It all started with a desire to make my son a homemade Muppets Animal costume. After I looked at a photo of the band from my album, I realized I had to make the entire band (minus Ralph). We fit perfectly- I would be Janice, the guitarist: my son, Animal: My boyfriend, Dr. Teeth: And his two sons, Zoot the saxophonist, and Floyd the other guitarist. I started with my head which is the only one made from a bike helmet. The others have the foundation of baseball helmets and are much more comfortable! I started the other four heads on a Thursday night and did not stop but to sleep for about four hours each night till Sunday night. A few scratches from the chicken wire and a second degree burn from the hot glue gun and they were done! I still cannot believe I did this from looking a a picture from an album cover! We may be renting ourselves out for birthday parties! We have had a lot of fun with these costumes this year!

Submitted by Alice Frump, Indianapolis, IN

I created Animal from the Muppets for my son to wear. He had a blast running around, skateboarding, dancing and being goofy because nobody knew who he was. I started with a baseball helmet, some foam, fabric, lots of glue sticks, felt, fake chain, drum sticks, orange shirt, gloves and sports socks ands some other old clothes we shredded to complete the look. Feather boas and fake fur were also used for the hair and eyebrows.

Submitted by Twila, Snohomish, WA

Bear costumes are one of the most popular types of animal costumes, for both kids and adults. Bear costumes for babies and toddlers are incredibly cute, making them a trendy choice among kids and parents. There are so many types of bear costumes to choose from, based on what type of bear you want to dress up like. If you’re going for a cute look for kids you could wear a teddy bear costume, a Care Bear costume or a Winnie The Pooh costume. Even bear costumes based on certain types of bears can be very cute. A panda bear costume, koala bear costume or polar bear costume can be adorable for a small child.

Many bear costumes are inspired from kids’ TV shows and movies like Kung Fu Panda, Winnie the Pooh or even Fozzy the Bear from the Muppets. Some other common sources of inspiration for bear costume ideas include the Care Bears and Little Bear. Of course not every bear costume for kids comes from TV and movies. Some come from books and stories, such as a group costume of Goldie Locks and the Three Bears.

Of course not ever bear costume is cute and cuddly. A grizzly bear costume could actually look quite scary with long claws and big teeth. Even a black bear costume could be quite intimidating. Of course if you want to go very scary with a bear costume you could wear an evil Teddy bear costume that’s designed to look like a deranged child’s toy.

If we didn’t know any better we’d think these were actual muppets, not giant muppet band costumes… good thing there are people in the background for a frame of reference.

Kermit & Miss Piggy make a great couples costume idea for Muppets fans. In this case the guy dressed wore a Miss Piggy costume and the girl wore a Kermit the Frog costume.

Muppet costumes are always great for groups of friends, especially friends who have such different personalities. Check out these funny homemade Swedish Chef, Beaker, Gonzo and Animal costumes. (Gonzo is even holding a little Camilla!)

A group of us went out as the muppets this year, and my husband’s favourite is Animal! It took a lot of time to put together, and all the supplies were from thrift and dollar stores. He was even committed enough to paint his whole body bright orange! We were the hit of the party all night, everyone loves the muppets!

Submitted by Melissa McIntosh, Comox, BC

Some friends and I wanted to do an awesome group costume this year- the winning idea was the Muppets! My Beaker costume is entirely homemade from supplies I found at thrift and dollar stores. I already had the clothes and the lab coat from school. The head base is just a big piece of poster board rolled up. I hot-glued on big craft styrofoam balls for eyes, and cut the nose out of a piece of foam then wrapped it in orange craft felt. The hair is a couple of orange plastic leis. The whole thing can be made for under $10 and we were the hit of the party! Everyone was coming up asking if they could have their picture taken with me all night!

Submitted by Melissa McIntosh, Comox, BC

Bork Bork Bork! I first off started with white Antron fleece, which is the fleece they use to make actual Muppets, then dyed it in a washing machine with koala brown and rose pink to get it a flesh color. I sewed the head together by hand. I had some left over brown fur from another project and I used that for the hair. I made his chef hat freehand without a pattern. Also used fleece for his hands. I serendipitously had the blue striped T shirt already and I found the apron, and kitchen utensils. I had to make the red bowtie myself, it snaps in the back since I didn’t want to tie it properly. Enjoy!

Submited by wayne,

Submited by Wayne Kaa,

Not quite full costumes, but certainly more than just plain hats, Muppet Lids Hats let you show off your love for your favorite Muppets. These fun accessories feature embroidered faces of the beloved Jim Henson characters. While cool hats on their own, they can make a quick costume if you pair them with a matching shirt. Kermit, Gonzo and Animal hats are available at Lids.com for $20.