First Idea Easy medieval costume from an old T-shirt in 4 minutes : See this video -

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1 Costume ideas: Medieval costumes are fairly easy. You can be lords, ladies, peasants, knights, nuns, monks, or farmers. All girls need is a longish skirt or dress, a cone hat or a circlet of flowers (like the Polish dance costume or first communion headpieces). Boys costumes can be slacks they already have and a simple tunic. If you have a saint s costume that your child still fits in, start with that. There are some easy ideas below. First Idea Easy medieval costume from an old T-shirt in 4 minutes : See this video - Second Idea No - Sew Knights tunic Easy DIY Kids Knight Costume {No-Sew Tutorial} APPLEGREENCOTTAGE.blogspot.com Supplies a piece of grey(ish) felt **Please note: To make this even simpler, you can skip the gray felt and use a pillowcase instead. Cut holes for the head and arms (or slit the sides), then skip to the decorating with the emblems.

2 small pieces of felt for the knight emblem (your choice of colors!) scissors glue 1) Cut a piece of felt that is approximately 1 by 3 in measure. Width: the knight tunic I made for our kid is 12 inch wide (measure your kid: the tunic piece should extend from shoulder to shoulder, maybe a bit less) Length: approximately 3 times the width (the tunic can also be made longer if you like) 2) Place the knight tunic piece on an even surface, fold it lengthwise and crosswise and make a mark at 3-inch from the center. (Because folded, you need to cut at the 3-inch mark! When you unfold it, you'll have a 6-inch circular opening for the knight's head.) Now you've made an approximately 6-inch wide hole for the knight's head in the center of your tunic piece. And don't worry if the opening

3 is not evenly cut, kids won't bother. ;) {And about the circle that's left from cutting the hole: don't throw it away yet, you'll see why!} 3) To make the knight's costume even easier to put on, you can cut a slit down the neck (several inches should do), but only if your felt is not very soft. To do this, you'll need felt that is sturdy enough not to tear, but not too thick as it needs to be wearable. If you need more guidance on that - check out my post on how to choose the right felt for your creations. However, no matter where you get your felt, it's good to check thickness, material and stiffness before buying it!

4 2) KNIGHT EMBLEM. It's not really necessary, but chances are you'll want to embellish your DIY knight tunic by a knight's emblem. a small piece of felt or other glue-able material in a contrasting color (think red or black or.. anything actually) a template for the knight's emblem (see below for a free template) glue 1) Use the template/stencil to outline the knight emblem on a piece of felt in a contrasting color. 2) Then cut it out. 3) Glue the 'fleur-de-lys' to the chest area of the knight's tunic. To make it prettier, you can add an extra layer of felt in a contrasting color. Or two. I added a white layer to serve as background and the grey circle (the leftover from cutting the opening in the knight tunic). Makes your emblem look like a real one, doesn't it?

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8 Third Idea Medieval Crown Recreate the majesty of the kings and queens of medieval Europe with this wearable crown craft made out of construction paper strips. Materials Yellow or gold construction paper Round paper fastener Scissors Glues Scotch tape Red crepe paper (optional) Things to decorate your crown with: sequins, rhinestones, plastic gems, glitter glue, puffy paint, tinsel paper, etc. Safety Tips This craft is intended for ages 9 and above. Younger kids will need adult help and supervision. Watch out for this sign. It means adult help is needed for the particular step. Steps

9 1 Cut out a 1½ to 2-inch wide strip of yellow or gold construction paper long enough to go around your head. This piece will be the crown's base so the construction paper should be thick/heavy weight for a sturdy crown. 2 Glue the ends of the strip together to form a circle. 3 Cut out a pair of 1½-inch wide by 10-inch long strips of black or brown construction paper (or a color that best blends with your hair color). 4 Glue the first strip across the middle section of the base, spanning the circle's diameter. This strip will define the crown's fit on your head and should follow your head's contour. Try on the crown and adjust the strip's position while the glue hasn't quite set yet.

