Dressing the Part – Star Wars Birthday Party Costumes

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We have a great group of friends if for no other reason, they love to get into the theme of a party, so it was a must that we offer Star Wars costumes for the party! Our best friends all showed up to the party decked out in Star Wars themed shirts they'd bought just for the occasion.

We wanted to have more than just t-shirts people happened to wear, so we decided to make Jedi robes and Princess Leia headbands for everyone who wanted them.
Easy Star Wars costume

The Jedi robes are ridiculously easy. Just a large rectangle of craft felt, with a slit cut up the front for the lapels on the front. Another piece for the belt and you're done!
I made all of mine 36×72, because it was the easiest, and then we had scissors on hand to cut them to the right length for the kids who wanted to wear them.
If I was a) Better with a sewing machine or B) Had access to a serger, I probably would have just made these out of plain broadcloth. The felt was a little warm in the sun, so they didn't go over as well as I'd hoped. But I got the felt on crazy good sale, so it wasn't a big deal!

The party was on a Sunday, and on about Tuesday I had this idea. I'd seen it on Pinterest, but the original blog post it was pinned from was gone, so I was pretty much on my own to get these put together. I managed to make 10 of them in just a couple of hours, and they turned out pretty cute!

Things you need for the headbands:

• • Headbands, of course! I bought these plain craft headbands on Amazon and spray painted them, but you could probably find brown ones elsewhere, if you have more time to look than I did.
  • Brown yarn I spent a bunch of time looking for a really thick, chunky yarn, but it was all so expensive, I just bulked up with multiple strands of the cheapy stuff instead.
  • Brown fun foam I used a couple of the big 11×17 sheets and had just enough to make my 10 headbands
  • Hot glue gun This really is the best option for the project, rather than some other glue that needs time to dry.
  • Masking tape
  • The ability to braid

1. Cut the fun foam into 4″ circles. You'll need 2 circles per headband. (My husband cut out a template for me using a hole drill, but anything that's about 4″ across will work to trace your shapes.
2. Cut the yarn into 36″ lengths, 18 strands per headband
3. Tie 9 of the strands together at the top
4. Use the masking tape to hold the top of the yarn while you braid all 9 strands together.
5. Tie off the end of the braid with another piece of yarn.
6. Starting in the center of the foam circle, glue the end of the braid down.
7. Work your way around the circle, winding and gluing the braid down as you go.
8. Tuck the loose end of the braid onto the back of the foam and glue it in place.
9. Glue 2 circles on each headband, leaving the bottom loose from the headband, to allow somewhere for the wearer's ears to go!

Coming up next? The Death Star pinata and all that goes with it!

This is the third post about Max's Star Wars birthday party; you can read the first two here: Party Overview | Themed Food