Turn dollar store flip flops into hairy hobbit feet with this easy, no-sew tutorial. These DIY hobbit feet make a great Lord of the Rings costume accessory, or party favor for a LOTR birthday party.
No hobbit party would be complete without a bunch of hairy-footed littled halflings running around.
This was definitely my favorite favor from the fete, and I'm so glad that so many of the little kids loved them and wore them, too.
Materials for Easy DIY Hobbit Feet
- inexpensive flip flops (mine were from the $1 bin at the craft store)
- curly brown fake fur
- hot glue gun
- felt
First, cut a set circles out of felt for each pair of flip flops. Next, trim the circles, to create a slope that follows the line of the toes. You can cut both at the same time--just remember to flip one of the felt pads over so that the you're working with two mirror images. Otherwise, you'll end up with some funky looking feet. Well, even more funky looking than your average, hairy hobbit feet.
Use the hot glue gun to glue the felt patch to the underside of the fake fur. Trim the fake fur to roughly match the shape of the felt pad, leaving about 1/2" to 3/4" excess around the edges of the felt.
Use the hot glue gun to glue the raw edges of the fake fur to the underside of the felt pad.
Next, I used the hot glue gun to glue the hairy felt pad to the plastic straps of the flip flops. And danced around in a happy, hobbity manner. And learned that hot glue and slick, cheap, flip flops don't go very well together.
I experimented with many kinds of glues I happened to have on hand. Glass/slick surface glue. Gorilla glue. Beading glue. Aileen's Jewel-It. E6000. Tacky glue. Yeah, I have a lot of kinds of glue. Some kind-of worked, but they were messy, and fussy, and I still didn't feel like they were terribly secure.
Eventually, I found an easy solution. I cut little straps of felt and glued them to the underside, sandwiching the strap in place. Perfection. The hairy pads were perfectly secure, plus I got to use my instant-gratification hot glue gun for all the gluing in this process.
If you decide to make these, let me know where your hobbit feet flip flops take you on your grand adventures!