DIY Cousin Itt (Halloween Prop)
In this post, we’re going to show you how to make a quick and inexpensive Cousin Itt Halloween Prop! He’s family-friendly and looks great, but he won’t scare the little ones!
If I had a dollar for every time Greg wanted to change his facial hair style, I would be richer than Bill Gates! This man just loves playing with his face. One month you’ll see him like this…
…and the next month he’ll be like this…
…and then a month after he’ll be like this!
Ooops – I must have mixed-up the pictures. Hahaha :-D. No, the squirrel on his face didn’t grow that far yet – and thank god it didn’t! LOL.
If you ever watched The Addams Family, you may recognize the one in the last picture: Cousin Itt – or should I say, our version of it (no pun intended :-D). I used to watch The Addams Family when I was a teen, and I really loved that TV show. Hence, at the beginning of this year when Greg had that squirrel camping on his face, he took me right back to Thursday evenings of my teen years. Good old days… anyway… that is why I thought I should make a Cousin Itt as this year’s “Greg-inspired Halloween project.” 😉
I know what you are thinking, but really trust me, this one is much better than last year’s “Greg inspired Halloween project” – hahaha 😀 If you didn’t check that one out yet please do so you’ll know why I say that this one is much better. LOL.
Oh, and be sure to check out this awesome Cousin Itt pathway light. I think you’re going to like it!
Ok, I think I’d better stop yapping, as I am sure you want to know how I made him, right? Cool! Let’s gather the supplies then, shall we?
DIY Cousit Itt SUPPLIES LIST
Affiliate links are provided below. Full disclosure here.
- Rafia/grass table skirting – I used two of these because I wanted our prop to be tall and full looking. If you use just a tall tomato cage and no floor lamps to make your prop taller, then only one table skirting should be enough. Here is a hint: Dollar Store hula skirts work just as well and they are much cheaper 😉
- A tomato cage
- Hot glue
- an old pair of sunglasses – if you don’t have an old pair, you can buy one from the Dollar Store like I did, or you can get this from Amazon.
- Derby hat – I bought mine from our local thrift store, but if you can’t find one, you can try these from Amazon.
- A pair of pliers
- An old floor lamp – as you can guess, this is optional. You see, my tomato cage was a small one, so I used a Put & Take find floor lamp to make my Cousin Itt look taller. But obviously you can achieve that with other things you may have at home, like a stool or maybe a taller tomato cage. 😉
First, I took the old cables out of the floor lamp.
Next, I spray painted the floor lamp to a lighter color, so it wouldn’t be as visible behind the grass skirt it was going to carry.
I let the paint dry for a day. The next day, I started working on the tomato cage. I turned the tomato cage upside down, and using a pair of pliers, I bent the wires inwards to turn them into hooks.
Once I bent them all, I hooked the tomato cage to the lamp base as shown in the picture below. This was only to lift the tomato cage from the floor and give the whole thing a bit more height. If you don’t have an old floor lamp, you can stand your tomato cage on a small stool, or you can use a taller tomato cage. 😉
Now we are getting to the real action: once my tomato cage was lifted from the floor, I started hot gluing the grass skirting to the second support ring on the tomato cage. I skipped the first support ring, as it was too close to the ground.
After hot gluing 2 rounds of grass skirting, I cut the rest of it to continue hot gluing on the second row (top row).
With the top part, the process was no different than before. I just kept hot gluing the grass skirting until I had none left.
Once I finished creating the main body, it was time to dress him up, so first I put his sunglasses on.
Then I put on his Derby hat, and with that, he was ready to go out in public. 🙂
Are you ready for the beauty shots?? Wow, look at him – he is fast! He already found a good looking lady to accompany him. Hahaha 😀
Ok, maybe it isn’t what I think it is… Looking at these whole set of beauty shots once again, I think Greg is up to some mischief – LOL.
*******
Skele-yap: Hey babes?! Come here, so I can show you how I want you to do this new project.
Cousin Itt: Crap. In a bit my babes! I’m still busy with the thousand other projects you already gave me!
