How to Make Mickey Minnie Mouse Ears for a Party!
This post is a long time coming. I made 30 pairs of ears for my daughter’s second birthday party back in March. When “designing” the ears, I looked all over the Internet for a good guide, but everything I found was too complicated or too simple. I wanted something reasonable, but super cute. So, as I created my own “design.” I detailed my process with pictures planning to share it. Unfortunately, everything else has taken precedence, and I am just now posting more than 3+ months since I made the ears. Oh well, better late than never! I hope you enjoy my guide, and if you make some, please share your pics and/or experiences!
Materials -
- Headbands – look for about a 1/2 inch wide, any color because you are going to cover them. I found flexible ones at Publix that won’t break! Cost – $2 for 5 headbands, and I used coupons and got for free! ($5 off $50 purchase, so I bought them over time using my $5 coupon for 2 pairs each coupon.)
- Black Felt – I purchased felt made out of 100% recycled water bottles, cheap and eco-friendly! (Don’t forget your 40% off coupon if shopping at Joann’s or Michael’s)
- Foam Sheets – I bought the ones with sticky on one side, it was helpful. There were 2 thicknesses at Joann’s I bought the thinner ones and doubled up. (Again, use your 40% off coupons for these and buy a bulk pack because color won’t matter.)
- Circle Tracer – I used a circle tracer from Scrapbooking materials I have, but you can use anything that you want to trace the right size. Circles approx 3 inches and 3.5 inches will be needed.
- Scissors – sharp enough to cut felt smoothly.
- Chalk pencil in white – to trace your shapes on the black felt to be cut out.
- Sharpe marker – to trace your circles on the foam to be cut out.
- Hot glue gun – LOTS of glue!
- Ribbon – This is for Minnie Mouse bows, so you can skip if all Mickey Mouse. You will need 1.5 inch ribbon for the bow and a thin ribbon 1/8 inch to tie it on with – preferably in the same color.
- Template – Download my template for your ears.
Step 1 – Cover the headband – The dimensions used in this step vary based on the headbands purchased. You will basically need to measure enough felt to be wide enough to wrap the headband and long enough to close on either end. Roughly 2.25 the width of your headband and 1 inch longer then the length.
Since I am always nervous abut cutting fabric and wasting it, I recommend cutting 2 strips that you think will be the right size. Test one and use the other as a pattern for the rest of your strips, adjusting bigger or smaller if needed.
To cover your headband, place a line of hot glue down the center of your strip. Then starting with 1 end of the headband, rock your headband down the center of the glue until you reach the end (be sure to leave a little extra fabric on either end of your tip to close up – about 1/2 inch). Remember, when working with hot glue, you want to press with your finger as you go so you don’t end up with lumps.
Next, bring one side around and seal with another line of glue down the edge. Finally, wrap the other side around and glue down. Note – there will be lots of bumps and lumps, once cool, you will want to go back and fill in with little squirts of glue to seal flat. For the ends, put a little dot of glue in each end and pressed closed with my fingers. Once cool, cut off any extra fabric.
Step 2 – Cut foam circles – The foam circles will stiffen your felt ears so they stand up nice and firm on their own. Since you will totally cover your foam, any color works. I made my mouse ears 3.5 inches in diameter. This size works well for toddlers – adults, but you can adjust if you like. You will need 4 foam circles for each pair of ears – remembered I doubled my thin foam to make stiffer. The foam circles will be 3 inches in diameter.
When cutting out your foam circles, it is not necessary to be exactly precise. As you can see from my pictures, my foam circles are not pretty – jagged and you can see the Sharpe marks. It won’t matter because they will totally be covered.
If you purchased the thin foam with adhesive, go ahead and stick your foam circles together in pairs.
Step 3 – Cut your felt ears – When creating your felt ears, you will create 2 circles joined together by a small rectangle (see picture). The purpose of this shape is to wrap the ears onto the headband. The circles will each be 3.5 inches in diameter. The size of the rectangle between the circles depends on your headband, the rectangle should be approx double the width of your headband (already wrapped in felt). Again, cut a pair to test and adjust accordingly.
