How to make an Elsa Costume? My girls loved Frozen and there are no Elsa costumes to be found….anywhere. We are in desperate need of an Elsa costume. My girls have Elsa on the brain and want to eat, sleep and be Elsa. We are living in a Frozen state of mind over here and I am not even referring to the below zero temperatures and 4 foot of snow in my front yard. I am talking all things Elsa, Olaf, Anna, Sven and Cristophe. I am talking Let it Go, all day every day. I am talking sisterly love and all things winter.

I am talking I need to know how to make an Elsa costume right now!

My Bella is turning 9 next Monday and so we are throwing the Frozen party to end all parties because what else do you do for the soon to be 9-year-old who is gaga for Elsa and completely obsessed with her own #Disneyside. Every year, the girls have had themed birthday parties and every year there have been costumes. Yes, Costumes! There have been Fairies, Dora, Fancy Nancy, Pink Poodles in Paris, Moulin Rouge, Alice in Wonderland, 60’ peace and Love and a pajama party. We’ve had Princesses, Tinker Belle, Fancy Nancy again, Madeline, Rocker chicks and butterfly magic. Costumes .every.single.time and sometimes even a Harlem Shake.

This year, we had to have Frozen themed Party and Bella wanted an Elsa costume. Only, if you have been online or to the Disney store, you know that there are no Frozen costumes left unless you go to eBay and pay with your first-born.  I’d prefer to keep my first-born. Think I could just hire Elsa to come reign over this Frozen soiree and use her magic? That would make life so much easier for all of us and absolutely unforgettable for my own little princess.

READ ALSO: What is Disney Creator Days and How to Get Invited

My girls are both pretty tall so the only dress up dress that my 8-year-old can wear at 4’ 9” are Disney because they go up to size XL (if you buy them on grounds) but since we live in the middle of the country, we must improvise.

Last year, we started hitting garage sales and vintage stores in search of costumes from ballet productions, prom and wedding dresses. The girls have gotten some really beautiful dresses to play dress up in and make great costumes. Remember Halloween’s Magenta costume?

READ ALSO: Recipes for the Perfect Frozen Party

I am not a seamstress, wish I were, but I am creative and I can hand-stitch the hell out of anything and just so happens that I have a Mother-in-law who can sew anything. The only things that surpasses her sewing abilities is her imagination and her big heart.

So, we scoured our supply and found a beautiful prom dress that could be perfect except it was lavender. Everyone knows Elsa’s dress is that beautiful shimmery bluish/green. I set out to try to dye it.

I bought some Dylon dye in Bahama blue at Walmart. I went home, rinsed and drained the $3 garage sale prom dress. Followed the directions on the Dylon Dye ( mixed it with 4 cups of warm water to dissolve. Filled the sink up with lukewarm water and 4 teaspoons of salt, mixed well and submerged the entire dress into the sink. Then proceeded to mix well for 45 minutes. I used my hands. I suggest using rubber gloves. I did not and have the bluish hued hands to prove it.

I can tell you that I learned a valuable lesson; polyester prom dress shells do not dye. The lavender shell turned more of a grey silver (perfect in my mind) and all the lavender fabric flowers with sparkly glitter on the overlay turned that gorgeous bluish/greenish color of Elsa’s dress.  It looks amazing and only cost me $6.00.

READ ALSO: How to have a Quality Fashion Wardrobe on a Budget

The dress is strapless and Elsa’s has sleeves, so we are using silver sparkly gloves that come to just above my daughter’s elbow. The infamous sparkly cape? Well, while rummaging through fabric remnants at Grandma’s house we found the perfect 2.5 yards of sheer fabric with sparkly shimmer already on it. Grandma gave it a seam and made it into a cape that can easily attach to the back straps of Elsa’ dress.

To complete the look, I will be spraying Bella’s hair white and putting it into a loose French braid and she will be wearing silver sandals that she already had around the house.

The entire costume cost me $6.00 versus $200 on eBay. Even if you don’t just happen to have an old prom dress laying around the house for dress-up purposes, why not repurpose one of your old Bridesmaids outfits (God knows you’ll never wear it again), hit the local Goodwill or just use an old flower girl dress of your child’s. The dye I picked up matched the color perfectly. The packet says it dyes ½ pound to the color of on the package. The dress I dyed was 11 pounds and I only used one packet. It dyed it to the perfect shade.

We’re not all great seamstresses and I am here to tell you that with a little imagination and ingenuity, you can make all your child’s Frozen dreams come true. Now, to get started on my youngest’s Olaf costume. Oh, you thought she’d want to be Anna? Nope, she likes to break the mold. I’ll share her costume later this week and I will be showing all kinds of great crafts, decorating ideas and recipes to host your very own awesome Frozen party! I will also have plenty of photos this weekend with the complete hair, makeup and costume together. Can’t wait to share.

If you’ve made your own Elsa costume, feel free to leave a link to it in the comments!