Skele-yap: But babes, this is really important! Now, you know how you made that planter? Well, I want this one to look like that, but also a bit shorter and yada yada yada blah blah blah…
Cousin Itt: [Slaps himself. Pinches himself] Why haven’t I woken up? This is a dream, right? A nightmare? Oh crap, it’s real! Run!
Skele-yap: My babes – where are you going? We didn’t talk about the details yet! Look, now, if we do blah blah blaaaaahh…
Cousin Itt: I’m just gonna go stand over there. Too much sun over here – don’t worry, I’m still listening! Yeah, right. Tuning out in 3…2…1…
Skele-yap: [keeps detailing the project] blather, blather, blather, yammer, yammer, yammer…
Cousin Itt: Dangit, why won’t this old bat just shut the heck up?
Skele-yap: [constant yapping]
Cousin Itt: If I ignore her, will the yammering just go away? Maybe I should run and hide.
The Eyeball: Dude – you’re done for! There’s no running from her. Why do you think I’m just hanging here? If I don’t move, she won’t see me!
Cousin Itt: The eyeball is right. Maybe if I stand still, she’ll think I’m a statue, and she’ll go away!
Skele-yap: [Noise. Non-stop noisy noise]
Cousin Itt: If she just stopped jawboning for five minutes to make me a dry martini, this whole “I have a project for you” thing might be a little more bearable!
The eyeball: You need a good hiding spot – run, dude, run!
Cousin Itt: [thinking voice] Crap! Where can I hide? Where can I hide?
Skele-yap: [words words words – a never-ending stream of words]
Cousin Itt: Think! Think, you grass-brain! Where to hide, where to hide?
Cousin Itt: A-ha! I know where to hide!
Cousin Itt: Phew! That was a close one! But this spot is great – she’ll never find me here, hehehe 😀
I hope you liked our version of Cousin Itt! Considering that I was inspired by Greg’s squirrel, our Cousin Itt actually turned out pretty cute, right? No wonder Skele-yap was all over him. Hahahaha 😀
Handan, xo
*******
Before you leave, here are some more awesome Halloween prop ideas for you.
DIY Witch Legs (Grandin Road Inspired)
Apothecary Jars and Free Printable Labels
We love it when you share our posts on Facebook and Pinterest!
Cousin Its never looked so good – lol!
LOL – Thank you so much, Sara! 😀
love love this, that was a show my kids and i watched together, i wonder if hula skirts would work too? xx
Oh I am so glad they liked it! Hahaha 😀 He is funny looking isn’t he?
Hula skirts – yes of course they would work. Dollar store always have those hula skirts just about going into summer. I missed those this year, hence I had to get mine from Amazon. And as hula skirts pretty expensive on Amazon, I opted for these table skirts. Otherwise I was planning to use hula skirts too 😉 xx
Ha! found a couple of grass hula skirts in a box destined for the yard sale. No more- now we will have our own Cousin Itt! Now, should he be on the porch, in the graveyard or in the mad scientist’s lab….? Decisions, decisions!
I truly love your creativity and ingenuity! I am so glad I came across your blog! You two are a hoot!
Thank you so much, Sharon! Oh you are going to love this project! It is not only easy but the trick-or-treaters tend to love it! 😀
Hi Handan ,I loved the Adams Family,a boy at school used to call me Cousin It because of my long blonde hair ( it was twice as thick as it is now and almost white blonde ) i didn’t mind.Sadly he died a few years ago ,his dad an old family friend is in his 90’s and with the help of his nephew is still running the family undertakers. I will have to make this, my problem is storage space ,Wail ,sob ! So much to do in the garden and allotment and i want to be inside making Haloween stuff.
That is cool! I mean to be nicknamed as Cousin Itt because of your beautiful thick & long hair. Personally I love white hair, hence I am not dying my hair anymore and letting the whites grow 😉
Hahaha – same here! During this time of the year, I get torn in between the “wants” and “must do’s” as well 🙂
You guys are so cute and have way too much fun! Pinned
Lol – Thank you so much, Marie! Oh we love this time of the year!! 😀
hey there, where can I get the skelleton??