Cutting perfect circles is not an easy task. I did my best to make them look nice and round, but I didn’t kill myself making perfect circles. Remind yourself that these are handmade, and people will be impressed with that. Plus once they are on, you won’t see tiny imperfections in your circles 
Step 4 – Create your ears – Once you have everything cut out, it is time to assemble your ears. (Note, cutting is the longest process, I cut all my pieces out over several days because if you are making 30 like I did, your hand will get tired!)
Starting with a foam circle (doubled), use the sticky side to attach to the center of one side of the felt ears. Next squirt a generous amount of hot glue all over the top of the foam circle and fold the other side on top. Again, squish as flat as you can. Note, in order to avoid large lumps you want really hot glue, yes, you will burn your fingers a bit Sorry.
Go ahead and glue all of your ears. Be sure to leave the rectangle area unsealed (for now).
After your ears have cooled, go back and run a thin line of glue on the inside edge of each ear to seal. Again, not on the edge with the folded rectangle.
Step 5 – Assembly – Now it is time to put your ears on the headbands. Slide your headband through the loop created by the rectangles at the bottom of each ear. Once you determine where you want your ears, squirt glue into loops securing ears to headband. (I attached mine a little less than 2 inches apart – this is rough because I did each pair to look.) As you are securing your ears, be sure to pinch the ears down firmly to the center of the band. Add as much glue as needed to seal.
Step 6 – Minnie Bows – To create your bows, cut a length of ribbon approx 9 inches long. Fold the two ends back until they over lap in the center, and then pinch all three layers at the center. This creates the look of Minnie’s bow. Next take the thin ribbon (in matching color) and tie around the pinch at the center. Vola, a bow! Next wrap the thin ribbon around the top and bottom of the headband and tie off. Then glue the ribbon flaps down, and use a squirt of hot clue behind the bow to secure.
That’s it. Minnie Mouse bows in just 6 steps. This pattern could be modified to make bear ears, dog ears, etc. The hardest part about the project is cutting straight felt circles and working through each time consuming step – if making multiples. Good luck!
If you are having a Minnie Mouse (or Mickey Mouse) birthday party and want more ideas for party decor, check out my other post with details about all of the other fun decorations for a Minnie Mouse Birthday Party.
For even more tips, check out my video tutorial that will walk you step by step through the whole process.
We’re having a Mickey Clubhouse themed party the first weekend in June, and my daughter was begging for Mickey/Minnie ears for her friends. Everything online was either cheap looking or expensive. I am so excited to make these! Thanks so much for posting these awesome instructions!!
I’m having a Minnie Mouse party for my daughter who’s turning three, these minnie ears look great i’m excited to start making them,thank you so much for sharing the tutorial
My son is turning 2 and is having a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse party. I was just at Disneyland and the ears there looked easy to make so I thought I’d research and I found this. Thank you so so much!!
Just had to come on here again and tell you the ears were SO easy and were a HUGE hit!!! Thanks again!
Hi,
I finally finished making 17 of these, long but so worth it! Thank u for posting. I saw in the comments that you were going to post more pics from the party? Did u? I can’t find them if so will you let me know where to look? Thanks so much!
Thanks this post really helped. We are having a Minnie Mouse Luau for my daughter’s first birthday on July 9th and the making of the bows really comes in handy. I will try to post pics once I am finished with everything. Thanks again for posting
omg, thank you!! i’m planning a mickey/minnie themed party at the end of July, and was completely clueless on how to make “ears”. Your creation is the best i’ve seen!!
Ahhh thanks! Glad you like them. My daughter is STILL wearing hers for play more than a year later (so are the neighborhood kids). So they hold up too!
I have twins (boy/girl) and I decided to do a mickie/minnie party on July 16th and I am so excitied to attempt to make these ears hopefully they come out as great as yours did. How many yards of felt did you use?
Unfortunately, I can’t remember how much felt I bought. But you can calculate for what you need. The ears are 3.5 inches each side with about an inch to inch and half in between. So that’s 8 to 8.5 by 3.5 per ear – call it 9 x 4 to have extra (felt is cheap) per ear. (Remember 2 ears per headband.) Then if you are covering headbands, you need to measure the length and width of the headband and add that to your ear calculations and you’ll know how much felt to buy. Good luck!
i really liked the idea and we used it in my little sister birthday every one liked it and had fun wearing it
thank u for this wonderful instruction i really love it and im excited to do it bec. my son is turning to one on july 18 and is having a mickey mouse clubhouse party….
