Wondering how we pulled off the epic DIY Headless Horseman costume at my Sleepy Hollow party? My horse trainer Karen (Shenanigan Stables) came up with the most brilliant, in expensive costume and here at The Rose Table, we don’t gate keep Halloween ideas. Here’s how to make your very own Headless horseman costume…Friesian mare not included. 😉

I was originally going to buy a costume for the episode but so many of the Headless Horseman costumes available to buy look rather scary to ride in and ours was actually going to be used on a horse. I showed Karen the few DIY videos out there (which largely involved syrafoam and looked terrifying to ride in) and she said, I got this.

Photos by Joshlynphotography

Her solution was so simple – and CHEAP: pool noodles! She simply pinned a pool noodle on to a vest up and over both shoulders using heavy duty safety pins and taped parts of another noodles at the halfway mark to form shoulders. Now of course, you want to make them high enough so that they nearly go up to your head.

She wore black riding pants (but any black pants will do), tall black riding boots, and a large black button-down shirt that fit over the pool noodles. She also wore a fabulous black cape and skeleton gloves.

But how does she see, she might ask? She cut eye holes into the shirt and had a sheer black scarf over head head to hide her hair. You couldn’t even tell! She was also riding my epic horse Wendy, who was BORN for this role.

My favorite thing about this costume is that it’s so much more safe than any other Headless Horseman costume I’ve seen, which restrict your movement. She was able to freely move her head under the costume and we couldn’t even tell! And especially if you’re riding a horse, safety is key. Instead of having giant styrafoam pieces that could hurt you in a fall, here there are just pool noodles. Absolutely GENIUS!

Last but certainly not least, she painted her OWN jack-o-lantern face onto a small pumpkin and drilled a hole in the bottom. She inserted a screwdriver and had an easy way to carry a lightweight pumpkin on my horse. If you recreate this incredible costume for Halloween, please tag @therosetable! I would love to see.

Read more about my Sleepy Hollow party here. Watch the episode:

Happy Halloween,

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