How to Make an Easy DIY Dog Man Costume

This DIY Dog Man costume was incredibly easy and last minute. Most of the items I had laying around the house. Whilst making this creation I had to improvise a couple of times as I didn't have what I wanted. My eldest boy asked for a Dog Man costume idea for Book Week this year. Of course, it would also make the perfect Halloween costume too.

In this post, I'll run through

• Making an easy Dog Man t-shirt with 2 supplies
• Making the Dog Man head from an old cardboard box
• Finishing off your book week costume with a hat

SUPPLIES

• Royal blue t-shirt
• Similar or darker colour pants to the t-shirt
• Yellow foam sheets (I used 2 A4)
• Royal blue foam sheets (I used 4 A4)
• Old cardboard box
• Fabric spray adhesive
• Black marker pen
• Masking tape

STEP #1 | Making the Dog Man costume t-shirt

If you have adhesive foam you may find it easier to use that for this step. From the foam, I cut a simple shield for the t-shirt. The size will depend on the size shirt that you are using. Then using the spray adhesive, attach it to your t-shirt.

STEP #2 | Create the cardboard dog head

This is where we really get into the fun DIY part of our DIY Dog Man costume idea. For the cardboard dog head, I found this great tutorial from Eleanor Ford of Mini Mad Things. I made some modifications based on what I had at the time as I couldn’t find my glue gun. I suppose that means it's time to clean up the craft room?!

Start by cutting the sides of the head, 2 ears and the joining middle pieces. This was a bit of a guessing game using my son's head to work out the size. When measuring (I only went by eye), consider where Dog Man's head will sit on the shoulders. Since I couldn't use the glue gun option, I just used a lot of masking tape to attach mine.

My head didn't turn out as amazing as Eleanor's however I was trying my best to keep things quick and easy with the options I had available to me at the time. Using new cardboard would have been improved it. Not to mention something tidier like the glue gun rather than masking tape. Brown framing tape might even be a better option as it's a similar colour.

STEP #3 | Adding personality to your Dog Man costume's head

Now we all know Dog Man has plenty of personality. I love his crooked smile. Using a black permanent marker, draw his mouth on both sides of the head. Then draw a simple round circle for the nose and smaller circles for whiskers.

STEP #4 | Making the hat

As I had plenty of foam sheets I decided to make the hat from those. For the base of the hat, you will need to make a slightly oblong shape with rounded ends. On one sheet of blue foam, using a smaller noodle bowl I traced two circles within each other and cut around them.

To make the main cylinder of the hat, I cut two rectangles from the blue foam. With masking tape, I then attached them to make one long rectangle. If your foam is longer you may only need to cut one rectangle. Wrap it around the hat base to see how big to make the hat cylinder then join the edges together to make the cylinder. Attach to the head with masking tape.

Like you did for the t-shirt shield, now draw a smaller shield on a piece of yellow foam. Attach this to the front of the cylinder of the hat.

With another piece of blue foam, trace a circle from the bowl for the top of the hat. Attach to the top of the hat with more masking tape. This part was definitely a little tricky but it really didn't take long.

Believe it or not I actually just double-backed some masking tape (to make double-sided masking tape). Then I attached the hat to the cardboard dog head.

STEP #5 | Bringing your DIY Dog Man costume together

I love the simplicity but also the effectiveness of this costume. That's what makes it a great last-minute Halloween or Book Week costume. On the morning of dress-up day, my son was going to wear some blue chinos. However, it ended up being warm so I dressed him in denim shorts with his Dog Man top and cardboard head. It was a hit at school! I fully expected it to come home in pieces but everything remained intact! In fact the photos of only the cardboard head, I actually took once he had come home from school.

His brother dressed up as Bingo from Bluey, you'll find that tutorial here.

As the kids get older it is getting harder to find great costumes for them that they'll enjoy. But my eldest always sets me the challenge and I enjoy it every time! One of my faves is this Sons (Kids) of Anarchy biker costume I made one Halloween. I'd love to hear about or see any costumes you come up with for your older children. Comment below or share on Instagram and tag me @avisualmerriment.

Other resources you may like:

FREEBIE: 3 of my Ultimate Favourite Kids Printables (including a free download)
FREEBIE: 59 At Home Activities for Kids Checklist
ARTICLE: 25 Halloween Costumes for Kids
ARTICLE: Kids Beard Santa Craft for Christmas
SHOP: Game On Party Printables + Activities