DIY Custom Mickey Mouse Ears

Difficulty: Intermediate

In just a few weeks my family will be going on a trip to Disney World. This will be the first time that my kids have been there and as the vacation draws near they are becoming more and more excited.

Adding to their excitement are all of the preparations. Booking the flights and purchasing park tickets mean that the trip is definitely happening. Then you add in choosing Fastpass+ options for each park and car rentals and it seems like we are practically ready to leave for Orlando.

The most exciting and anticipation building part is creating all of the fun things that we will wear to show our Disney spirit. One of those things is custom Mickey Mouse ears. If you haven’t been to the park in awhile you may not know that people don’t just wear plain Mickey and Minnie ears, well some do, but most branch out. Guests wear custom ears featuring their favorite Disney or Star Wars characters.

If you don’t believe me just do a search on Pinterest or Etsy and a whole bunch of custom ears tutorials or the option to buy will show up. There are so many creative ideas out there that I had to try my hand at some of these. I told the kids and the grown ups (16 people total) that I would make any custom ears that they wanted. Just pick a character or send a picture and I will make it happen.

I’m not going to lie, there is a lot of inspiration out there and so many different directions that you can go. Then you have to source all of your materials. That can become complicated trying to find what you need or you may need only a small amount of something, but due to packaging have to buy a large amount. My best tips are to use coupons, shop sales and be sure to search through your craft stash before you buy anything. Also ask friends and family if they may have any of the supplies that you may need.

This tutorial is to show you how to make a basic pair of ears and pictures of some of the many ways that you can customize those ears to be any character. There are several techniques out there and the one that I will show you isn’t new, but worked well for my purposes . By all means you can go ahead and try a different technique and use my pictures for ideas and inspiration.

This project is only as difficult as you make it. The more customized and detailed that you make the ears the more difficult it will be so keep that in mind when choosing your character and design. Read through the supplies list and tutorial before you start so that you know what you are getting into.

Supplies:

Plain Headbands
Cardboard
Hot glue gun
Fabric in preferred ear color (scraps, fat quarters, felt squares or about a ¼ yard off the bolt)
Fabric for a bow (1/4 of a 9×12)
Embellishments such as: Silk Flowers, Pom Poms, Sequins, Yarn, Googley Eyes, Ribbon, Pipe Cleaners, Buttons, Gemstones, Feathers, Card Stock (your embellishments will be determined by the character that you chose, try Dollar Tree for many of these items)

Use a large mug or glass to trace 2 circles onto the card board and cut them out. Place one circle part way under the head band and trace a line.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cut along that line and use first ear to trace cutting line onto the second ear and cut. The curved cut out will be where the ear attaches to the headband.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Place both ears on a piece of felt with curved cutouts facing each other about a half to ¾ inch apart. Trace around both ears leaving a ¼” allowance at the edge and leaving the felt connected between the 2 ears creating a dog bone shape. Cut out the felt dog bone and trace a second one and cut out.

Lay headband on the table and determine placement of the ears. You can mark the headband with chalk or a marker or you can just eyeball it if your good at that. Glue cardboard ears to headband, holding each ear in place until it dries.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Run a bead of glue on the underside of the headband under one ear and attach the middle of the felt dog bone to the glue and hold in place until it dries.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fold the felt to the front and back of the card board ear and glue the felt to the front and back of the ear.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Run a bead of glue along the inside fabric edge and press the 2 fabric edges together holding it together until it dries. Repeat with the second ear.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For a bow you cut a rectangle measuring roughly 4.5”x6” and a small piece of felt to hold it all together. Fold the fabric accordion style and pinch together in the middle to create a bow shape. Wrap the small strip of felt around the middle and glue in place to hold the bow together. Run a bead glue along the middle back of the bow and press in place on the head band. The edges of the bow can be glued to the ears for extra security. (I forgot to take a picture of this)

If choosing to do a crown create a crown shape that will fit between the ears and trace it onto card stock in the color of your choice. Use the same method that you did to create the dog bone shape. Cut out the shape and fold in half lining up the edges of the crown and trim any uneven edges. Make sure the crown fits between the ears and do a little trimming if necessary.

 

Trace the crown shape onto card board and cut it out. Make sure the shape fits between the ears and inside the card stock.

Glue the cardboard crown to the headband the same way that you did with the ear shape. Then attach the card stock crown the same way that you did the felt dog bone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Add embellishments to the crown such as gemstones.

Keep in mind that the more embellishments you add the heavier it will be to wear. Try to keep the headbands fairly light for kids, but adults can handle a bit more weight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To make a hat instead of a headband simply attach the felt dog bone to the cardboard ear before you attach the ear to the hat.

The sky is the limit when it comes to all the ways that you can customize a pair of ears. You can represent even the most obscure Disney characters with some diy custom ears. Give it a try and let me know how it goes.