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Donkey from Shrek: a DIY Halloween costume made from clothes you already own, worn by Arlo, AI-generated model

AI-generated picture to show the idea. Yours will look handmade.

Donkey from Shrek

A DIY Donkey costume is mostly a grey outfit you can pull together from clothes you own: grey top, grey jeans, brown trainers, a card pair of long ears on a headband and a tail pinned on at the back. It costs about $15 and takes 40 minutes. It is also great fancy dress for a pair or a group.

TIME
40 min
COST
about $15
SKILL
Easy

What you need

  • A grey long-sleeved top and grey jeans or trousers
  • Dark brown trainers or boots
  • Grey or white card or felt for a belly patch
  • Grey card and a headband for the ears
  • Grey wool, a grey scarf or a strip of grey fabric for the tail
  • Safety pins and double-sided tape
  • Pink or white card for the inside of the ears

How to make it

  1. 1

    Put on the grey top and grey trousers. Check they are close in colour, as this carries the whole costume.

  2. 2

    Cut a rounded belly patch about 25 cm wide from white or pale grey felt or card. Stick it to the front of your top with double-sided tape or pins.

  3. 3

    Cut two long ears about 30 cm tall from grey card, each narrowing to a rounded tip. Cut slightly smaller pink or white shapes and glue them on the inner side.

  4. 4

    Fold a small tab at the bottom of each ear, tape it firmly to the headband, and bend the tips so the ears flop slightly outward.

  5. 5

    Make the tail by plaiting three lengths of grey wool, or bunching a grey scarf, and tie a darker tuft at the end. Pin it to the back of your trousers.

  6. 6

    Wear brown trainers for the hooves, or tape brown paper over the toes.

  7. 7

    Practise a fast, chatty voice and a big grin.

Make it better

  • Match the grey of the top and trousers as closely as you can, since mismatched greys look like two different outfits.
  • Use two small pins for the tail, so it moves but does not fall off.
  • A friend dressed as a green ogre makes a good pair, and you can then talk a lot more than they do.

Questions

How do I make a Donkey costume from clothes I already own?

Wear grey on top and bottom with brown shoes. Add card ears on a headband and a tail pinned at the back.

Is this an official Donkey costume?

No. It is a homemade, unofficial costume inspired by the talking donkey in Shrek. It uses no official merchandise.

How do I make the ears stand up properly?

Use thicker card and fold a tab at the base of each ear. A bit of tape on the back of the headband holds them upright.

Can two people do this together?

Yes. One of you can add a green top and brown trousers as a simple ogre, and you can stand together.

Unofficial. Donkey and the Shrek names belong to their respective owners, and we are not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by them. The names are used only to describe this homemade parody costume.

Wear it in front of your own haunted CCTV

Upload four photos of your house and Cursed Cam turns them into a night-time security monitor where something is very wrong. Put it on the TV by the door.

Make my monitorSee how it works

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