So you want to be a cowboy...

I LOVE swaps! Like, I just love them! They're so much fun! But I love any excuse to get to dress up in costumes! My favorites are DIY costumes because they have so much more personality! (And you're not going to to run into 7 other people with the same exact costume!) For our first swap, the theme was Disney. I had such a hard time trying to figure out which Disney character to go as! I only had 3 days notice and a limited budget so I knew I would have to DIY my costume. I ended up going as Woody from Toy Story, which was good because out of my sorority I was the only Woody (but I had 4 Jessies).

For my costume I wore blue jean shorts (with a big brown belt), a plain yellow tshirt, a homemade cow print vest, cowgirl boots, red bandana, and a hat! I already had the shorts, boots, and belt. I got the yellow tshirt from Hobby Lobby for like $4 and a foam cowboy hat & red bandana for 99 cents each. 

To make the vest I bought a plain white tshirt (I went with a size smaller than I usually wear so it wouldn't be huge on me and fit more like a vest). If you want to paint on the vest, do that first! I painted a cow print (as best as I could, I'm no artist) on it to match Woody's vest. Let the paint dry completely and then you can start making the vest! First, cut the sleeves, hem and collar off of the vest. Trim down the sleeve holes to your preferred width. Second, I cut a line straight down the middle of the front of the shirt. If you want fringe, it's super simple! Cut strips about a half inch wide up to about 1/3 from the bottom. Once you get the strips cut, pull on each individual strip and it kind of "rolls up". This gets rid of the awkward cut lines, and this means that you don't have to cut them perfectly even! Be sure to pull on all of the places that you cut to get rid of jagged edges! And TADA, the vest is done! To complete the outfit I cut out a Sheriff's badge and wrote "Sheriff Woody" on it. To go the extra mile, I put duct tape on the bottom of my shoe and wrote "Andy" on it! 

Be sure to follow me on instagram: @haydenlee13 for more pictures and ideas!