Voodoo Doll Costumes

Who doesn’t love Halloween? Get-togethers, candy, food, drinks and a fun day for both kids and adults that’ll be remembered for a long time, Halloween is one of the most celebrated holidays worldwide. Before the fun festivities of Halloween begin there’s the minor issue of preparing for the holiday. Hanging up decorations, carving pumpkins and buying packets of candy for trick or treating kids are all time-consuming parts of Halloween preparations. However, sometimes the most nerve-wracking part of preparing for Halloween is deciding what costume to wear. If you require suggestions for this year’s Halloween, why don’t you take scary to the next level with a voodoo doll costume?

It hardly gets more ‘Halloween’ than voodoo doll costumes. Voodoo dolls have been around for centuries and although they come in different form and sizes, they generally describe an effigy into which pins are inserted and their history is rooted in witchcraft and magic practices. Although the exact origins of voodoo dolls remain unclear, their history can be traced back to magic practices in Benin, Haiti and Louisiana. It is said that slaves from West Africa brought their voodoo tradition and practices with them to Europe and America and that’s how voodoo dolls grew in popularity worldwide especially in Louisiana.

Voodoo dolls are human-shaped figurines which are said can be connected to a person through magic. These dolls can then be used to harm anyone connected to them by putting pins into the doll. History, however, suggests that using voodoo dolls for revenge or harmful purposes originated in Europe and the Middle East and the West Africans who brought them used them only for healing purposes. The figurines have also been said to be hung in cemeteries and used in contacting deceased loved ones and bringing good fortunes to those they left behind. Although different parts of the world have their different uses for them, the one constant of voodoo dolls is their scary look which makes them a perfect Halloween costume.

Voodoo dolls became popular during Halloween due to their constant depiction in modern pop culture such as movies, book, songs etc. Chucky is one of the most famous movies involving an evil doll and its popularity helped skyrocket the use of voodoo dolls costumes during Halloween. Also, movies like Annabelle and Child’s Play are popular movies with dolls. Now, Voodoo dolls are sold as souvenirs at holiday destinations and are still popular in religious and magic circles. Around Halloween, voodoo doll costume and figurines become more popular and in demand at stores as people prepare for the scary holiday.

For DIY enthusiasts, you can make a perfect voodoo doll costume at home if you don’t want to spend money on a Halloween outfit. If you’re already handy at DIY projects, then this should be a breeze but if you’re still a novice, then follow this short tutorial closely and you should be fine. To begin, you’ll need to gather all the necessary materials, like red fabric for the heart, foam balls, face paint, pins, and a glue gun. For ladies, you’ll need black leggings, and a knee-length dress preferably a darker colored one like brown or ash. For guys, a shirt and shorts or pants would do.

The first step is dipping the foam balls in red paint and leaving them to dry. You should have 5-7 foam balls all on small sticks or wires which you can attach to the heart as voodoo dolls have. Once the foam balls are drying, cut out two large heart shapes of the same size from the red fabric. You can print a heart shape from the internet if you want a perfect cut out. Next, get a small piece of foam, place it on top of one heart shape, then place the other heart over it so that the foam lies in between the two heart shapes then sew the edges of the two hearts together. Now, you should have a heart design with some foam inside it. Attach the heart shape onto your gown or shirt using thread or a pin.

Now comes the slightly more difficult part of designing your dress to look like a voodoo doll. To do this, use a sewing machine to make semi-large “X” patterns all over your gown or shirt and shorts depending on your gender. You can make the patterns diagonal or horizontal but make sure they cover most of your dress. This could take a while but it’s an important part of looking like a voodoo doll. When that’s done, it’s time to distress the dress to make it look old and dirty like that of a voodoo doll. To do this, you can use some black and brown eye shadow or charcoal and stain the dress in random areas and use scissors or razor blade to cut the dress in certain places too.

When your dress is complete, the final part of your costume is the makeup and hairdo. For the makeup, there’s lots of room for creativity so you can look up voodoo doll costumes for some ideas on what to do. You can paint your face white with black or red around the eyes. If you want to get more detailed, paint little “X” patterns from your forehead down to your chin to look more like a stitched doll. Your hair can be scattered and rough as it will definitely add to the scary look or you could tie it into a ponytail if you please. The best suggestion for hair and makeup however is just searching other people’s voodoo doll outfits and picking a makeup and hair pattern you think will suit you and your DIY skill level.

At this point, your costume is complete and all that’s left is putting it all together. First, put on your gown and leggings or shirt and shorts and make sure you’ve dirtied and distressed them. Next, apply the makeup if you haven’t already and do your hair as you please. Then attach the dried foam balls to the heart on the chest of your dress by stick the pin on them into the foam in the heart. You can buy a small voodoo doll to carry around with you as an accessory, but it’s optional. Lastly, put on some black shoes and wear some socks if you wish and with that, your voodoo doll outfit is 100% complete.