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Dorothy and her
Ruby Red Slippers
Take an old pair of buckle shoes or tap shoes,
almost anything comfortable that is not a tennis shoe. Stuff newspaper
inside each shoe to prevent over-spray, then spray the outside with
glossy red paint. While the paint is still wet, sprinkle the shoes with
red glitter so they will sparkle.
Find or make a simple blue and white gingham dress
(checkered) or wear a short-sleeved white blouse and a simple blue and
white gingham bib apron.
Tie your hair into pigtails with blue ribbons.
Wear short, light blue socks.
Carry a stuffed dog or a real dog if you have one
you can control for the length of your event,
hook your arm through a basket, and you’re Dorothy!
The Scarecrow
You’ll need an old flannel shirt, an old pair of
baggy pants, an old straw hat, some rope, a few fabric scraps, a
scarf-size piece of burlap and a pair of work gloves. A little straw
is a nice extra.
Baste colorful fabric scrap patches on the shirt
and pants, if desired.
When you put on the shirt and pants, be sure to
leave your shirttail out.
Tie a length of rope around your waist and your
cuffs and have a little straw peaking out from these places so you’ll
appear to be stuffed.
Take a piece of burlap and put it over your head
like a hood, exposing your face. Pin or loosely tie the burlap in place
at the neck.
Paint your nose red with washable make-up. (I
didn’t know any better and my poor husband spent a week getting the last
of the red lipstick I used on him completely off his nose!)
Put on the hat, with more straw peeking out. Carry
a diploma as proof that you’ve got a brain, and you’re the Scarecrow!
The Cowardly Lion
Purchase a brown synthetic curly wig,
short to medium length. If you got it in a thrift store, wash it and
dry it.
Put it on your head backwards. In other words put
it over your face just long enough to guesstimate how much to cut out of
the middle of it so your face can be seen encircled with hair like a
mane. (It shouldn’t fall apart because the hair is sewn onto a fabric
backing.) Go easy on the cutting. You can always remove more hair.
Once that’s done, cut a slit across the bottom of the ring of hair so
that now you’ve got one long rectangle of wig. Make some pointy ears
out of a contrasting shade of brown felt and pin or hot glue in place.
Sew or hot glue a piece of coordinating brown ribbon to each end so you
can tie it beneath your chin.
Draw whiskers on your face with a brown eyebrow
pencil and dress in a brown leotard and tights or stockings.
Wear dark fur slippers or dark shoes.
Pin a length of rope to the seat of your pants with
a piece of left over wig glued to the end for a tail.
Make a cardboard badge of courage, adding glitter
and ribbon and pin it to your chest if you desire. And you’re the
Cowardly Lion!
The Tin Man
The secret to this costume is silver painted
cardboard, a gray leotard and tights.
Cut the cardboard into two rectangles each wide
enough to cover the length and width of your torso. Spray paint both
sides of both rectangles silver. Once the paint is dry. Attach a gray
or silver ribbon to the top corners as shoulder straps, making sure the
ribbon is long enough to allow you to put the cardboard over your head
like a sandwich board. More ribbon may be attached to the sides to of
your cardboard body and tied once you have it on over your leotard to
help keep it in place.
Find an old tin funnel or spray paint plastic
funnel silver. Tape, hot glue or punch holes in the sides and tie more
ribbon on it so it can be tied under your chin for a hat.
Raid the make-up drawer or buy silver or gray eye
shadow. Dust your entire face with it or just the tip of your nose,
your cheeks and your chin. With a black or dark gray eyebrow pencil,
draw vertical lines from the corner of your mouth to your chin for your
mechanical looking mouth.
Fashion a red heart from felt or colored paper and
pin to your chest, and you’re the Tin Man.
The Wicked Witch
You can buy a witch hat for under $3 or make one
from heavy black paper and staples. (Be creative.)
Add black clothes and a broom, and you have a witch!
Glinda, the Good
Witch of the North:
You’ll need an old dance costume or a thrift store
formal (we’ve seen them from $5) and some Christmas garlands for
sparkle. Quick sew the garland to the dress with big loose stitches.
Add a cheap crown (or the gorgeous one you got when
you were Miss Morning Glory) and a plastic wand (or wrap and glue some
ribbon to a stick, leaving streamers). Aluminum foil works wonders over
a cardboard star taped to a stick. You can also cut out the shape of a
crown from cardboard, making sure it will fit the person’s head, cover
it with foil and staple, adding old (and valueless) jewelry from your
junk drawer.
Glinda comes alive!
Munchkins
Remember the Lollipop kids, the tough guys in the
short pants and striped t-shirts? Give them a big sucker, and they’re
set.
Or dress in floral or colorful clothes, hot glue
ribbons to a large artificial flower and tie the flower under your
chin. It’s easy to be a “flower munchkin,” part of the group that told
Dorothy to “Follow the yellow brick road!”
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