How to Make a DIY Ice Cream Sundae Costume

Cut the Felt Sprinkles

First, draw an enlarged sprinkle (essentially a rounded rectangle) onto one of the felt pieces, and then cut it out with a pair of sharp scissors. Then, trace the shape onto your felt to create eight sprinkles in each felt color. Cut them out, and set them aside.

Plan the Fringe Placement

Mimic the shape of a splash of hot fudge by swirling the brown fringe around the dress or shirt collar. Lay it out, creating drippy "globs" as you go. Adjust until you're happy with the swirl shape.

Glue on the Fringe

Use your hot glue gun to apply the fringe directly to the dress or shirt in your desired swirl shape. Trim any excess fringe once it’s fully glued, and secure the ends with an extra bit of glue. Fluff the fringe, so it lays evenly.

Plan the Sprinkle Placement

Lay the felt sprinkles you cut out onto the dress. Be sure to vary the colors and orientation to capture that random, just-sprinkled look. Concentrate more sprinkles toward the top of the dress or shirt and fewer as you reach its hem. And don't forget to save some sprinkles for the back if you wish to decorate it.

Glue on the Sprinkles

Once you have a look you love, affix the felt sprinkles to the clothing with a bit of hot glue. Secure the edges with a little extra glue to ensure longevity for your costume.

Then, if you're decorating the back, flip over the clothing and repeat the sprinkle arranging and gluing process.

Embellish the Leggings

With a paint shade of brown that's slightly darker than your tan leggings or pants, use a stiff paintbrush to paint a waffle cone-inspired criss-cross pattern onto the clothing. Repeatedly stamp the loaded paintbrush to create a soft, diffused set of diagonal crossing lines. This will give more of a realistic textured look.

Let the paint dry, and then repeat the process to carry the lines onto the back of the clothing.

Paint the Styrofoam Sphere

Using a clean paintbrush, apply cherry red paint to the styrofoam ball. (Acrylic paint works well here.) Add a second or third coat as needed for an opaque finish, allowing the styrofoam to dry completely between coats.

If you wish, you can finish the cherry with a white highlight made from a dash of puffy fabric paint.

Assemble the Cherry Headband

Twist the pipe cleaner into a curved stem and leaf, and then hot glue it to the top of the red styrofoam ball.

Then, measure the length around the wearer’s head and trim a piece of elastic to that measurement. Glue the elastic ends together to form a loop.

Finally, affix the cherry to the scrap of white fabric (to resemble a dollop of whipped cream). Then, secure the entire piece to the elastic with hot glue.

Put It All Together

Once everything is dry, the wearer can put on the dress/shirt, leggings/pants, and cherry headpiece. Finish the look with a colorful pair of shoes and red lipstick if you wish.