14 DIY Dog & Owner Halloween Costume Ideas In 2024 (With Pictures)
By Misty Layne
Updated on
For many, Halloween is the best time of year (because who doesn’t love getting to dress up and pretending to be someone else?). But if you’re a dog owner, it’s double the fun since not only do you get to dress up, but so does your dog! And while you can dress your dog up as anything, having a dog and owner Halloween costume is one of the most adorable things to do.
There are plenty of Halloween costumes you could go with if you’re doing a dog and owner one, so to help you determine what would be best for you and your pup, we’ve gathered 14 DIY dog and owner Halloween costume ideas. Most of these are fairly easy, but some will take a little bit of work. Keep reading to find the perfect Halloween costume for yourself and your favorite canine!
1. Moana and Te Fiti
| Materials: | Dress for the dog; flower crown and giant leaves for yourself |
| Difficulty Level: | Easy |
If you and your pup are Disney fans, this idea is cute! You can dress your dog up as Moana while you go as Te Fiti. It’s a relatively simple costume idea, as you only need a few items. If you want to go all in on Te Fiti, you might also need to grab a wig or dye your hair. And you can get the Moana dress by incorporating some of your wardrobe or thrifting what you need. It’s a genuinely adorable costume idea that should be a breeze!
2. Dorothy and Toto (or the Cowardly Lion)
| Materials: | Lycra and faux fur for lion’s mane for the dog; gingham fabric and pattern for dress and a basket for yourself |
| Difficulty Level: | Moderate |
This woman had several great costumes throughout the years, but the Wizard of Oz one is our favorite. And it can work with both small and large dogs! If your dog is on the smaller side, they can play Toto to your Dorothy; just put them in a basket and carry them around! If your pup is too large for that, they can play the role of the Cowardly Lion. Making a lion’s mane for your pet out of faux fur is only moderately difficult (unless you don’t know how to sew; in that case, you may want to buy a lion’s mane), and a dog playing a lion is super cute. The Dorothy dress will probably be the hardest to make, but it should be easy to find a pattern for it.
3. Cowboy and Horse
| Materials: | Cowboy hat and neckerchief for the dog; saddle, felt, headband, and hooves for yourself |
| Difficulty Level: | Easy |
This is one of our favorite dog and owner Halloween costumes we’ve encountered because it plays with expectations. After all, most people would expect a human cowboy and a dog dressed as a horse, right? (And you could definitely switch them, if you prefer.) But the switch here makes this costume tons of fun! It also shouldn’t be too difficult to put together (though you will need to find a horse saddle; that might be a bit hard if you don’t have friends with horses or a place nearby where you can rent one). But the cowboy costume for your dog is simple; you just need a neckerchief and a cowboy hat (kids’ size, probably). The hardest thing about your outfit will probably be the hooves. You may be able to make them out of some fabric without too much trouble, but you may also need to find some hooves like these somewhere. The horse ear headband will only require horse ears made of felt and some glue to put them on the headband!
4. Harry Potter and Patronus
| Materials: | Glasses & pipe cleaner, tie, and robe for the dog; white face paint, white dress, fairy lights, and animal headband for yourself |
| Difficulty Level: | Easy |
Expecto patronum! This costume really isn’t all that difficult, and it’s an adorable idea. We think the most challenging part of this costume will be keeping the glasses on your dog! Having pipe cleaner to make Harry’s scar was an excellent idea, and we really love the fairy lights that give the Patronus its shine (you can find battery-operated fairy lights for this!). If you’re good with a sewing machine, you can likely find a pattern for a kid’s Harry Potter robe that will work for your dog; otherwise, you should be able to wing it with a sweater and tie. If you’re really feeling handy, you could even make a little wand for your pup out of wood or clay!
5. Little Red Riding Hood and Grandma
| Materials: | Scarf, glasses, and shower cap for the dog; black dress, red apron, red cape, and basket for yourself |
| Difficulty Level: | Easy |
You totally expected that to read “Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf”, didn’t you? That was our first reaction, but this fun little twist on the classic Little Red dog and owner costume is adorable! Plus, it’s so easy! You probably have a lot of the materials on hand already, so you really only need to make the cape (unless you have one lying around). That will require a bit of sewing to put a hood and ties on a piece of fabric, but it shouldn’t be too challenging.
