How to Make a DIY Ice Cream Sundae Costume

ice cream sundae costume

The Spruce Crafts / Megan Graney

Project Overview
  • Total Time:2 hrs
  • Skill Level:Beginner
  • Estimated Cost:$40

Halloween is traditionally all about the candy, but ice cream becomes the holiday’s main event with this creative DIY ice cream sundaecostume. With just a few simple craft materials, a store-bought dress or shirt, and leggings or pants, this costume comes together quickly and easily—even for beginner crafters. There's no need for a needle and thread, either; the costume relies on hot glue for assembly. Plus, you can easily adjust the costume to fit any size just by starting with clothing that fits the wearer.

Costume materials

The Spruce / Megan Graney

What You'll Need

Equipment / Tools

  • Marking tool
  • Scissors
  • Hot glue gun
  • Paint brush

材料

  • Felt in multiple colors
  • 1码棕色条纹
  • White dress or shirt
  • Tan leggings or pants
  • Brown paint
  • 1 Styrofoam sphere
  • Red paint
  • White fabric paint (optional)
  • 1 Green pipe cleaner
  • Elastic
  • White fabric scrap

Instructions

  1. Cut the Felt Sprinkles

    First, draw an enlarged sprinkle (essentially a rounded rectangle) onto one of thefeltpieces, and then cut it out with a pair of sharp scissors. Then, trace the shape onto your felt to create eight sprinkles in each felt color. Cut them out, and set them aside.

    felt and scissors

    The Spruce / Megan Graney

  2. Plan the Fringe Placement

    Mimic the shape of a splash of hot fudge by swirling the brown fringe around the dress or shirt collar. Lay it out, creating drippy "globs" as you go. Adjust until you're happy with the swirl shape.

    Planning the fringe

    The Spruce / Megan Graney

  3. Glue on the Fringe

    Use yourhot glue gunto apply the fringe directly to the dress or shirt in your desired swirl shape. Trim any excess fringe once it’s fully glued, and secure the ends with an extra bit of glue. Fluff the fringe, so it lays evenly.

    gluing fringe

    The Spruce / Megan Graney

  4. Plan the Sprinkle Placement

    Lay the felt sprinkles you cut out onto the dress. Be sure to vary the colors and orientation to capture that random, just-sprinkled look. Concentrate more sprinkles toward the top of the dress or shirt and fewer as you reach its hem. And don't forget to save some sprinkles for the back if you wish to decorate it.

    planning sprinkle placement

    The Spruce / Megan Graney

  5. Glue on the Sprinkles

    Once you have a look you love, affix the felt sprinkles to the clothing with a bit of hot glue. Secure the edges with a little extra glue to ensure longevity for your costume.

    Then, if you're decorating the back, flip over the clothing and repeat the sprinkle arranging and gluing process.

    glued sprinkles

    The Spruce / Megan Graney

  6. Embellish the Leggings

    With a paint shade of brown that's slightly darker than your tan leggings or pants, use a stiff paintbrush to paint a waffle cone-inspired criss-cross pattern onto the clothing. Repeatedly stamp the loaded paintbrush to create a soft, diffused set of diagonal crossing lines. This will give more of a realistic textured look.

    Let the paint dry, and then repeat the process to carry the lines onto the back of the clothing.

    Tip

    Insert scrap poster board or cardboard into each leg prior to painting to ensure the paint won’t leak through to the interior of the fabric.

    waffle cone leggings

    The Spruce / Megan Graney

  7. Paint the Styrofoam Sphere

    Using a clean paintbrush, apply cherry red paint to the styrofoam ball. (Acrylic paint works well here.) Add a second or third coat as needed for an opaque finish, allowing the styrofoam to dry completely between coats.

    If you wish, you can finish the cherry with a white highlight made from a dash of puffy fabric paint.

    Painting the sphere

    The Spruce / Megan Graney

  8. Assemble the Cherry Headband

    Twist the pipe cleaner into a curved stem and leaf, and then hot glue it to the top of the red styrofoam ball.

    Then, measure the length around the wearer’s head and trim a piece of elastic to that measurement. Glue the elastic ends together to form a loop.

    Finally, affix the cherry to the scrap of white fabric (to resemble a dollop of whipped cream). Then, secure the entire piece to the elastic with hot glue.

    Assembling the headband

    The Spruce / Megan Graney

  9. Put It All Together

    Once everything is dry, the wearer can put on the dress/shirt, leggings/pants, and cherry headpiece. Finish the look with a colorful pair of shoes and red lipstick if you wish.

    Ice cream sundae costume

    The Spruce / Megan Graney