This fun and colorful piñata costume is made with crepe paper, fabric glue and a store-bought dress. It’s an creative, no-sew costume that’s perfect for Halloween or any theme party.
Last week we went to a costume party, and the theme was the letter P. I decided to go as a piñata and thought it would be an easy costume to make myself. Although my DIY piñata costume took more time that I originally thought, it was definitely a success as far as homemade costumes go – even though some people at the party didn’t know what I was!
I purchased a cheap tank dress from a discount store and then bought a ton of crepe paper streamers. Once I cut all the fringe into them – the most time consuming part of the process – I laid out a few pieces to determine my color placement. I wanted it to look random but organized at the same time…and kind of like a Mexican fiesta.
More DIY: succulent planters / canvas art / glitter shoes
How to make a pinata costume:
I stretched out the dress with a long art canvas that was wrapped in plastic, but I’m sure really anything would work. Then, I started applying the crepe paper with fabric glue – two strips of each color at a time.
Some of the paper pieces that I used were a bit too wide for the dress so I simply cut the excess off and secured the new ends with some extra glue.
Once the first side was finished, I let it dry overnight and gently flipped the dress over and started again, lining the colors up with the first side. Around the arm and collar I folded the paper over the edges and added glue to keep the “hems” in place. At the top of the straps, I added a horizontal strip flat over the seam to finish the costume off.
For the hats – I made the strips shorter, smaller and with thinner fringe. Then, I glued them to party hats and topped them with long, thin streamers of crepe paper. I used glue sticks for this step.
I added the red belt to define my waist because the dress made me look a little bit puffy!
(Sorry about the terrible cell-phone picture, but it’s the only full-length picture I took because we were in such a rush. I’m really disappointed that I don’t have any others.)
If you are following this tutorial and making your own piñata costume, I would love to see how they turn out! Would you mind emailing me pictures of your costumes? I may even feature them right here on Simply Whisked!
Readers’ Costumes:
How cute does Cassidy look in her piñata costume? I’m loving the color she chose and check out those awesome colorful lashes. They totally make the costume!
Any recommendations on where to find a dress to use?
I would suggest somewhere cheap like Forever 21 or H&M – maybe even Walmart. I got mine at a discount store in France called Babou – I think it cost me 5 euros. Anywhere that has cheap basics will probably have something. Or maybe try googling “tank dress”.
What kind of glue did you use and by crepe paperdo you mean like regular party streamers?
Yes and no. The party streamers you can normally find at party stores are a bit thin for this project, but you can definitely use them. I used thicker party streamers that I found. I don’t know where you could find them (I bought mine at a store in France). But, you can definitely buy/order crepe paper rolls that are more the size of gift wrap.
Hi! I love this idea for a costume and I’m seriously considering it but I wanted to ask, did you sit down at all while wearing the costume?? I want to wear it out Halloween Night but the group I’m going out with we’ll be going to dinner and then a show so I was wondering did you sit down while you wore it at all and if you did how did the paper hold up????
I didn’t sit down much because we were at a party. We walked to the party and walked back and I think I stood the majority of the time I was there. I’m not sure how it would hold up if you were sitting down a lot. It did get slightly damaged during the night the just from people bumping into me – I would not have been able to wear it again.
Love this!! I’ve been working on it since yesterday when I found this article. I used party streamers and so far so good! A bit stumped on what shoes to wear hahah
Hi! Love the costume. Just wondering how or what you attached the head piece on to stay on your head??
I made mine with a party hats so they already had strings attached. I would really recommend using party hats as your base because of the strings. It’s so much easier than attempting to attach them to headbands etc. (But you will have to have the strings under your chin, so make sure they’re comfortable before adding the fringe)
Hi, I was wondering if you desings the back of the dress in any way? Also where can you buy the crepe paper?
Yes. I did do the back of the dress. It was the same as the front of the dress! You can buy crepe paper at any party store or online (there’s a link in the post to a website that sells it in sheets)
I am thinking of attempting this costume this year.. however, I am wondering if it might hold up better if I use bright colorful cheap plastic tablecloth instead of crepe paper! Opinions on this??
Yes I think it totally would!
Hello
I tried making this dress, but the hot glue ended up making the dress way too small (even though it fit me before I began the glue gunning). The glue when it dried ended up taking all the movement out of the dress and I couldn’t get it on. I had a large canvas inside the dress to stretch it out, as instructed.
Did you run into this problem? If so, what could I do to fix it?
No I didn’t have that problem at all. I think I had a little tear or two under my arms, but that’s about it. Nothing noticeable. I’m so sorry it didn’t work out for you! Was the dress a stretch knit or a cotton? It could be that the dress wasn’t made to stretch enough or that your glue wasn’t as flexible.