap it over your dog’s back and mark it with a pencil or marker so you can come back and cut it down to size. You’ll want the cardboard ends to be close, you’ll use the string to secure the underside. As for length, you’ll want it to cover from your dog’s shoulder blades to their hips. Make sure that your dog has full mobility while wearing the cardboard. Use scissors to cut the cardboard to size.
Step 2:
Cut around the border of your Starbucks logo. Once it is cut out from the paper, glue it down in the center of one side of the of your cardboard.
Step 3:
With a pair of scissors, poke two holes on the either side of the bottom edges of the cardboard. You’ll want the holes to be close to parallel with one another. Then pull your string or rope through the two holes. Leave some slack so that your dog is comfortable. Cut the rope or string on either end of each hole and tie a knot on both ends so the rope does not come loose.
Step 4:
Now take your lid and glue a length of string to either side of it. You need enough string to snuggly fit the lid on top of your dog’s head, as this will serve as his hat! We used tape for this, however, if you use glue be sure to let it dry thoroughly before you put it on your dog!
Step 5:
Struggle for 10 to 20 minutes as you endeavor to fit the costume onto your dog (I mean, we all know there’s nothing a dog loves more than wearing clothes!). Then hold a treat up in the air as you try to get at least one good picture before your dog paws that lid off his head, and escapes out the doggy door.
There you have it! A cheap and easy alternative to that expensive, designer, doggy costume that you spend so much money on every Halloween. Be sure to come back next week for our second installment in DIY Doggy Costumes!
WHISKERS GONE WILD 