6. Peter Pan and Tinkerbell
| Materials: | Tutu, flimsy fabric, and wig for the dog; green leggings, cut-up green shirt, belt, fake sword, and knit cap for yourself |
| Difficulty Level: | Easy |
Another Disney classic! This will probably work better if you have a small dog (although the thought of a Tinkerbell Husky does make us laugh). But it’s a relatively simple costume to put together. Unless you’re super handy with the sewing machine, you’ll probably want to purchase an itty-bitty tutu for your pup, then simply cut out wings from the flimsy fabric and sew them onto the tutu. You’ll also need to find a tiny wig (so cute!!), though we think the costume will work equally as well without it. For yourself, you’ll need to grab some leggings and cut up a shirt. You’ll also need to find a toy sword from somewhere (or make yourself a wooden one!).
7. Bumblebee and Ladybug
| Materials: | Red fabric, black fabric, and pattern for the dog; yellow tutu, black bodysuit, yellow poster board, elastic bands, pipe cleaner, fuzzy balls, and headband for yourself |
| Difficulty Level: | Moderate |
How cute is this? What better way to celebrate your friendship with your canine than by going as best buggies for Halloween? This costume will take more effort than most others on this list since you’ll need to sew the ladybug costume for your pet. Once you find a pattern, though, it shouldn’t be too difficult to sew a little red coat, then put black dots on it. You won’t be doing any sewing for yourself (unless you want to make a tutu out of flimsy fabric), but you will need to put together your bumblebee wings by taking some yellow poster board (or something similar) and attaching them to elastic bands that will fit over your shoulders. You can probably make the bumblebee headband with some pipe cleaners and those little fuzzy balls you use in craft projects, but it should be easy enough to find a pre-made one if you prefer.
8. Steve Irwin and Crocodile
| Materials: | Dark green tank or sweater (with hood), white and red felt, and large googly eyes for the dog; tan pants, green shirt, green jacket, and hat for yourself |
| Difficulty Level: | Easy |
This dog’s crocodile costume was clearly bought, but making your own little crocodile shouldn’t be too much trouble. You’ll need a dark green dog tank or sweater to start (but they must have a hood!). You can use the white and red felt to make crocodile teeth and the top of the mouth to attach to the hood of your pet’s tank or sweater. Then add some extra big googly eyes on top! Your costume will be much easier since you just need to raid your closet to find tan and dark green clothing, plus a hat.
9. Hot Sauce and Taco
| Materials: | Yellow yarn and fabric (green, yellow, red, and white) OR felt (yellow, green, brown, orange, red) for the dog; white dress, hot sauce, white dress, and red flower crown for yourself |
| Difficulty Level: | Difficult |
This pup’s taco costume is rather fancy since it’s crocheted, and if you have the skills, you can absolutely crochet a taco shell for your dog, too. You’re basically just making a little yellow coat for your pet, then attaching green fabric to the top for lettuce, then cutting up the rest of the fabric to look like tortilla strips before sewing them onto the top as well. However, if crochet is not your thing, you can recreate this cute taco costume using only felt (and without sewing!). The costume for yourself will be much simpler since you only require a white dress and red flowers on your head. You can either make a flower crown with some fake flowers and wire or take a headband and attach flowers if a crown seems too difficult. And don’t forget your bottle of hot sauce!
10. Elmo and Cookie Monster
| Materials: | Blue shirt, blue tutu, poster board (brown, black, and white) and markers for the dog; fuzzy red onesie, Styrofoam balls, black felt, and white and orange fabric for yourself |
| Difficulty Level: | Moderate |
What’s cuter than Elmo from Sesame Street? Elmo and Cookie Monster! This is a super adorable costume to do with your dog and it’s only moderately difficult to make. You need a basic blue shirt and blue tutu for your pup to start (though with a longer shirt, you could probably get away with no tutu). Then, you need some poster board to make cookies, eyes, and mouth for your little monster. Cut out some whole and partially eaten “cookies” from the brown poster board and add chocolate chips with markers. Then, cut out an all-black mouth, plus white eyes (you can add pupils with black marker). Next, stick all of that onto your dog’s blue shirt!