10 5 Position the second strip perpendicular to, and at roughly the same height as the first. Glue the ends in place. 6 Reinforce each strip's connection to the base with tape. These two strips should be well-anchored since they form the supports or frame for your crown. 7 Cut out six identical strips of yellow or gold construction paper. Each strip should be 1½ inches wide and 8 inches long. 8 Curve out the strips on one end and punch a hole near the tip.

11 9 Punch a hole at the center of the supports. 10 Glue the strips from inside the base at the 12 o'clock, 2 o'clock, 4 o'clock, 6 o'clock, 8 o'clock, and 10 o'clock positions. Try to glue the strips at the same height along the base. 11 If you want to create a lining for your crown similar to the fabric lining for a real royal crown, cut out a couple of "half-petal" or "hill" shapes from red crepe paper. Glue the base of these crepe paper shapes along the upper edge of the crown's base

12 12 Glue the tips of the crepe paper onto the center of the crown supports. If you prefer not to have this lining, skip Steps 11 and Create a cross-shaped crown topper by cutting out a pair of identical crosses from yellow or gold construction paper. Include a tab or rectangular extention at the base of each cross. Crease along the bottom tab. Glue the crosses together except the bottom tabs. The crosses should be aligned at the edges. Fold out the bottom tabs. 14 Punch a hole at the center of one bottom tab and insert a round paper fastener.

13 15 Insert the ends of the paper fastener through the hole on one of the crown's six strips. 16 Simlarly insert the ends of the paper fastener through the hole on each of the remaining strips so that the tips of all six get tucked neatly under the cross. 17 Anchor the cross onto the crown by inserting the ends of the paper fastener through the center holes on the supports, easily puncturing the crepe paper cover. Split the ends of the fastener from the inside of the crown. 18 For safety, cover the ends of the paper fastener with tape or with a small piece of paper.

14 19 Decorate your crown with sequins, rhinestones, plastic gems, gem-style stickers, beads, glitter glue, puffy paint, bits of tinsel paper, and other notions. Check out our Bejeweled Crown craft for more crown decorating ideas. 20 Once the glue dries, try on your awesome royal crown! More Ideas If you want a painted crown, use white construction paper instead of yellow or gold construction paper. Paint the entire crown using tempera or acrylic paint after Step 18. Let the paint dry before decorating your crown.

15 Fourth Idea Knight s helmet You will need: Feather Stapler (or glue) Tape 2 paper fasteners

16 Instructions: Cut 5 strips of silver card about 2 inches (5cm)) wide and long enough to reach around your head from ear to ear. Arrange two of the strips so they sit at right angles. and staple or glue together. Bend the strips so that the other ends of each strip meet in the same way and staple or glue together. Attach the other three strips so they cover the hole in between the two original strips. This is the back of your helmet. Make the mouthpiece by cutting a rectangle long enough to reach around your face from ear to ear with an extra 2 inches (5cm) and about 4 inches (10cm) wide. Fold the rectangle in half and cut triangle off the bottom to form a point in the centre of the rectangle.

17 Glue or staple to the back piece of the helmet. To make a visor, cut a rectangle long enough to reach around your face from ear to ear with an extra 2 inches (5cm) and about 4 inches (10cm) wide. Fold in half. Curve the edges to form an oval shape. Cut thin rectangles along the fold as viewing holes. Attach the visor to the helmet with two paper fasteners. Tape a feather to the top of the helmet.

18 Fifth Idea Knight's Helmet 1 You will need: Silver card Scraps of gold and black card Glue Stapler Instructions: Use a plate to help you draw a circle on the silver card. It needs to be slightly bigger than your head. Draw a point coming out from your circle to make a teardrop shape. Now draw an outline about 2cm around the shape.

19 Cut out along this line. Cut slits back to the original line to form tabs, and bend down carefully along your original outline. This is the top of your helmet. To make the main piece of the helmet, cut a rectangle of silver card about 30cm by 60cm. Fold in half and cut a triangle off the bottom as shown in the diagram below.

20 With the card still folded, cut a slit for eye holes at the fold. Open out the card and using the fold to fit to the point of your teardrop, glue the tabs to the flat edge of the main piece. Staple the two ends of the main piece together. Decorate your helmet with scraps of gold and black card, or add a shield.

