Awesome Cotton Candy Homemade Halloween Dog Costume

-Poly Fil Pillow Stuffing (about 6 lbs for 25 lb dog)

-Spray paint in light yellow, light blue, and light pink (1 can of each color for small dog)

-Spray adhesive

-Dog t-shirt

-White foam sheet

-White scrapbook paper

-Light blue ribbon

Start out by spray painting poly fil with light yellow, light blue, and light pink spray paint.  Make sure to put tarp underneath and break off small sections of poly fil to spray paint.  Helpful hint – don’t make the sections very thick.  Once the first side is dry, turn the sections over and spray the back.  My dog weighs 25 lbs and I used a little more than half of a 12lb bag of poly fil.

For my small dog, I used 1 can each of each color spray paint.

Next, secure the spray painted sections to the t-shirt.  I had some extra poly fil I hadn’t needed so I left it in the plastic bag and used it like a dress form securing the t-shirt over it (the “dress form” was about the size and shape of my dog).  For the sleeves, I took sandwich bags filled with poly fil and stuffed them inside the sleeves.  Prior to adhering anything to the t-shirt, I measured it from the neck to the bottom and divided it in three equal parts — marking all around the shirt with a pen where each of 3 sections started/ended.  I started at the bottom of the shirt and used the spray adhesive to secure my first color of poly fil. Make sure to use lots of spray adhesive to ensure it really sticks.

After finishing the first color, I then worked my way up to the middle color and top color.  For the sleeves, only put poly fil around the part of the sleeves that will be on the front of your dogs legs. Don’t attach to the part of the sleeves at the back of your dog’s legs — this would make it too hard for the dog to walk.  Once done, make sure to remove the dress form bag and bags from the sleeves right away so it doesn’t get permanently stuck to the bag (the spray adhesive will leak through the t-shirt).  With all the poly fil on it, the shirt shouldn’t collapse on itself and even after dress form is removed, should retain that same shape so it can dry.

Next I made the hat.  Cut a circle out of the white foam sheet the approximate width of dog’s head.  Whatever color you used at the bottom of your shirt, adhere that color to the foam circle (in my case pink) with the spray adhesive, then use the middle color and finally the top color.  Make sure to use a lot of the spray adhesive to secure the different colored sections.

I then took white scrapbook paper and rolled it up in the shape of a cone and jammed it down inside the layers (I had to cut a hole in the poly fil to get the cone down inside).  Then secure the cone with spray adhesive and take little pieces of your top color and build up against the cone to make it appear like it is far in the cotton candy.  Secure the light blue ribbon underneath the foam circle with glue gun.  To make sure the hat would stay on, I used two ribbons on each side so I could tie it in front of my dog’s ears and behind his ears.

Don’t make your hat too tall or too wide.  While it looks cute, it is very easy for the dog to break it apart when he shakes his head or for the wind to tear it apart.  My first attempt was way too big and way too tall.    At the first contest I took my dog to, I got him dressed, and then before he could walk on stage, he shook his head and the hat tore apart between the bottom and middle layer.  The costume isn’t as cute without the hat so for the next contest, I made the hats much much smaller and used more adhesive.  I also made several spare hats and took them with me along with the spray adhesive just in case the first hat got torn apart some how.

Something I didn’t think about is the stuffing looks just like the stuffing that is in dog toys.  At the second contest my dog wore this costuem to, I wasn’t watching and another dog started tearing piece of the poly fil off the costume just like he was tearing apart a dog toy.  Thankfully, I had the spray adhesive with me and was able to secure the pieces of poly fil back to the costume where they had been ripped off.  I strongly recommend taking the spray adhesive with you to any costume contest or event just in case.

Also, I made myself cotton candy that I could carry.  I took a large piece of each color, glued it together with spray adhesive and made a big cone that I could hold onto.

I was able to complete this costume in one weekend — I spray painted one day and put the costume together the next day.

My dog loves dressing up and he didn’t mind wearing his homemade Halloween dog costume.  But for dogs who don’t like dressing up, this might not be a good choice.  Also, with all the poly fil on it, this costume is very big and thick.  It is very warm and wouldn’t be great on a day it is warm outside because the dog might over heat.  Also, its not great on a day that is very windy because the poly fil might come off the costume with too much wind.

This homemade Halloween dog costume was a HUGE hit with everyone who saw it.  I have never seen a dog in a cotton candy costume and apparently neither had anyone else.