DIY Outer Space Costume (2025)

This cute completely DIY outer space costume is out of this world! With just a fun few supplies you can make your own solar system!

So I guess I like abstract concept Halloween costumes instead of standard ones because in the last couple years Baby V has been a and a Butterfly Garden. Not just a butterfly or a rainbow. No, that would be too easy, ha!

And this year? She’s going as OUTER SPACE! Yes, that’s right, it’s a DIY Outer Space Costume! Her costume is literally the universe. Right before everything closed last spring, her class did a unit on astronauts and space that included a pretend trip to the moon (they wore their bike helmets, snow boots and climbed into a rocket/tent) and she absolutely loved it. So we went with it.

And again, here is my standard Halloween costume disclaimer. If you ENJOY making costumes, go for it. I like it. It’s fun for me. And it’s also literally my job. But if your little one likes space and you get the Melissa & Doug astronaut costume out of your dress-up box and call it day, that’s ok too!

Honestly, I don’t think we are actually even going trick-or-treating this year anyway. Our area gets really crowded, so she’s going to wear this costume for like an hour, but that’s ok. She likes it. I like it. And my days of “suggesting” the costume idea are rapidly dwindling… Nooooo….

Also this one was easy and I got buy some new craft supplies that I’d never used before (shocking) so that was extra fun anyway. So let’s get started and I’ll show you how to make your own DIY outer space costume!

Outer Space Costume supplies

• Black clothes or pajama set
• Black tutu (optional)
• Silver sparkle fabric paint spray
• 1 inch silver glitter stars
• Chameleon color changing heat transfer vinyl
• Iron
• Scissors and/or craft knife

Outer Space Costume Instructions

Note: I’m sorry some of these pictures are a bit blurry, one of those days, I guess. You should be able to get the idea!

1. First we’ll start by using the sparkle fabric paint spray to add the galaxy background. This is a new craft supply for me (I bought it myself, not sponsored or anything) and I was really pleasantly surprised to see that it is actually sparkly. I just assumed it would be just shiny metallic. But it’s got a glittery finish to it. It is also VERY stinky, so do this outside! I recommend testing out this spray on some scrap cardboard or an old grocery bag so you can see how fast it comes out. I actually wanted a little bit of fine spray and some big drips and dots so I practiced how to get that effect with normal spraying from high above for the mist and then by barely pushing the spray top at all so only drips came out (so basically I was using the spray can wrong to make it drippy).
2. Lay your black clothes out on top of some scrap cardboard or a drop cloth and spray them. Follow the directions for drying time on the spray and then flip them over and do the other side. Try and get a combination of misty galaxies and bigger drippy stars.
3. In the end I also sprayed the tutu in the same way because I wanted it all to look uniform, so you should do that during this step as well. Just be careful, tutus blow away in the wind easily! (Found that out the hard way, ha!)
4. I decided to try heat transfer vinyl to make the planets, which surprisingly, I have not used before. First I picked something round to use for planets. I had a candle lid, my camera lens cap and a salt shaker for three different sized planets.
5. I made a template by tracing the round shape on regular paper and then drawing the planet’s rings.
6. Then I cut out JUST the ring shape to make a planet ring template.
7. Trace the circle shape onto the back of the vinyl and then cut it out (or cut right around your circle shape with a craft knife or scissors if you feel confident) to make each main planet.
8. Then lay the paper ring template on the back of another color of vinyl and cut that out as well. You may need to trim it up afterwards to keep the edges smooth.
9. Follow the directions to iron the heat transfer vinyl to your black clothes. I had to do the planets first, then peel off the clear plastic from the front of the vinyl and then repeat with the rings on top. It is a good idea to make sure the vinyl never directly touches the surface of your iron. A pressing cloth or something similar helps. But again, follow the directions that came with your heat transfer vinyl!
10. When your planets are added you can add the sparkly stars to your pants and shirt as well. Follow the directions on your iron-on stars as well. Mine required me to peel off a white backing but leave the clear plastic on the front. I also used a pressing cloth for these.
11. If you choose to add iron-on stars to your tutu, please be careful. I googled to find out whether you could iron tulle fabric and literally every article I clicked on said NO, THE TULLE WILL MELT!!! But I like to see things for myself so I tested it on an inner layer and….it was totally fine. So I guess if we’re talking about your grandma’s vintage tulle cocktail dress, don’t iron it. But for a cheap kid’s tutu, if you’re willing to give it a try, test it first on an inconspicuous area. Please don’t blame me if it melts! If you find you cannot iron on the stars to the tulle, you can attach them with fabric glue or craft glue. I would not use hot glue, it’s too heavy. If you do use glue, put some wax or parchment paper behind a single tulle layer so you don’t get glue all over and the star doesn’t stick to the table underneath the tulle.

And that’s it! Enjoy your DIY outer space costumes, it’s the cutest costume in the universe!

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