21 Sixth Idea Princess hat party hats construction paper, scrapbook paper, or wrapping paper tulle optional stickers, glitter, buttons, lace, anything you want for added princess flare To begin your DIY princess hats project, you will just need some cheap ol plain party hats. The color of the party hats doesn t matter because you will be covering them.

22 Take one of your party hats, gently unfold it, and press it flat. This hat will serve as your template for the paper that will cover your princess hats. You will only need to do this to one of your hats, so make sure you only disassemble one.

23 To make my template, I traced the hat onto an old paper. This way I could trim it down as needed to alter any mistakes. Use a pen or pencil and trace all around the outside of the flattened hat. Don t trace around the little flap that folds inside. You won t need that extra piece, so just skip it when you re tracing around.

24 As you can see, I left the space where the little flap is blank. Use something with a straight edge, or just eyeball it to fill that line in to make cutting the template out. Use a pair of scissors and cut your template out. Fold your party hat back up, as it was originally. Place one side of the template paper along the edge of the party hat that tucks in and out to fold and unfold it. Use two pieces of scotch tape, or staples, whichever you prefer, to secure one edge down. Wrap the rest of the paper around, making sure the bottom is lined up so none of the party hat shows.

25 This is what your hat should look like once you have your paper attached. This was just a template paper, so my edges didn t have to be perfect. If you like the way your template paper turned out, you re ready to make your actual princess hats! Remove your template, and trace it onto whatever paper you want to use. You can use construction paper, scrapbook paper, or even wrapping paper. You can leave them plain, or add adornments. We made basic hats, and let the little girls at the party decorate them with stickers and markers. They had a great time!

26 Once your hat is covered, the last step is to add your tulle. You can t have a princess hat without a tulle train! I use these small rolls of tulle, as the width works great without having to trim it down. Cut a length of about 3 ft, or whatever length works for you.

27 Tie a knot at one end of the length of tulle. This will keep it from popping out of the top of the princess hat. Take the other end of the tulle, and poke it through the small hole at the top of the hat. Tug it all the way through, until your knot reaches the hole and it stops. That s it! Now your DIY princess hat is ready to wear!

28 Seventh Idea Make a KnightCostume Arm your Prince Charming with a milk-jug helmet, grocery bag armor, and a cardboard sword that will no doubt slay the whole neighborhood. By Catherine Ryan from Parents Magazine What You'll Need <img src=" images.parents.mdpcdn.com/sites/parents.com/files/styles/width_200/ public/images/p_ jpg" width="200" height="267" alt="knight costume" title="knight costume" /> Jenny Risher Paper grocery bag Silver and purple paint

29 Paintbrush Scissors Cardboard Glue Black and white garbage bags Wrapping-paper roll Margarine-tub lid Gallon plastic jug Make It Armor: 1. Cut a slit up the middle of the bag's printed side and a 7" neck hole in bottom of the bag. 2. Cut a 4-1/2" hole on either side for arms, about 1" from the bottom of bag. Divide the nonprinted side of the bag into four equal rectangles, and paint top left and bottom right quadrants in silver and remaining quadrants in purple; let dry. 3. Paint the rest of the bag in silver. (This may take several coats.) Shield: 1. Cut a diamond shape, about 20"x15", from a large piece of cardboard and paint it silver; let dry. 2. Download and print a fleur-de-lis; cut out and glueto front of shield. 3. Cut a 5"x2" piece of cardboard, bend about an inch in from each end, and glue flat parts of the strip to the center of the back of the shield for a handle.

30 Sash: 1. Cut two 3"-wide strips from a black garbage bag and one 3"- wide strip from a white one. 2. Braid the three together and knot at end. 3. Tie ends together and drape over your child's shoulder or make two small loops to attach at the hip. Sword: 1. Paint the margarine lid and wrapping-paper roll silver; let dry. 2. Trace the outline of the end of the tube onto the center of the lid, cut out and push tube through the hole. Helmet: 1. Cut the top off a clean gallon jug. 2. Cut along the indented portion of the handle side of the jug, removing the handle entirely. 3. Paint the jug silver; let dry. 4. Fold two 4"x10" pieces of newspaper in half lengthwise and glue a chenille stem along the fold, leaving one inch of the stem sticking out. 5. Cut 1/4" fringe down the newspaper strips. Poke a small hole in the center of the bottom of the jug and push the stem through it, then twist to secure.

