How to make wings for your Halloween costume

Fairy? Angel? Dragon? Winged demon? Dodo bird? Many Halloween costumes require wings. Growing a pair before October 31st is probably not going to happen, so you will have to make some wings. Take a look at two approaches for making wings for your Halloween costume.

Get wired

With two sturdy metal hangers or a few feet of 9 gauge metal wire, you can fashion the framework for some wings. With the wire, shape it into an 8 and bind it together by twisting the wires two or three times in the middle. If using two hangers, then attach them at the hooks and twist together. Now you can bend the wires to the wing shape you desire.

Once the wire frame of the wings is completed, you can slide the legs of pantyhose or tights over the wires to create gossamer wings. You'll have to be careful to avoid tears and runs in the pantyhose. Tights will be tougher to work with and provide more colors, but they might not stretch as far as the pantyhose. Trim and tie off the excess fabric at the center of the wire frame.

Instead of pantyhose, you can also buy fabric that may suit you better, perhaps something light and fluttery like polyester organza. To attach the fabric, you should cut it a little larger than the wings, fold it over the edges of the wire frame, and secure it with hot fabric glue.

The wire frame wings are secured to your back with one or two big safety pins that will go through the fabric and around the wires at the center of the frame.

Fast wings with poster board

To avoid fabric shopping or struggling with pantyhose, you can take the poster board route to making wings. Get two sheets of poster board. On the first sheet draw the shape of the wing you desire. Be sure to leave a flat section that will lie along your back. Cut out this wing and then use it as a stencil to cut out a matching wing from the other piece of pasteboard. (If you are making small wings you could likely make them from a single sheet of poster board.)

After cutting out both wings, use a hole punch to make two holes along the flat edge of each wing. With ribbon or string, tie the wings together and then fashion shoulder straps to attach the wings like a backpack.

Decorative wings

With either approach to making wings for your Halloween costume, you will likely want to decorate them. You can use glue and glitter, fabric paint, stickers, markers, glow in the dark tape, feathers, and anything else your creative mind comes up with. The basic rule will be to keep everything lightweight because you do not want your wings sagging or breaking.