These DIY Jack Skellington Mouse Ears are the perfect accessory for your Disney parks vacation!
Everyone who knows me knows that I am obsessed with Halloween, and with that comes a love for the movie The Nightmare Before Christmas. Few things make me as giddy as the Disneyland The Haunted Mansion all decked out Nightmare-Before-Christmas-style for the month of October. It is INCREDIBLE!! I’m smiling just thinking about it!
In October I had the privilege of being invited to the HP Print & Pamper event in San Diego, and at the end of the conference all of the attendees loaded onto buses and headed to Disneyland for the day! YAY!! The whole weekend was great, but this was definitely my personal highlight! Both of the times that we have taken our kiddos to Disneyland for Halloween I have gone all out on cute daytime outfits for them (see Super Simple, Super Cute Minnie Mouse Outfit), as well as family Halloween costumes (see Peter Pan Family Costumes and Elsa Tutu Dress & Frozen Family Costumes) to wear to Mickey’s Halloween Party (see 10 Reason Why I am Obsessed with Mickey’s Halloween Party). This time around I was going to be kid free, so I didn’t know quite where I should be channeling my excitement. But then my mother-in-law sent me some Nightmare Before Christmas fabric to use for a skirt for my daughter, and I knew just what I would use the scraps for: Jack Skellington Mouse Ears! It make me super excited to think of getting a picture with the Jack and Sally characters in the park. Believe it or not, I missed them by TWO MINUTES. TWO. I ran up to them immediately after we arrived at the park, but the cast member stopped me and said they were done for the day. THE DAY. Not a break. The DAY. It was 2:00 in the afternoon! WAAAHHHH!!!!! Sad, sad day. I had to settle for a selfie in front of The Haunted Mansion. L-A-M-E. (Funny story….I put this on IG with the caption “Just chilling at my boyfriend’s house!” and one of my friends thought I was talking about the college kid behind me and was all weirded out. Haha!!!)
Let’s take a look at how I made these bad boys, and then let’s talk about why I’m sharing this particular tutorial NOW, nowhere near Halloween.
First of all, this process was not invented in my head. I googled “DIY Mickey Mouse Ears” and found a tutorial on the darling blog Dixie Delights for DIY Custom Minnie Mouse Ears. Hers are Lily Pulitzer inspired. I’m sure that’s making my Southern readers swoon! 🙂
Now, let’s look at how I adapted her process for my Jack Skellington Mouse Ears, shall we? This post contains a couple of affiliate links.
For this tutorial you will need the following items:
- Nightmare Before Christmas fabric
- wide headband
- black ribbon
- cardboard
- Model Magic
- spray glue
- hot glue gun and glue
Start by cutting your ears on cardboard. You can freehand them, or you can grab a pattern on the original tutorial HERE.
Now cut squares of fabric a bit larger than your cardboard ears. Use spray glue to attach the fabric to the cardboard. Be sure to smooth it as you attach it!
Allow the fabric to dry and then trim the fabric so it is just a BIT too large for the cardboard. Use a glue gun to fold it around the edges of the cardboard, as shown in the two pictures below.
Now hot glue ribbon along the edge to make it look polished. I used glitter ribbon, naturally.
Next up: use generous amounts of hot glue to stick the ears right onto the headband.
Now it’s time to make your bone. I will admit, I was quite pleased with myself for thinking of using a bone instead of the traditional Minnie Mouse bow. 🙂
Have you ever used Model Magic? It is SUCH a cool art supply! My kids LOVE it, so I had some on hand to use. It’s easy to work – light and airy, but not sticky – and it air dries much more quickly than modeling clay. It’s awesome.
ANYWAY . . . grab some Model Magic and make the shape of a bone. Put it up to your headband and shape it so it will go in between the ears, as shown in the pictures below. Let the bone air dry overnight and then hot glue it generously onto the headband.
To secure the bone further, and to make it even cuter, Glue ribbon around the center of the bone, just like it was the center of a bow.
All done!!
What do you think? Will you be making YOURSELF a pair of faaaabulous Jack Skellington Mouse Ears? I hope so!
Now, WHY I am posting what is arguably a Halloween tutorial in March? Well, I will tell you. Disney and Make-a-Wish have joined forces to do an AWESOME fundraiser. Make-a-Wish is one of my favorite charities, and Disney is one of my favorite brands, and I think this collaboration is a match made in heaven! Even better – you can support this fundraiser for Make-a-Wish without even spending a PENNY! Simple post a picture of your our Mickey Mouse Ears on social media using the hashtag #ShareYourEars! For every picture shared Disney will donate $5 to Make-a-Wish! Yes, it really IS that easy!! Find out more details at the official Share Your Ears website.
Finally, if you are planning a Disney vacation at all this year – maybe in October so you too can wear your Jack Skellington Mouse Ears at The Haunted Mansion – then you should consider booking through Get Away Today. They have an amazing option to reserve your trip on layaway for only $125 down – WOW! – and right now they are currently selling tickets through March 8 up to $36 cheaper than the new raised gate prices. I am actually looking into booking us an October trip for next year, so maybe I’ll see you there at my boyfriend’s house. Heehe. BOOK HERE. {affiliate link}
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Sounds like you had such a great time at Disney World (sorry you didn’t get to meet Jack and Sally). This is a clever craft to commemorate your visit, however. I love that you used the clay for a touch of detail with the bow. It looks so festive and appropriate–both for Disney and Halloween. Thanks so much for sharing this with us on #shinebloghop, Sarah!
Thank you so much for stopping by and leaving your blog post on the #HomeMattersParty
How cute are these! Thanks for sharing this with us on Throwback Thursday!
Mollie
These are AWESOME! Disney should so buy this idea from you. Thank you for linking up at #SaucySaturdays.
Thank you!!