Sophie may look more like her dad (according to others… I still don’t see it), but she certainly shares a lot of similar qualities with her mama. Confession: I’m not the most efficient decision maker. I’m kind of known as the most indecisive person ever. So it’s no surprise that my little girl took about 2 months to finalize her costume idea.

Thankfully Owen didn’t care at all, so choosing his Clark Kent costume was a breeze. Soph, however, is very opinionated (even if those opinions change from minute to minute) so, alas… here I am posting her costume just days before the big day. But what can ya do when a girl can’t make up her mind?

Back in August she wanted to be a pony. In September it was a unicorn, Elsa, and something to do with rainbows. In October she cycled through a few different varieties of fairies and princesses, and finally settled on a purple princess, with a wand and lots of sparkles. So before she could change her mind again, I grabbed some glitter and got to work!

I based it off of a cute Elsa tutorial from Eighteen25, and made a few changes to fit Sophie’s list of demands 🙂

For the top:

• Plain white tee shirt (I got mine for $3 at Walmart)
• Fabric paint
• Fabric glitter
• Fabric glue
• Paint brushes
• Gem stones / sequins

Take a pencil and outline the shape of a shirt – however you want the top to look! Then paint it in, being careful around the edges (it can be a little tricky to get a smooth edge). I simply sprinkled the glitter on while the paint was wet, and it stayed just fine.

Once everything is dry, glue on gemstones or sequins – I lined the top of the dress, so it almost looks like a necklace. Let everything dry completely.

For the skirt:

• Tulle (I used 2 rolls of light purple and 2 rolls of dark purple)
• Elastic
• Scissors

Measure how long you want your skirt, and cut strips of tulle that are twice that length. To attach them to the elastic, fold each strip in half, then loop it around the elastic and pull it through. I forgot to take a picture of this step, so head over here if you’re not sure what I mean!

Once you’ve made it big enough to fit around your princess’s waist, just tie the elastic into a bow.

For the crown:

• Stiff felt (purple and white)
• Sparkly ribbon
• Gems / sequins
• Hot glue gun

For the crown, I simply cut out a crown shape, leaving a chunky strip at the bottom where I knew the ribbon would go. If you need to pencil it out first, feel free! Be sure to use stiffened felt for the crown base, it’s much less floppy than regular felt.

Cut out some triangles and hot glue them to your crown. Also hot glue some ribbon to the bottom of the crown, making sure you have enough to tie it around your princess’s head. Embellish the crown with jewels, gems, and sequins!

The wand was simple – I found a star wand in the party section at Hobby Lobby and just tied some ribbon to it. And viola! A beautiful princess costume – no sewing required!

When I showed Sophie the finished product, I thought she might pass out. She kept gasping and saying “Oh, mom! I feel like I’m gonna cry, it’s so perfect! You’re so amazing! I just love that you made this!”

And that, my friends, is how you win at parenting. All it takes is paint, tulle, and a whole lotta sparkles.

You may also enjoy…

Witch Marshmallow Pops

DIY Clark Kent Costume

Halloween Bingo

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