For yourself, you need a basic red (fuzzy) onesie, to which eyes and a nose will be added. For those, you’re simply going to take Styrofoam balls and cover them in fabric (orange for the nose and white for the eyes). Add a bit of black felt to the eyes for pupils, add it all to the top of your onesie, and you’re ready to go!
11. Cruella de Vil and Dalmatians
| Materials: | Dog-safe hair chalk for the dog; black dress, black and white tights (optional), black and white faux fur coat, red shoes, red gloves, paint brush, black and white paint, black and white ribbon, and temporary hair chalk or dye for yourself |
| Difficulty Level: | Moderate |
The dog part of this costume is a breeze. You either need a Dalmatian or need to make your dog into one by adding black spots with dog-safe hair chalk! The Cruella costume is only a tad bit more complicated. The black dress you probably have; black and white tights may be more difficult (though we feel those could be optional for adults). The black and white faux fur coat will likely be the most troublesome to find. We’d suggest hunting through thrift stores for that. Then, you just need shoes, gloves, and a cigarette holder. You can make a cigarette holder using the end of a paintbrush, a little paint, and a bit of ribbon! And though this little girl doesn’t have Cruella’s signature white and black hair, you can easily accomplish that look with some temporary dye or hair chalk.
12. Vampire and Vampire
| Materials: | White scarf, black and red material, and red hair chalk for the dog; black dress, black tights, and fake blood for yourself |
| Difficulty Level: | Easy |
Vampires and Halloween just go together, so this is a fabulous dog and owner Halloween costume! It’s also another that isn’t too challenging to make. You simply need a white scarf with a bit of fake blood thrown onto it for your pup, red hair chalk to put some “blood” around their mouth, and some black and red material you can sew together to make a little vampire cape for them. For yourself, you need a black dress and some black tights (this person’s dress has trim on it, but we think you could get away with a plain black dress; you could also add some red trim onto a pre-existing dress easily enough). Then, throw some fake blood on yourself, and you’re good to go!
13. Beekeeper and Bee
| Materials: | Yellow and black striped shirt, sheer yellow fabric, and black fabric marker for the dog; jeans, shirt, hat, and netting for yourself |
| Difficulty Level: | Easy |
This is a super fun Halloween costume for dog and owner, and a breeze to put together! You can probably find a yellow and black striped shirt for your dog (and if not, you can add black stripes to a yellow shirt or vice versa with felt). Then, you simply need to cut out some wings from sheer yellow fabric and color in some black dots. Your costume is even easier than that! To get that beekeeper look, just attach some netting to a hat like the one in the picture, then throw on some jeans and a shirt.
14. Football Player and Referee
| Materials: | Black and white striped shirt and black thread for the dog; football jersey for yourself |
| Difficulty Level: | Easy |
If you’re feeling a little lazy this Halloween, this costume is quick to throw together. Find a black and white striped shirt for your pup (vertical stripes, not horizontal), then stitch the word “referee” onto the back (or just stick a piece of posterboard with the word “referee” on there). For yourself, grab a football jersey and toss it on, then maybe grab a football to carry around, too. That’s it; you’re ready!
Final Thoughts
Halloween is always a fun time, but it will only be better if you and your favorite canine have dog and owner costumes! Most of the costume ideas on this list are pretty easy to throw together; only a couple will require a bit of sourcing clothing items or sewing. Of course, there are also tons of other dog and owner costumes you could go with, but we definitely think these are some of the cutest!
See Also:
- DIY Halloween Costumes for Cats To Make Today (With Pictures)
- Adorably Spooky DIY Halloween Dog Toy Plans (With Pictures)
Featured Image Credit: otsphoto, Shutterstock