Thanks for posting this! I am making ears for my son and daughters joint mickey/minnie bday party. they turned out great, I can’t wait to show them off at the party!
Thanks so much for your creativity and tutorial! I decided to make 17 pairs of these for my daughter’s upcoming birthday party. I even included the pictures of my attempt and link to your instructions on my party blog (http://minniemousebirthday.blogspot.com/2011/07/make-minnie-or-mickey-mouse-ears-as.html) so that everyone I know can discover how to make them, too! Thank you!
Glad it was helpful!!!
Thank you so much for posting this!! I can’t wait for my kiddos party to see all the kiddos with the mickey & minnie ears! Thank you so much!!!
These look awesome!!! i’m so excited!! Our dance team has been invited to dance on stage at disney world, and be in the parade down main st, so i was trying to find mouse ears to wear while we were fundraising. what a simple idea, thanks for sharing!!
Good luck to your dance team! That’s so neat!
Thank you Thank you Thank you! For sharing your how to!!!!!
An amazing job and we are going to give it a whirl for my daughter’s 2nd birthday next month!!!!!
Thank you again for sharing!!!! Great job! Blessings!
These are great instructions…very easy to follow. I am having a MM Clubhouse theme for my son’s birthday. I wanted ears for all of the kids but buying MM hats was just out of the question for 20 kids! These are going to be great…on my way to get my supplies and get started!
Good luck – my daughter and her friends still play with the ears almost 18 months after the party!!!
Hi, I bought a chalk pencil just like yours but mine is not outling my felt like yours. Any tips?
Fabric chalk doesn’t mark as well as sidewalk chalk. You kind have to go over it and over it. I tend to make more of choppy lines than a smooth line b/c of this. It seems especially bad on the recycled black felt. Remember, you don’t have to make perfect circles, so little choppy lines around in a circle are ok. Hope this helps
I just wanted to personally thank you for this fun, easy, thorough minnie mouse ear making instructions! It really helped me alot! I am going to a disney farewell party and I wanted to be Minnie but couldn’t find any minnie mouse ears around! This totally saved me money $$. Not to mention, it is so cute!!!! It’s even cuter that I made it myself! Thanks a bunch.
Here’s a link to the ears I made myself: http://www.flickr.com/photos/66234920@N03/6031784528/in/photostream
THANKS ALOT!!!!!
Ahhhhhh – thanks, you made my day! Your ears turned out great! Have a wonderful party!
Hi ! I love these but don’t have the time to make. would you consider selling them? I would need them this time next week? Let me know how much if so:) Thank you for your consideration.
I am sorry, but unfortunately, I wouldn’t be able to get them to you in time. Sorry!
Hi!
I am planning on making these for my daughter’s second birthday. These are so cute! I was wondering if you used toddler headbands with these or just regular headbands.
Thank you!
Linda
Hi Linda – Good question. I used regular ones, and none of the kids or adults had trouble wearing them. I HIGHLY recommend that you get the ones that are super flexible and don’t break with toddlers
I bought mine at Publix,a nd they flex every which way, more than a year later my daughter and her friend still ply dress-up with them! Good luck!
Jen – Thanks so much for the information! We don’t have a Publix here so I hope I can find a good deal here for headbands. I found some at the dollar store but they are made entirely out of plastic and probably won’t hold up well.
HI!!!
These Minnie Mouse ears look great!!!… I am having my daughter’s first birthday party and I have been looking everywhere for Minnie mouse ears and decorations, and I finally found exactly what I was looking for. I was just wondering, what other MINNIE MOUSE decorations did u have at your daughter’s birthday party??? I need some ideas.
Thanks:)
LOL – you know, I have been saying for a year+ that I would try to get the rest of the decor pics up! LOL
Ok – I am going to try to get them up ASAP!
Jen
Please let me know when you finally put them pics up, I can’t wait to see them!!!
Thank You.
