Tag Archives: Ninja costume


by Leave a comment

Annual Halloween Roundup

It’s October, so that means it’s time for my annual roundup of costume-related patterns and tutorials available here on the blog.

Here’s a step-by-step tutorial on how to make Minecraft Steve & Creeper heads.

Next up (with over 420,000 impressions on Pinterest in the last 60 days alone!) is a similar tutorial, this time for making a Minecraft Enderman head along with a diamond block trick-or-treat box.

Both projects include full charts for game-accurate colors and the exact hex codes for perfect color matching!

If your idea of fantasy is less block-based and more magical, here’s a free knitting pattern for an easy scarf in the Gryffindor house colors.

If training a dragon is more your thing, here’s how to make a viking vest.

If you prefer Pokemon to Night Furies, here’s an easy, last-minute Pikachu costume idea.

If your friends-group themed costume runs more Grease than Greninja, here’s how you can make a super simple Poodle skirt.

If you’re looking to visually upgrade some inexpensive props, here’s a demo on repainting plastic swords.

If you’ve got a last-minute party invite to deal with, here’s a SUPER quick ‘n easy Jughead Jones (from Archie Comics) costume tutorial with free burger dream bubble printable!

If your group costume needs accessories, here’s a free tutorial on making Super Mario Bros Mario, Luigi, Wario and Waluigi hats

If you want to take those Mario Bros costumes one step further, here are instructions on making their respective mustaches

If you REALLY want to go all out, here’s the full costume breakdown with instructions on making an entire Wario costume

Finally, if you’ve got enough knitting time on your hands, you can knit my Baby’s First Superhero Costume pattern as-is with cute designs for boys and girls, or convert the chart and the colors to create your superhero of choice.

Find more tips and tutorials on my How-To page!


by 1 Comment

Plastic Sword Repaint

As we count down towards Halloween I’m going to share a few more quick and easy projects that can improve an existing costume or be a brand new one. Today’s post is the former.

A few years ago the boys got Ninja Halloween costumes from Walmart. They weren’t fans of the faux weapons that came with the outfits so we went to Spirit Halloween and picked up a sword for each of them.

They both chose this one with a skeleton hilt. It probably belongs to a pirate, but they loved it, though they weren’t fans of the mixed color scheme. Henri wanted an all gold sword to match his Gold Ninja, and Jakob wanted an all silver look. I was quick to agree because differentiating between whose was whose would make my life as a parent easier.

Besides… how could I say “no” to these faces?*

The instructions are so easy I didn’t even take action photos! Using your gold and silver craft paint of choice, dab on paint over the raised areas. Leaving the grooves black will keep the depth and shadows. You can use a paintbrush, Q-Tip, even your finger, to dab on the paint. Wipe off any excess with a paper towel.

In this image I’ve repainted the bronzed skeleton silver to match the blade. I used DecoArt Crafter’s Acrylic from my local dollar store in Spun Gold and Silver Morning, but you can use any metallics that match your props. This gold and this silver are good options by the same brand.

You can see what a big difference it makes when comparing it to the original hilt! Luckily my silver matched the blade exactly but if it didn’t you could easily mix in some white or black to adjust the shade.

The second step was to do the same for Henri’s sword. Instead of a darker bronze like the hilt he wanted gold to match his costume. I brushed it on with a paint brush then quickly pounced on a crumpled paper towel to remove some of the paint and make sure the texture still showed through.

The last step for each was to fill in the skeletons’ eyes so they looked like gemstones. I used glitter nail polish for this but you can use anything sparkly you have on hand- glitter glue, nail polish, craft glue and loose glitter… even a tightly-packed glitter eyeshadow would work! Once dry, seal the eyes with clear nail polish or a protectant like Mod Podge. You can seal the rest of the sword if you like, with the same Mod Podge or a spray sealer, if you’re worried about the elements or long-term wear.

And that’s it! A few paint dabs to transform store-bought plastic swords into custom swords for my little Ninjas. So easy to do, and easy to adapt for any prop to add the color or wear you like. A touch of orange and green can add rust stains and oxidation, while dabbing on a few spots of red can imply the sword has seen more than the inside of a sheath.

You can find this year’s Halloween costume/prop/tip roundup here.

*Aside- it astounds me how much they’ve changed since 2017 when that pic was taken! This is the same duo in August 2021

This post may contain affiliate links. This means I might make a small commission on purchases made through the links, at no cost to you.