Looking for a DIY unicorn costume that feels whimsical rather than store-bought? This easy costume combines a colorful wig, handmade horn and ears, flowers, wings and comfortable white clothing to create a retro-glam unicorn look.

This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through one of these links, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.

We like to play dress up around here. If you were to just pop in on us, it’s likely you’d find me in a tiara, Ada in a cape and Eli wearing cat ears. Halloween is second only to Christmas for us. I always let Ada pick my costume because she has so much fun seeing me dressed up. She really wanted me to be Emily from the Corpse Bride (she had me dress up as Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas a few years ago and LOVED it) but I didn’t have time to pull the costume together. She picked a unicorn instead so I set out to make it happen. You could adapt this unicorn costume to be a My Little Pony, too!

Supplies for a DIY Unicorn Costume

• One colorful adult-size wig
• One matching child-size wig to use as the unicorn tail
• Crayola Air-Dry Clay
• One pipe cleaner
• Rust-Oleum metallic gold spray paint
• Krylon Glitter Blast spray paint in Golden Glow
• White acrylic craft paint
• Pink acrylic craft paint
• Artificial flowers or inexpensive flower headbands
• High-temperature glue gun
• High-temperature glue sticks
• White sweatshirt or comfortable white top
• White jogger pants or leggings
• Large safety pins for attaching the tail
• White angel wings
• Gold and blue eyeshadow
• Cosmetic glitter
• Face or nail-art gems
• Eyelash glue for attaching the gems
• False eyelashes
• Pink lipstick

Okay, let’s be honest here. I’m two-babies in and not in college anymore. I wasn’t feeling the unicorn options I had at the Halloween stores:

I envisioned something more whimsical with a retro-glam vibe like the characters from Fantasia. Except with more clothes…

I bought a blue adult-sized wig at Kmart and a matching child-sized wig to use as my tail. I originally found both wigs inexpensively at Kmart. Since Kmart stores have largely disappeared, look for colorful costume wigs online, at party stores or at Halloween retailers.

For the horn, I used Crayola Air-Dry Modeling Clay because it’s a little lighter than a baked clay like Sculpey. I kneaded a ball of clay until it was soft then molded a cone shape. To get the detail, I wrapped a pipe cleaner around the horn from top to bottom at an angle.

Make the Unicorn Horn and Ears

For the ears, I kneaded two balls and pressed them out with my thumbs until I had a nice shape. You have to just play with the clay until you get the look you want.

It’s best to let the clay dry for a few days if you can. Crayola recommends allowing the Air-Dry Clay approximately 72 hours to dry completely.

Once the clay was hard, I used Rustoleum Metallic Gold Spray Paint to paint the horn. Being a spray paint nerd, I was in the yard geeking out over the way this looked on the clay. I hit the horn with Krylon Glitter Blast spray paint in Golden Glow which looked awesome.

I painted the ears white with acrylic paint then kissed the inside with a little pink to give them dimension. I think the ears totally set the whole thing off.

Decorate the Unicorn Wig

For the flowers, I picked up a few flower headbands from the clearance section of Rue 21. I think I paid 50 cents for each of the three headbands I used. I ended up cutting off the elastic from the headbands and gluing the flowers to the wig.

Create the Tail and Outfit

You will definitely need a high temp glue gun for this project. I used a regular glue gun at first and ended up losing an ear and the horn. I picked up a high temp glue gun at Walmart for about $6 and loaded the glue on so everything would stay put. You want to make sure you glue the pieces to the cap and not hair. That will make everything more secure.

For the costume itself, I bought a white lace sweatshirt and cable fleece jogger pants. I wanted pieces that I’d wear again and these were both cute and comfy. We pinned the child-sized wig to the back of the pants to make my tail. I also bought a set of angel wings for about $12 at Walmart.

Add Glam Unicorn Makeup

For my makeup, I went pretty glam. I did a mix of gold and blue eyeshadow on my lids and then used eyelash glue to adhere jewels (from the nail art section) to my cheeks and temples. I did false eyelashes, kisses of glitter and some pretty pink lipstick to finish the look.

Do you love Halloween, too? Share your DIY costumes with me! I’d love to see what you’re making, friends!