I did it, I finally posted the rest of the pictures
http://www.thesuburbanmom.com/2011/09/12/minnie-mickey-mouse-birthday-party-decorations-cake-ears-more/
Hello there,
This is so wonderful of you to share this with us my baby boy is turning 1 years old. I do have a quick question on your circle tracer did you use the 3.00 circle or the 3.50 circle? I have the same one:) I was a little confused on the measurements cause you have 3 inches and then 3.5 can you help me please? Thanks so much so excited to make these for his party.
Hi Kristen -
Good luck making them for the party, they were such a hit at mine. I used both. I used the 3 inch for the foam and the 3.5 for the felt – that way the foam was slightly smaller than the felt and there was room to run a line of glue around the edge of the felt circle to seal them shut. Hope this helps.
Hi Jen! This is an excellent tutorial. We will be attempting this for my daughter’s first birthday party. If I bought black plastic headbands, would it look terrible if it wasn’t covered in felt? Thanks!
Good luck in advance, I am sure they will turn out great! I think black plastic headbands would look fine, and other readers have mentioned going that route too. (It certainly would save a step of work!) I couldn’t find black headbands when I made mine, otherwise I might have gone that way too. Have fun!
i love these! my daugther is turning one next month and i just started them today so far so good mademy first pair 20 more to go!
Hi, I have 2 girls and a boy (triplets) and they are going to turn 2 soon. They will have a mickey & minnie mouse party…Thank you soooo much for posting this online, I started making them and I LOVE them… I know the kids will love them too, thanks
Jen-
YOU ARE the WOMAN! Thank you so much for this! My daughter is going to be Minnie for Halloween and I cannot find the real mouse ears I had from an old Disney hat. So, I googled Minnie Mouse ears and found your ULTRA inventive way of making lightweight, great looking ears. I especially love your comment, “Since I am always nervous abut cutting fabric and wasting it, I recommend cutting 2 strips that you think will be the right size. Test one and use the other as a pattern for the rest of your strips, adjusting bigger or smaller if needed.” …and the way you decided to shape the felt in order to bend it around the headband and make the ears both attach and stand up! Phenomenal!!! Yeah Jen!!!
Ahhhh shucks
Thanks! Enjoy!
Jen
Thanks so much for posting this! I am going to attempt them for my daughter’s 2nd birthday! I had been looking for Minnie Mouse ears but all the decent ones were so expensive & all the others looked so cheap & flimsy…I would love to know what decorations you used for your little girl’s party.
I finally did it – I finally posted the rest of the pictures!!!! Enjoy and good luck! http://www.thesuburbanmom.com/2011/09/12/minnie-mickey-mouse-birthday-party-decorations-cake-ears-more/
My daugther is turning one this september, woul dyou recoomend these for her birthday party. I wanted to make some but didnt know if she was too young..
I guess the question is whether or not she will wear a headband. If not, no way she will wear these. If so, maybe, but they will be kind of heavy for a little one. (I am trying to remember my daughter at 1… she might have worn them for a picture or two, but not long term.) That said, if there will be older kids (or willing adults) it could still be fun to have them! Hope that helps!
So excited to be making the Minnie Mouse ears!! We are going to Mickey and Minnie on Ice!! What a great way to celebrate. We have 16 total so we will be rocking them out thanks to your instructions!
Oh what a fun place to wear them! We just went to Princesses on Ice!!!
Thanks Jen for this great tutorial. I just got finished making 8 Mickey Mouse ears. They were a bit more work than I had hoped for, but I was very happy at the end and felt that all the hard work was worth the final product. It’s a bit tricky doing a very clean job with the hot glue gun work around the headband. I tried to cover my messy glue stains with using a black marker. You’re right about using a whole lot of hot glue; I had to make another run to the craft store for more glue sticks.
I can’t wait to see the kid’s reactions to these ears at my daughter’s 2nd birthday! Thanks again for your detailed post.
Raman
I am glad you are happy with the final product! Happy birthday to your daughter!!!
Thank you so much for sharing . We will post after ….
Thank you so much for these instructions. They turned out great! I will be making these ears to complete my daughter’s Minnie Mouse costume for Halloween!
