October 2015: Bird Halloween Costumes

Hey everyone, and welcome back to Caitlin’s Corner! Last month, I told you to come back to become the bird you are the most like. You may ask yourself, how is this possible? The answer is: through costume! Halloween is coming up, and I want you to have the best homemade costume the world has ever seen! So, here are the 10 different birds from last month and how to make a costume just like them:

(Make sure you get a parent’s permission and help before you start!)

Bluebird

Materials:

• Blue leggings or pants

• Blue shirt

• Blue and black construction paper

• Brown, yellow, and blue markers

• Tan card paper (make sure it is thicker than the construction paper)

• Scissors

• Tape

• Stapler

• Two pieces of string (both big enough to fit around your head)

• A large, square piece of black fabric (this will be made into a poncho, so make sure it is of arm length)

• Blue, white, and brown felt (and a lot of it, too)

• Hot glue (help from parent required)

First, to make the mask:

1. Fold your piece of tan paper in half (hamburger style, NOT hotdog style).

2. Now you are to draw half of the mask so that when you unfold the paper, the whole mask is even on both sides. Using your brown marker, draw an eyehole near the fold, and then draw a large circle around it. This large circle will end at the edges of the fold so the circle doesn’t close.

3. Cut out around the large circular part and then cut out the center of the eye circle. Unfold what you just cut out.

4. Take the blue paper and keep folding it so that it is a bit larger than a packet of gum. Now, cut a bunch of small crescent moons out of the paper, cutting along the outside edges.

5. Unfold the crescents and glue them to the mask, starting with the outside edge. You want the pointy part of the paper facing outward, so that it ends up in kind of a sunshine or flower petal-like way.

6. When it is completely covered (make sure you leave 10 extra crescent-feathers aside), take your black piece of paper, and fold it in half. Cut along this fold like so you end up with half a sheet of paper. With this half, fold it inward to make a cone-like shape. Glue in along the visible line that you just folded in. Now, cut a bit off the bottom of the cone so it is able to stand up on the table or floor.

7. Make little cuts (almost like slits) with your scissors along the bottom of the beak. Fold all the pieces over on the outside so that the beak is able to stand up on the bottom of the mask. Glue these flaps down, cutting off the remaining flaps that cannot be glued down. Glue down the remaining 10 feathers over the visible flaps.

8. Take your yellow marker and trace around the eyeholes. If you desire, you may take a blue marker and draw lines on the feathers and/or curl the ends of the feathers to make them look more realistic.

9. Staple the two pieces of string to the inside of the mask, putting masking tape over the staples so they won’t have a chance of hurting you. Put on the mask, and tie the string together in the back. TADA!

This is what it should look like, but the beak should be black instead of yellow and yellow around the eyes instead of blue:

The tutorial on how to make the mask I based off of a video that you might want to check out for some visuals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osQiGJ7oGKM

This mask design can also be used for all of the different birds listed, just with their appropriate colored feathers, beak, and color around the eyes.

Second, the wings:

1. First, take your large, square fabric (that is suitable for you), cutting it into a large circle, trying to make the circle as close to the edges of the square fabric as you can. Cut a head hole that just fits over your head (you don’t want it too big or too small).

2. Now, you want to lie what you have cut flat on the floor or table.

3. Look at your selection of fabrics: white, brown, and blue. You want to cut feather shapes out of the fabrics that are very similar to that of the mask you just made earlier. They will be laid out as so: white feathers around the very outside of the circle (1st row), brown feathers following it (2nd row), and then blue feathers all the way to the head hole. The feather tips will face toward the outside of the large circle, or poncho, so that when you wear it, the feathers will be falling downward.

4. Lay out the feathers as so on your poncho.

5. PARENT’S HELP: Using a hot glue gun, glue all the pieces of felt to the poncho as they were laid out. Let the glue dry.

This is what it should look like, but the colors of the poncho vary based on what I told you (white, brown, and blue, not all different shades of blue):

This wings design can also be used for all of the different birds listed, just with their appropriate colored feathers and base fabric color.

After you have the wings and mask all set, just put on your pants and shirt, attaching the mask and the wings and TADA! You are a bluebird!

Blue Jay

Materials:

• Blue leggings or pants

• Blue shirt

• Blue and black construction paper

• Brown, black, and blue markers

• Tan card paper (make sure it is thicker than the construction paper)

• Scissors

• Tape

• Stapler

• Two pieces of string (both big enough to fit around your head)

• A large, square piece of black fabric (this will be made into a poncho, so make sure it is of arm length)

• Light blue, white, and dark blue felt (and a lot of it, too)

• Hot glue (help from parent required)

First, to make the mask:

• You will follow the same steps as the bluebird, but use black marker around the eyes instead of yellow.

Second, the wings:

• You will follow the same steps as the bluebird, but use white, light blue, and dark blue feathers, all mixed up in no particular order.

Canary

Materials:

• Yellow or black leggings or pants

• Yellow shirt

• Yellow and orange construction paper

• Brown, black, and yellow markers

• Tan card paper (make sure it is thicker than the construction paper)

• Scissors

• Tape

• Stapler

• Two pieces of string (both big enough to fit around your head)

• A large, square piece of black fabric (this will be made into a poncho, so make sure it is of arm length)

• Black and yellow felt (and a lot of it, too)

• Hot glue (help from parent required)

First, to make the mask:

• You will follow the same steps as the bluebird, but use orange for the beak, yellow for the feathers, and black or yellow marker around the eyes.

Second, the wings:

• You will follow the same steps as the bluebird, but use black for the first couple rows of wings (only if you want, use yellow for the whole thing if desired) and yellow for the rest.

