Coolest Glittery DIY Samba / Carnival Dancer Costume

Last year I wanted to wear a Samba / Carnival Dancer costume. I looked online and everything I liked was way too expensive or cheesy looking… so I decided to make a costume of my own.

Carnival Dancer Costume Headpiece

I started with the headpiece.

I purchased ostrich and rooster tail feathers from eBay and a $1 tiara from Michael’s. Then, I glued the ostrich feathers first and then and rooster tails to the tiara with hot glue.

I added rhinestones randomly to the rooster tails for a bling bling effect. Then I glued a piece of sequin elastic to the front of the tiara and secured it with velcro so I would stay on my head. It can get a bit heavy with all the feathers and rhinestones.

Carnival Dancer Costume Corset

Then the corset was something from my closet. I just glued a ton of sequin/glitter I found at Michael’s onto the front only. The skirt was simply 2 yards of rooster tail feathers attached together with a piece of satin I found from a vendor on eBay. I cut into 1 yard pieces and made a skirt with that piece. And then added the second layer underneath the first to cover my rear :) I secured it all with velcro at the waist.

Arm and Leg Bands

The arm and leg bands were made from foam glitter craft paper from Michael’s. I simply cut out a pattern smaller for the arms and larger for the legs and glued jewels to them and took sequin ribbon and glued it to each piece to make adjustable armbands with velcro to secure it in place.

I topped of the look with a jeweled necklace I found on eBay for $3 and a pair of silver rhinestone dance shoes for $15. And voila…. my costume is complete.

I went to a Halloween costume party and everyone loved it. They thought it was store bought and was blown away when I said I made it :)