Hello, we bought ours from Michaels (a craft store here in the USA), but Amazon also sells them for the same price (http://amzn.to/2gMZ3cG)
If Amazon won’t ship to where you live, then I would suggest trying Ebay, as some sellers ship world-wide, such as this one here: http://fave.co/2eLAMmQ
I hope this helps! 🙂
Ialways want my grandson to be Cousin It for Halloween not he wouldn’t have any part of that idea. Now I can have my Cousin IT with your creation..Thanks so much. You did a beautiful job..
Aaaawwwww… Thank you so much for your lovely comment, Amelia! You made my day! 🙂
Oh poor cousin Itt Handan, all that yapping can’t be good for the little man 😉
LOL – True, but considering that Skele-yap has to put up with all his mischief, I think it is fair deal 😉
I was actually alive and watched the Addams family on TV. This is really such a fun project you guys, you know how to do Halloween right!!
Thank you so much, Mary! Hahaha – I am not sure if we know how to do it right, but I know we sure have great fun preparing for Halloween! 😀
Can you please share how you attached his glasses so the wouldn’t fall off?
Hello Mary, I placed the sunglasses in such a way so its temples (side arms) rest on the support ring of the tomato cage. Here is a picture of how it looks once it’s on.
i didn’t use a table lamp and i am having a hard time gathering the top part of the cage soi can wrap hula material around it. My question is How do you hold that together if you aren’t using the lamp?
Hi Isabel, the easiest way is using something like a foam ball or a foam head form and sticking that onto the tomato cage. Then start hot gluing the hula material around that.
The second way to do it is bending the top parts of the tomato cage back a little (using pliers) and then tying them all together with a zip tie or wire.
I hope this helps! 🙂
Love your Cousin Itt! Have to have one of my own!! Halloween is my favorite holiday and this will be awesome to display! My Grandkids will love it! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much, Maggie! Halloween is our favorite holiday too! 🙂
Where did you find the grass skirts?
Hi Karen, although the link is given in the Supplies List [anything written in orange color is a link, so you can click to be taken directly to the material and the place I bought it from ;-)], I’ll give it here once more for your convenience: http://amzn.to/2eu51hR
Also keep in mind that you can find these hula skirts in the Dollar Store. So if you have one near by, I would check that first as it would be much cheaper to get them from the Dollar Store. 🙂
This is so funny! love you cousin! Bring back memories!
Thank you so much, Maria! 🙂
You can find the grass skirts at the Dollar Tree, not good quality. You can find the table skirt 9ft x 30” at Hobby Lobby $10 and the adult hula skirt 36”x 29” $5.00.
I made two for my porch and scared my grandson but it was easy and look great. Thank you for sharing.
You’re so very welcome, Roberta! I’m so glad you made two – they must be looking great together! 🙂
I made Cousin Itt for Halloween this year. (My husband and I are going to dress as Gomez and Morticia for a party) I found the grass skirts at our local Good Will, they always have a huge holiday corner for Halloween and Christmas. For the top, I put a small metal bowl and attached the grass skirts to that, then added his derby. He’s adorable. I also added “Thing” to the group. I ordered it from GrandinRoad online.
Oh that’s great! I too bought a “Thing” from Grandin Road – they really do the best Halloween props! 🙂
How did you attach the round thing with the metal pole in the middle? My tomato cages don’t have a center pole.
Hi Patty, my tomato cages don’t have a center pole either. It’s the floor lamp that has the pole (as shown on the page 1 of the tutorial), and I’m hanging the tomato cage on that floor lamp.
I hope this helps! ?
30 years ago I dressed my husband as cousin ITT, it was hilarious, this year I’m decorating for a Monster Bash fundraiser….he’s the top of my list!!! Still have the grass skirts, love the stool idea, thanks!
LOL – I gotta get a cousin itt costume for Greg now. You know – at least just to take a picture of him like that. 🙂
I love your eyeball wreath, did you make that? Can you point me to your post about it?
Thank you so much, Keri, we did indeed! Here is the link: https://www.thenavagepatch.com/eyeball-orb-halloween-wreath/
Hi! THAT IS AMAZING!! how tall is the finished product? it looks rather tall! just wondering what size tomato cage to buy!!
Greg,
What is the round piece at the top of the lamp?
I heard the actor who was Cousin Itt recently died. He was a small person (dwarf). I was surprised to hear it.