I’ve always loved, loved, loved Halloween, especially planning out my costumes and every detail surrounding the day(s) of celebrating. It’s partly why some friends affectionately refer to me as the Mayor from “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” That enthusiasm must be genetic, because our girls are just as into figuring out their Halloween costumes, even going as far as saying “for nextyear I want to be…” when the current Halloween hasn’t even happened yet.
It’s been beyond a strange, scary, and disappointing year with COVID, so I was game for doing WHATEVER our girls wanted to do in terms of their costumes. Even though I’ve had a blast making costumes for my girls in the past (especially Stella’s Dani from “Hocus Pocus” costume and Tamatoa from “Moana”), I’ve succumbed to the fact that sometimes, picking out a complete costume at the store is more exciting for them and easier for me.
Stella wanted to be Mal from Descendants this year, and considering she won’t be able to celebrate Halloween in her classroom with all of her friends this year or go trick-or-treating, I was fine with getting her the coolest Mal ensemble from the Disney store online.
Margot decided she wanted to be Branch from “Trolls,” but when we looked at the costumes at Target, I knew I could do a DIY version that would be brighter and a lot more fun than the costume they had. So began my quest to create the Branch of her dreams!
The biggest details for Branch are his Troll hair, leaf vest, patched-up shorts, and blue complexion. I knew that I could find some simple basics online for the base of the costume and get crafty with the details.
On Amazon, I found blue tights, a long sleeved blue shirt, and brown bike shorts. With so many options, I did my best to color match the shirt and tights. I also ordered a package of small felt squares, which I planned to use for the patches on Branch’s shorts, but also ended up being perfect for his ears. Finally, I bought this Branch wig, which at under $8 was much less expensive than others I was finding online.
When I looked at other DIY versions of Branch costumes online, I saw that many people had cut leaf shapes out of pieces of felt and attached them to a vest. That was my original plan, but then I realized I could order fabric leaves and save myself a ton of time and hassle. This set of fabric leaves came in multiple shades of green and brown, which would give Branch’s vest some depth and fun. While this pack came with 150 leaves, I soon realized I should have ordered more than one of them to completely cover the vest. Because of delayed shipping dates for a second set, I ended up ordering these leaves to finish the back of the vest. They were smaller and didn’t have a sheen, but did the trick.
For the vest itself, I didn’t want to spend a lot on something I was going to cover up anyway, so I visited our local kids’ consignment store and found a $3 “Cars” vest in the right size. I ended up cutting off the zipper, collar, and waistband area to make it look more like Branch’s vest, then began hot gluing the leaves onto the front of it.
While I couldn’t have planned it, the light tan camouflage pattern of the vest made a perfect background for the leaves even when I had some open areas.
For Branch’s shorts, I needed to use some reference photos to figure out the positioning and shape of the patches. The way they’re animated, there are only a few threads on each side, so I did my best to replicate the stitching patterns while keeping the patches secure.
I wasn’t planning to do anything special to figure out how to make Branch’s ears, but I realized it would be easier than I thought. With some of the extra felt, I cut out some Troll ear shapes. I found an old headband of Stella’s with flowers on top, so I took off the flowers (the top of the headband would be covered by the wig anyway) and hot glued the ear shapes to each side. I’m really glad I figured out a way to make them with things I already had on hand, because the extra detail really adds a lot to the costume.
For the finishing touches, I picked up some purple face paint at the Spirit Halloween store for Branch’s nose and also some blue for his face, although Margot decided she didn’t want her face completely painted.
We had a beautiful Michigan fall day last week and the trees in front of our house were especially colorful, so I took the opportunity to get the girls dressed up in their costumes for Halloween pictures. I loved seeing how the Branch costume came together. Having Margot hold her sister’s Poppy stuffed animal was the perfect prop.
While this Halloween won’t be the same as others, it’s been important to keep things fun and joyful for the girls. Making this Branch costume was a blast. Here’s to planning ahead for next year’s costumes!
What will you and/or your kids be for Halloween this year?