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DIY Greek God Costume: EROS

You guys, the 5th Halloween costume is finally COMPLETE!!!  Whew!  And oh.my.gosh…..this one has us all CRACKING UP!  Okay, so as a recap, my older two kiddos (Ellie and Connor) absolutely ADORE the Percy Jackson book series and were so excited about the idea of dressing up as Greek Mythology characters.  So, they convinced the younger kiddos to join them and helped them pick Greek mythology characters.  (They have decided they like dressing up as a group theme better than separately.  Fine by me!)  All the other Greek God and Goddess Costumes are right below this first picture of Max….and they were all SO MUCH FUN to make (especially that little Satyr….haha!).

We decided to make Max an EROS Greek God Costume (who is similar to CUPID from Roman mythology) and once I finished all the parts and started strapping everything on him, I just-about-DIED!!!  Why is everything in baby size SO HILARIOUS?!?! Ahhhh!!

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Update: all of the DIY Greek God and Goddess Costumes are complete:

Ellie’s Artemis Greek Goddess Costume is HERE, Max’s Eros Greek God Costume is HERE, Oliver’s Satyr Greek Mythology Costume is HERE, and Connor’s Poseidon Greek God Costume is HERE.

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Eros is the God of love and desire, so once we set Max down and let him roam this new territory, he took his job very seriously and began hunting for people to help fall in love.  (Okay, really he was just looking for a good tree to whack with these strange sticks that he was holding in his hands…..haha!)

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But good grief this little Eros is quite the handsome little Greek God!

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I wasn’t sure Max would tolerate wearing those wings or having all this stuff strapped to him….but once we got it all on him, he didn’t mess with it all all.  The wings are pretty light though….so they worked great!

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Just keep in mind though, this little Eros is still in training and hasn’t quite mastered what his special bow and arrow are used for!

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You might recognize the muscle shirt that Max is wearing from Oliver’s Strong Man Costume last year.  Yep, same shirt….but just altered it a bit to fit Max better.  (And yeah, it might look more like fat rolls on a baby than it does muscles, but whatever, haha!)

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I really love how these shin guards turned out paired with some leather flip-flops….and they’re easy to take on/off with a bit of velcro in the back.

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The bow and arrow are something my husband Steve made from some scrap wood….but you could easily buy an inexpensive set from the dollar store and just spray paint them gold.

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The wings are very light (with a foam base)….and are covered with actual feathers.  There are elastic shoulder straps to keep them in place, while Max toddles around everywhere!

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18-month-old babies sure are fun to dress up in costumes!  Mostly because they have absolutely no opinion about who or what they want to be……and anything you put on their tiny little bodies, is just EXTRA darling!  But this little EROS costume would be pretty cute on all ages!  (You could use a pair of red shorts instead of a diaper cover. Or just make a knee length cross body dress out of the white fabric, similar to Demeter’s dress.)

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Oh Max, you are such a joy!  So happy you’re our little caboose baby….and that so far, you’re happy to join us in this crazy Johnston tradition of dressing up for Halloween!  Buckle up buddy, you have so many years left of this. Ha! ;)

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Would you like to make your own Eros costume??

Okay, here’s how…

SUPPLIES for an EROS Greek God Costume:

  • White flowy type of fabric for the sash (I used a flowy polyester fabric, but even a spandex knit, or another type of fabric that has good movement would work too.)
  • Faux Leather (you can find this on big rolls at the fabric store, in a variety of colors and textures)
  • Velcro
  • Gold Metal Brads
  • Muscle Shirt tutorial HERE
  • White foam 12×18 inches, 5mm thickness (for the wings)
  • White feathers (mine varied from 6-8 inches)
  • Small scraps of some White Felt (for the wings)
  • Red Fabric (for the diaper cover)
  • Elastic (1/2 inch for the wings, 1/4 inch for the diaper cover)
  • Metallic Gold Spray Paint
  • Sewing Supplies (here’s a list of my favorite sewing supplies, in case you need a few ideas) 

***Check out my Sewing Terms 101 post, for additional help.

Let’s get started on the wings first.  I cut out the wing shape below out of my piece of foam and then placed it on top of another sheet, to show where I cut it out on my sheet.  (And then I added the red dotted line in photoshop because my lighting was terrible and wanted to show the top shape.) But don’t worry that the foam wasn’t quite wide enough for the complete wing shape……we’ll fix that later on!

