Fall Woodland Fairy Costume for Renaissance Festival!

Hayley Sauceda
by Hayley Sauceda
$50
1 Day
Easy

Fall is my absolute favorite time of year... Mostly because it means REN FEST IS COMING! My boyfriend and I have a tradition of going at least once a year, usually more. Here's how I transformed my sister, Hannah, into a woodland fairy for the fall Renaissance Festival! icon


Fall Leaf Skirt


First, I grabbed this awesome pack of fall leaves from Amazon. (The assortment of vivid and earthy colors in this pack were PERFECT for what I was going for. Cannot recommend them enough!)

I then grabbed this poufy tulle skirt. (I recommend going for a red, orange, brown, or yellow skirt to be a little more cohesive but at the time this was the only thing available.


It really isn't too noticeable except for the waist-band but that's me being a perfectionist icon

I worked my way up the skirt in sections. Putting down a line of hot glue and and placing 5-6 and then placing the row above. Always going from bottom to top so that the leaves have a natural scale effect. I used gorilla hot glue -- which I really recommend.


That's it for the skirt! It's a time-consuming process but it's very simple AND worth the effort!


On to the wings:

Fairy Wings


I wanted these wings to be a mix between butterfly wings and fall leaves. SO I grabbed some thin poster-board and drew 2 leaf shapes per wing, one about twice the size of the other.


And cut them out.

I then grabbed these paint colors from Michaels.


  1. Antique Gold
  2. Pumpkin
  3. Dark Red
  4. Red Rust

In a paint palette, I poured the 4 paints leaving a space in between each. (The original colors are marked with a star.) Then in the empty spots, I mixed half and half of the two colors around it to create a really gentle ombre.

Starting from the tip of the wings, I painted the very darkest color and then worked my way down the wing, getting lighter as I went down. Always going back up into the previous colors as I went to create a smoother transition and more artistic look.


Repeat this for all 4 wing pieces on both sides.

Tip: Personally, I found the bright yellow at the bottom to be a little flat so I brought streaks of the orange into to create dimension and I'm SO glad I did!

Now for what I affectionately call "Magic in a Bottle". Martha Stewart's liquid gilding is THE BEST! It's bright, reflective, genuinely metallic, and goes on smoooooth.

I mean just look at that application! icon


I grabbed a small brush and on all 4 wings drew on some simplistic leaf veins.

To give the wings some sparkle (and seal them) I sprayed them with some of Rustoleum's glitter blast. If you love the look of glitter but hate the mess that comes with it this spray is perfect!

Lastly, I glued the two wings together using some more of my Gorilla hot glue.



The Final Reveal!


EEK! I am so thrilled with how this costume turned out, two simple projects came together to make a really gorgeous piece.

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