Thank you so much for posting this! Like someone else said, everything online was cheap looking or very expensive! My b/g twins are turning 1 next month and obviously, our theme is mickey/minnie mouse, I’m so excited their little friends can have minnie/mickey ears too!
Your daughter is adorable!
You are most welcome. Congrats on the milestone birthday!
Hey Jen – awesome post!!! I’m planning to make these for my daughter’s 2nd birthday party next weekend. I better get started quick! Question for you – did you buy children’s sized headbands, or are they adult sized? I think I bought the same kind that you have and I noticed they are a big big for my daughter’s head. Did they stay on the kids heads OK?
I bought the adult ones. I REALLY wanted to make sure I got the flexible ones that the kids could play without worrying about them snapping, and I was only able to find them in adult size. None of the kids seemed to have trouble keeping them on. I will admit that some were bigger than others (mine came nestled, so the ones on the outside had been stretched more than the ones on the inside), but I put them all out the same and no one seemed to have any trouble. (Remember the fabric will take up space and will make them smaller)
Good luck!
Thanks for this awesome guide. Me and my wife was looking for Minnie mouse ears at the mall yesterday for my daughter’s first birthday party next month. Unfortunately we can’t find any. You are God sent.
–Erik from the Philippines.
Thank you soooo much for this post, my daughter turns 5 in December and I’ve been searching everywhere for mickey/minnie ears, as she is absolutely obsessed with Minnie Mouse! Im going to rope my sisters in to help me make these as they look much better than the ones I found!! Leanne (from Cardiff, Wales, UK)
You are welcome! Good luck making them, and be sure to check out the other things I made for the party for more ideas
WOW!!! yours came out great!!! i really tried doing this but they came out so bad!!! so instead of covering the headband with the black felt i sprayed painted them black and everything else i did the same!! Thank you so much!!! your main idea really help!!!
Oh no! I am sorry your’s didn’t turn out
Where did you get your Minnie shirt?
Thanks!
Thank you so much! This was the perfect way to make minnie ears, I would have never come up with my own. I am no expert with hot glue, so mine were a little “gluey” but for a costume for my girls they were perfect
“Gluey”
I am sure they were great!!!!
Your idea is a good one…..Thanks
Thank you for posting this! My baby girl is going to be Minnie Mouse for halloween and I’m pretty sure we’ll have a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse party for her 1st birthday in February. Can’t wait to make these! Thanks again!
You are most welcome! Good luck!
I just wanted to add that you can buy a circle cutter at Joann’s, probably Michaels too in the scrapbooking section. It has adjustable sizes and you just push down and spin the cutting part around. It cuts felt, foam, whatever all the same size. Sooo much easier than cutting out circles
Good tip! Thanks!
Thank you so much for a brilliant page – we are making Pudsey hairbands at Brownies for Children in Need. I’m not particularly “crafty” but like to do a good job so that all the girls are pleased.
Thanks so much for posting this! I am actaully going to make these for my sister’s bridal shower. She is honeymooning in Disney and I just think everyone at her shower would love these!
Ahhhh – so cute!!! What a nice sister!
this rock
Your are THE BEST! I will try it! I love it! Do you also, speak Spanish? I do! and I am also a mother of two girls, Sophia, she will be 7 in June and Nicole. She will be 5 in Dec 7! and we are planning her Minnie and Mickey birthday party in our home. Therefore, I will be making lots of ears!!!! thanks to YOU!!!! GREAT! que bueno! Me encantaaaaa!!! I am from Argentina and I live in Baton Rouge, LA for the last 7 years.
GRACIAS! thanks!
carina giusti
Hi, love them… Would you consider making and selling to me? I would need them for second week in Feb. 2012 around 30 Minnie and 20 Mickey? If so, how much?
We made these for my daughters Minnie themed party in December and they were fantastic, everyone loved them and we also had Mickey and Minnie as guests (via hired costumes) which my little girl absolutely loved and was convinced were the real Mickey/Minnie all the way from Florida, bless her. Thank you sooo much for putting these instructions up, they turned out amazing!!!!
I am so glad they were a hit! And I am sure the “real” Minnie & Mickey were a hit too. I love that idea