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Now, make four 3/4 inch slits in the foam, that line up with the shoulders of your subject.  Then cut 2 small pieces of white felt that are bigger than the area where your slits are in the foam.  Now add slits to your felt that are the same size and distance as the slits in the foam.

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Now, hot glue the felt down to the foam, matching up the holes in the felt and the foam.  Then thread your elastic through the slits, leaving the ends hanging out on the other side.  (The reason for the felt is to keep the foam stable and to keep it from tearing when the elastic is pulled on while the wings are being worn.)  This side with the felt, is the BACK of the wings.

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Now it’s time to start adding the feathers.  I started on the right wing and put the very longest feathers along the bottom edge, letting them hang pretty far off the foam (about 5 -6 inches), and creating a nice even edge.  Then I added fluffier feathers that were more varied in size along the right edge of the wing, letting them hang over the edge a couple inches and creating a nice rounded shape to the right edge of the wing.

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Then I worked my way to the center of the wing, adding more rows of feathers, overlapping them until the right wing was nice and full and completely covered.

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Then I did the same thing with the left side of the wing.

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Then I turned the wings over to the FRONT side and just added the upper feathers, since the longer feathers from the back hang low enough and show perfectly.  Just be sure you keep the elastic out of the way as you’re adding your feathers.

Next, try your wings on your subject and determine how much of an elastic loop you’ll need to comfortable take the wings on and off.  Tie the elastic ends in place, but secure the knot nice and close to the wings by the bottom piece of elastic, so that it won’t show while being worn.  Trim off any excess.

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Onto the shin guards.  Measure the distance between the knee and ankle of your subject.  Then create a shape similar to the one below and cut it out 4 times from your faux leather.  Place 2 of the pieces together with WRONG sides together and sew around all the edges, about 1/8 of an inch from the edge.  Repeat with the other 2 pieces.

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Then cut strips of faux leather that are 1/2 inch wide and long enough to fit around the different measurements of the calf.  Then attach them to the back side of the shin guard, sewing right along the vertical edge.  Then add velcro to the ends of each of the strips.

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To make the MUSCLE SHIRT, I used the one that I made last year for Oliver’s Strong Man Circus Costume…..but I made the sleeves shorter and took the sides seams in to make it more snug on him.  Worked great!

To make the BELT and the WRIST GUARDS, I made them just like Oliver’s Satyr Greek Mythology Costume.

To make the WHITE SHOULDER SASH, I measured from the front of Max’s knees and then up and over to the back of his knees.  Then I cut a piece of white fabric that length and that was about the width of his shoulder to shoulder measurement.  Then I folded the edges under 1/4 inch, then another quarter inch, and then sewed it in place.  Then I sewed a basting stitch right down the middle of the width and gathered the fabric in as snug as I could, just like the Demeter Greek Goddess Costume, except I didn’t sew along the sides and turn it into a dress.

To make the RED DIAPER COVER, I used the tutorial from Dana over at Made Everyday.  It was easy to follow and worked perfectly for this!!

The BOW AND ARROW were made by my husband Steve from some scrap wood in the garage.  However, you could always look at the dollar store for a cheap set and just spray paint them gold and add a felt heart to the arrow.

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And that’s it!  A cute little Eros, ready to spread love all around!

Enjoy!

-Ashley

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Check out some of our other favorite Group Halloween Costume ideas:

 

And you can always browse all of our DIY Halloween Costumes and even specific categories —> HERE!!

 

Ashley Johnston

Administrator at Make It & Love It
Ashley Johnston is a professional DIY costume maker, sewist, crafter, and owner of Make It & Love It. She is a mom of 5 and a wife to a very patient (with the craft clutter) husband. In case you’re wondering, she always chooses crafting/sewing/designing over mopping/dusting/wiping base boards……but bathrooms/laundry/full bellies are always attended to. Whew!

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Hi, I'm Ashley

Hi, I’m Ashley—the DIY-enthusiast behind this crazy blog!

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