DIY Viking Costume for Carnival

CarnivalCarnival, children's favorite holiday, is approaching. If your little ones can't wait to don their favorite character's mask and you haven't bought a costume yet, here's how to make a quirky and original Viking costume at home. Commercially available Carnival costumes are certainly beautiful, but they're also quite expensive. Not to mention that, despite the price tag, they're often not the best quality and easily ruined.

Making your little ones' Carnival costumes at home It will allow you not only to save but also not to waste many clothes and materials that we all have at home and which would otherwise remain unused. If you take a look at the clothes stored in thewardrobe Or better yet, if you browse your grandparents' collections, you'll undoubtedly find everything you need. We can also make other accessories at home using recycled materials.

Let's see then, step by step, How to make a DIY Viking costume at home according to the instructions of Lara Brivio and Giovanna Fiorentino, respectively an architect and a graphic designer with a passion for DIY.

To compose the Viking Carnival costume, Lara and Giovanna recovered an old faux fur vest, a belt from their mother, a pair of leggings and a T-shirt of the same color and some hypoallergenic makeup for children. They then created a shield and a helmet: the first was made with the cardboard and then decorated with tempera colors, the second was made with old newspapers and required the use of PVA glue. Once you've finished the shield and helmet, unleash your imagination by making all the other accessories at home.

Here's how to make a Viking helmet:

Necessary

• Old newspapers
• Vinyl glue
• A medium-sized balloon
• Paper tape
• Kitchen paper towels
• Cardboard to recycle
• Scissors and a large brush
• Brushes and tempera colors
• Materials to decorate as desired
• Eco-friendly, water-based, transparent spray paint, used to provide a protective layer to your work.

Method

• Cut a long strip from the cardboard about 5 cm high, take the circumference of the head and fix with glue and tape;
• Inflate the balloon with a circumference a few millimetres smaller than the strip obtained by marking the height of the forehead with a marker;
• Position the balloon so that it doesn't roll away (above a vase is fine or you can make a base with another strip of cardboard);
• Cut several strips of newspaper, dilute the white glue with water so that the liquid glue soaks into the paper, and then glue the glue-soaked strips onto the balloon with a wide brush, pressing them down firmly. You'll need to apply several layers, making sure the previous layer is dry. Don't go beyond the forehead line, which you've drawn above the eyebrows, otherwise the helmet will touch your eyes.
• Once the paper and glue surface is dry and solid enough, the fun part comes: deflate the balloon and your helmet is ready. Now all you have to do is decorate it.;
• The horns are made by shaping some kitchen paper, covering them with a round of masking tape and fixing them, again with the tape, in the desired place on the helmet;
• Place the previously made cardboard ring on the edge of the helmet and secure it with glue or other strips of paper soaked in diluted glue;
• When everything is well dry, paint and decorate as you like: on the band you can apply golden studs as we did or recycled buttons or little circles of colored cardboard;
• Finally, finish everything off with two coats of clear protective spray;
• If you don't want the vinyl glue to be in direct contact with the skin, finish the inside by gluing a strip of cotton fabric.
• It doesn't take much to make a wasteful, low-cost Carnival costume at home. It's also a fun and original way to explain to children how many of the objects we have at home that we no longer need can be given a new life thanks to... creative recycling.

Read also:

• Carnival masks made from recycled materials
• Carnival Sweets: The Quickest Recipes
• Homemade Carnival Confetti
• DIY Carnival Costumes: 10 Original Ideas