Clown Costume Ideas

This is a case where clothes are supposed to be baggy and look funny, so you don’t even need to get the right size!

Keep an eye out for accessories, too, such as hats, wigs, and silly props.

To make a clown costume, start with a pair of old baggy pants. Cut off the bottoms if necessary to better fit your child. Add colorful T-shirt, blazer and suspenders.

Using felt pieces, cut out an assortment of colorful shapes using pinking or craft shears. Apply to the clothing wherever suitable with fabric glue. Use pompoms and strings of large colorful buttons to accent the outfit as you see fit.

Clown Wig & Hats:

Choose a colorful wig, or make your own wig by dying a white spaghetti mop head orange, red, blue, or whatever. Or you could make a pointy clown hat.

Roll a heavy weight piece of paper into a cone shape. Tape or staple to secure. Trim bottom edge if necessary to give it a nice rounded shape. Decorate the hat with paint, glitter, and other embellishments as desired.

Poke a hole in each side of the hat along the bottom edge. Run a knotted piece of ribbon or lightweight elastic through each hole to hold on child's head.

If you find a plastic bowler hat in a party store, simply apply strips of ribbon, yarn, or crepe paper around the inside edge of the hat to resemble hair!

Clown Collars:

Pillowcase Collar - Start with a colorful pillowcase or dye one in the color of your choice. When dry, lay pillowcase flat with closed end on top. Cut sides open with pinking shears. Cut a semi-circle in the closed end with a slit to allow it to go over your child’s head. Cut to desired length, approximately 6-12 inches looks good. Lastly, cut pillowcase bottom into points and accent with round bells or pom poms.

Felt Collar - Cut out a large round piece of felt approximately 2 feet in diameter. Fold in half and cut a semicircle and slit to accommodate child’s head. Cut perimeter of felt into points and accent with round bells or pom poms.

Tulle Collar - Prepare a piece of nylon tulle approx. 8 by 36 inches. Thread string through tulle along one long edge, gathering the collar as you go. Then tie the string ends into a bow behind your child's neck.

Clown Face Paint

Apply a layer of white face paint using clean sponge. Cover eyebrows and eyelids too. Let base coat dry for a few minutes and accentuate eyes with blue crosses or star shapes. Make a broad smiling red mouth, round red nose and rosy cheeks. Add pointy red eyebrows above your child’s real eyebrows.