Mickey ears are a Disneyland staple but sometimes the store bought ears just get a little boring. Making your own ears not only gives you a fun activity to do with friends but also a great unique, one of a kind look for your next Disney trip! After testing lots of ear making methods with my best friend Sarah we finally came up with the easiest way to make cute Instagram worthy ears.
What you need:
- Thin, sturdy headband. We found that thin, flat wire headbands work best because they keep their shape and are still light enough for all day wear.
- Circular object to shape your ears around
- Wire cutters
- Bendable but sturdy wire in a color of your choice. We chose gold, semi thick wire so it would be easy to bend but still visible in photos.
- Silk flowers in a color scheme of your choice. We chose to go “character inspired” with our color choices but you can pick out any colors to fit what you love. When shopping for flowers get a variety of sizes and styles so you can arrange them just like a real flower bouquet
- Ribbon in a complementing color to your flowers
- Hot glue and hot glue gun
How to make your ears:
Find a circular object like a mug or can to shape your wire around for your ears.Play around with a few sizes to see what looks best for your head. The good thing about custom ears is you can make them fit you exactly! Make them slightly larger than you think, about half the ear shape will be covered with flowers and you still want them to be visible.
- Cut 2 identical sized circles of wire and bend the ends outwardly so you have something to stick to the headband base. It will now look like a ¾ circle shape with arms.
- Put on your headband and, while looking in a mirror, mark where you want both your ears to be placed. Be careful, you don’t want to be a lopsided mouse!
- Hot glue the wire ears to the headband. Do one wire “arm” at a time and wrap the ribbon around it as you go for added support. As you go, wrap the entire headband in ribbon to secure the wire inside and make a seamless look.
- Cut your silk flowers from their stems and start experimenting with arrangements until you are happy with the layout. Before gluing, take a photo of your ears with the flowers laid on them so you will remember where everything goes!
- Secure everything to your headband with a
generous amount of hot glue. Don’t be afraid to layer flowers on top of one another to give it more volume. Experiment with mixing colors, styles of flowers and even extras like leaves, vines or sprigs of floral fillers. - Let the hot glue dry before putting on your ears! Then put them on and enjoy all the compliments you and your friends get around the park!