Things You'll Need
Your Child’s Shoes That Will Be Worn at the Event
Orange and Yellow Felt (about 2 ft of each color)
Scissors
Black Sharpie or Other Permanent Marker
Double Sided Tape
Yellow or White Baseball Cap
Glue Gun and Glue Sticks
2 Wiggle Eyes (should be 1.5 or 2 inches in diameter each) or 2 White Pompoms
Yellow, Orange, or Red Pajama Bottoms or Leggings
Yellow, Orange, or Red Pajama Top or Long Sleeved Shirt
Old Feather Pillow or Feather Boa
When it comes to dressing up your child for a pageant, school play or Halloween, a homemade duck costume is quite possibly the cheapest and easiest way to go! The odds are good that you already have a lot of the items you need in your home and your child's dress up box, and with just a few simple tools and a little know-how, you can quickly and cheaply make a great looking easy duck costume that is durable, cute, and will be the talk of the party. Best of all: no sewing required!
Making the Feet
Trace the Shoes
Take the shoes your child will be wearing and place them on top of the orange felt. Trace around the shoes leaving 1.5 inches extra all the way around.
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Cut Out the Feet
Cut out the traced feet, but instead of exactly following the rounded front, go ahead and cut three peaks to mimic webbed duck feet
Trace Your Child's Shoe
Place the duck feet over your child's shoes and mark on it with a sharpie where the child's foot will go into the shoe.
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Fold the Duck Foot
Fold the duck foot in half and with the sharpie mark being the center, make a narrow cross cut. This provides an opening big enough to allow your child's foot to pass through.
Secure the Feet
As your child dresses, you will secure the duck feet to the top of the shoes with the help of double sided tape.
Making the Head for Your Duck Costume
Trace the Duck Bill
Take the baseball cap and use the sharpie pen to trace a duck bill shape onto the brim. Usually this means simply either slightly narrowing the brim or—if it is overly pointed—trimming it back a little.
Cut and Glue the Felt
Use some of the leftover orange felt and cut it to fit the new shape of the brim. Hot-glue the orange felt to the top and the bottom of the brim.
Snip Away the Excess
After the glue has dried, gently cut off any excess felt that might stick out over the brim's edge.
Draw the Nostrils
Locate the middle of the newly fashioned duck's bill and with the sharpie draw two dark circles (one next to the other) onto the orange felt glued to the top of the brim. The best location is the spot where the felted brim meets the cap portion. These are nostrils for your homemade duck costume.
Glue on the Wiggle Eyes
Take the wiggle eyes or pompons and glue them to the cap above the brim, spaced equally to the left and right of the nostrils. If you choose pompoms, use the sharpie to draw a dark pupil onto the front of each pompom after gluing it onto the cap.
Making the Body for the Duck Costume
Make Spots for Feather Locations
Dress your child in the pajama bottoms or leggings she is going to wear. With the sharpie mark the spots where you want to glue some feathers.
Let your child put on the pajama top or long sleeved shirt that will be worn with the costume. Once again use the sharpie to mark the perfect spots for some feathers.
Mark for the Wrists
Also mark on the sleeves the general area where the top of the wrist will be located.
Prepare the Feathers
Remove the feathers from the pillow or cut them from the feather boa.
Apply Feathers to Your Homemade Duck Costume
With the hot glue gun, place glue on the spots you marked on the outfit and then apply the feathers to them.
Making the Wings and Tail for the Duck Costume
Trace the Hands
Place your child's hands with the fingers spread wide on the yellow felt and gently trace around them with your sharpie, adding an additional 1 to 2 inches around the shapes.
Cut Out the Handprints
Cut out the handprints with your scissors, taking care to cutting the fingers of the shape in sharp edges rather than rounded. They will look like five feathers on your homemade duck costume.
Securing the Wings
Once your child is wearing the costume, you will affix the wings with double sided tape to the spot you marked earlier in the wrist area.