31 Originally published in the October 2009 issue of Parents magazine.

32 Eighth Idea Princess Hat 2 Materials Construction paper (24" x 36") Scissors Glue String Pencil Ruler Scotch tape Stapler Crepe paper or any sheer paper/fabric Things to decorate your hat with: ribbons, fabric, boas, sequins, stickers, rhinestones, glitter glue, paper cut-outs, craft foam shapes, etc. Safety Tips Small craft materials such as rhinestones and sequins are choking hazards. These are not suitable for children below the age of three. Watch out for this sign. It means adult help is needed for the particular step. Steps 1. Draw a quarter circle with a radius of about 14 to 16 inches using a pencil tied to a string. It will be helpful to tape the string to the pivot point. To ensure that the quarter circle makes a cone hat that fits perfectly on your head, you may practice first with newspaper.

33 2 Cut out the quarter circle. 3 Trim off a little bit from the tip or pivot point of your quarter circle. 4 A princess cone hat usually has a trailing veil or streamers at the tip. To make one for your hat, you can use any of these materials: a.) Trailing streamers- cut 5 to 6 long strips (approximately 1 to 1.5 inches wide) of crepe paper or curl some fabric ribbons. Gather them on one end, and twist to compact that end.

34 b.) Dainty veil- cut specialty tissue paper or any sheer fabric into a rectangular piece (approximately 20 x 30 inches). (1.) Fold lengthwise and pinch 1/3 of the way along the folded edge; (2) Hold up the material by the pinched end and arrange the folds of the flowing material; (3) Twist or tape the paper/ fabric at the pinched end. 5 Tape the trailing veil or streamers onto the tip of your quarter circle. 6 Roll the quarter circle into a cone and staple at the base.

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37 7 Glue or tape along the seams. 8 Add a chin strap if you like. Punch opposite holes along the bottom edge of the hat and attach an elastic string. 9 Let kids have fun and express their creative flair by providing them with lots of materials to work with like ribbons, boas, sequins, stickers, rhinestones, glitter glue, fabric scraps, craft foam, etc.

38 Ninth Idea Princess Hat 3 We re making a fabric covered version here materials needed: Poster board (pink or purple is best if you don t plan on covering with fabric) about 1/2 a yard of princess-y type fabric (brocade, princess fabric, crown fabric) about 1/4 yard of tulle (remnants are great for this) tacky glue jewels and decorations (optional) 1. Start by cutting a semi-circle out of poster board. It s doesn t need to be a half circle, usually just about a third. Fit around your child s head so it goes around their head but stays above their ears. Cut the poster board so that you have about 2 inches of extra paper after you make a circle. This is going to be your pattern. 2. Lay the poster board down on your princess fabric, and use it as a pattern to cut out your fabric. Leave about an inch of fabric extra on the curve of the hat where it fits over the head- this will get folded under later. 3. Roll the poster board up and staple the bottom to secure and glue the raw edge until it lays flat 4. Once the glue is dry, Cover the hat with a thin layer of glue and cover with the princess fabric. Go slowly and carefully, smoothing out the bubbles as you go and leaving the inch of selvage at the bottom. Fold the raw edge going from top to bottom under and glue, and fold the bottom selvage into the hat and glue into place. 5. Once the hat is dry, cut a very small hole in the crown and feed about 2 inches of the tulle through. Glue from the inside. For very little girls you might want to add a chin strap- just staple two pieces of ribbon near where their ears are so you can tie the hat on. You re done! That s the basic fabric princess hat, and the decoration can be up to you and your little girl. Jewels, sequins, rhinestones, etc. can all be glued on. Have fun and be creative!

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40 Tenth Idea Jester Hat - made from craft foam sheets and bells. To make a tunic, use a brightly striped pillowcase; slit the sides and cut a hole for the head. Use a wide ribbon or scarf for a belt.