Duck

Materials:

• Orange or brown leggings or pants

• Brown shirt

• Yellow and dark green construction paper

• Brown, black, and dark green markers

• Tan card paper (make sure it is thicker than the construction paper)

• Scissors

• Tape

• Stapler

• Two pieces of string (both big enough to fit around your head)

• A large, square piece of brown fabric (this will be made into a poncho, so make sure it is of arm length)

• Dark green, white, light brown, and dark brown felt (and a lot of it, too)

• Hot glue (help from parent required)

First, to make the mask:

• You will follow the same steps as the bluebird, but use yellow for the beak, dark green for the feathers, and black marker around the eyes.

Second, the wings:

• You will follow the same steps as the bluebird, but use dark green feathers for the first row, white feathers for the second row, and dark and light brown feathers mixed up as pleased for the rest of the rows.

Eagle

Materials:

• Yellow or brown leggings or pants

• Brown shirt

• Yellow and white construction paper

• Brown and black markers

• Tan card paper (make sure it is thicker than the construction paper)

• Scissors

• Tape

• Stapler

• Two pieces of string (both big enough to fit around your head)

• A large, square piece of brown fabric (this will be made into a poncho, so make sure it is of arm length)

• Dark brown and white felt (and a lot of it, too)

• Hot glue (help from parent required)

First, to make the mask:

• You will follow the same steps as the bluebird, but use yellow for the beak, white for the feathers, and black marker around the eyes.

Second, the wings:

• You will follow the same steps as the bluebird, but use white feathers for the first two rows, and dark brown feathers for the rest of the rows.

Magpie

Materials:

• Black leggings or pants

• Black shirt

• Black construction paper

• Brown and black markers

• Tan card paper (make sure it is thicker than the construction paper)

• Scissors

• Tape

• Stapler

• Two pieces of string (both big enough to fit around your head)

• A large, square piece of black fabric (this will be made into a poncho, so make sure it is of arm length)

• Black, white, and royal blue felt (and a lot of it, too)

• Hot glue (help from parent required)

First, to make the mask:

• You will follow the same steps as the bluebird, but use black for the feathers and no colored marker around the eyes.

Second, the wings:

• You will follow the same steps as the bluebird, but use white feathers for the first row, royal blue for the second row, and black for the rest of the feather rows.

Owl

Materials:

• Brown leggings or pants

• Brown shirt

• Yellow and dark and light brown construction paper

• Brown and black markers

• Tan card paper (make sure it is thicker than the construction paper)

• Scissors

• Tape

• Stapler

• Two pieces of string (both big enough to fit around your head)

• A large, square piece of brown fabric (this will be made into a poncho, so make sure it is of arm length)

• Light brown and dark brown felt (and a lot of it, too)

• Hot glue (help from parent required)

First, to make the mask:

• You will follow the same steps as the bluebird, but use yellow for the beak, an assortment of browns for the feathers, and black marker around the eyes.

Second, the wings:

• You will follow the same steps as the bluebird, but use dark and light brown feathers in a mixed order in the rows as you desire.

Peacock

Materials:

• Royal blue leggings or pants

• Blue shirt

• Gray and royal blue construction paper

• Brown and black markers

• Tan card paper (make sure it is thicker than the construction paper)

• Scissors

• Tape

• Stapler

• Two pieces of string (both big enough to fit around your head)

• A large, square piece of royal blue fabric (this will be made into a poncho, so make sure it is of arm length)

• Royal blue felt (and a lot of it, too)

• Printed, cut out pictures of peacock feathers OR fake peacock feathers

• Hot glue (help from parent required)

First, to make the mask:

• You will follow the same steps as the bluebird, but use gray for the beak, royal blue for the feathers, and black marker around the eyes.

Second, the wings:

• You will follow the same steps as the bluebird, but use royal blue feathers for the front of the poncho, and glue the pictures of the feathers or the fake peacock feathers to the black so they are facing down (this is what a peacock looks like when it doesn’t spread its feathers up).

Raven

Materials:

• Black leggings or pants

• Black shirt

• Black construction paper

• Brown marker

• Tan card paper (make sure it is thicker than the construction paper)

• Scissors

• Tape

• Stapler

• Two pieces of string (both big enough to fit around your head)

• A large, square piece of black fabric (this will be made into a poncho, so make sure it is of arm length)

• Black felt (and a lot of it, too)

• Hot glue (help from parent required)

First, to make the mask:

• You will follow the same steps as the bluebird, but use black for the feathers and no colored marker around the eyes.

Second, the wings:

• You will follow the same steps as the bluebird, but use black feathers for all the rows.

Roadrunner

Materials:

• Brown leggings or pants

• Brown shirt

• Purple and lots of different types of browns of construction paper

• Brown marker

• Tan card paper (make sure it is thicker than the construction paper)

• Scissors

• Tape

• Stapler

• Two pieces of string (both big enough to fit around your head)

• A large, square piece of brown fabric (this will be made into a poncho, so make sure it is of arm length)

• Light brown, dark brown, yellow, and green felt (and a lot of it, too)

• Hot glue (help from parent required)

First, to make the mask:

• You will follow the same steps as the bluebird, but use brown for the beak, an assortment of browns for the feathers (purple feathers near the top of the mask as well), and a brown color marker around the eyes.

Second, the wings:

• You will follow the same steps as the bluebird, but use the yellow and green feathers randomly for the first row, and for the other rows you will use a mixture of light and dark brown feathers as desired.

So, I hope you found a costume that interests you. Have fun making it! See you next month on Caitlin’s Corner!