DIY Halloween RGB LED Kitty Ears

Simple cosplay cat ears made out of Fosshape, decorated with rhinestones and complete with RGB LEDs for color changing effect. The complete kit is sold here at Solarbotics.

Materials:
Fosshape 300 (59050)
2 x slow scroll RGB LED
2 x coin cell battery
100 flatback rhinestones
2 x hairclips
fake fur
steel ball chain

Tools:
scissors
heat gun/steamer
glue gun
needle and thread

Optional but recommended:
soldering iron
copper tape or wire

Cut Out Paper Template

Define the height you want the ear to be - by holding a ruler up to you head (highly scientific approach) - and build a triangle similar to shown. You can use these shown measurements as a guidelines - but your proportions might be a little different.

Adjust the shape to have the curves following a more natural outline of the ear. Cut out the paper triangles..

Cut Out Fosshape

Trace the template onto the Fosshape. Cut out 2 large shapes and 4 smaller shapes for the base of the ear (two bases per ear).

Sew the Ear Parts Together

Sew one ear shape to one base

Harden the Fosshape

Now shape and harden the ears using a steamer or heat gun. They will shrink about 1.5 times (left ear treated with heat and right one not yet shown for comparison), so take that into consideration when choosing the final product size.

Hair Clip

Sew the second bottom to the ear and insert the hair clip. Heat shrink the bottom layer.

LED

Insert the LED into the inside of the ear with legs poking out from the other side.

Optional Step Involving Soldering

In order to assure good contact of the battery with LED legs by increasing the contact surface, you can use 2 pieces of copper tape (or stripped wire) and solder them to the LED legs:

- Pre-tin the copper tape or wire

- Solder them onto the LED legs

* The photo doesn't show it but the copper wire/tape needs to be soldered on once the LED is inserted through the ear as shown in previous step.

Battery Pocket

Bend the LED legs so they make contact with the battery. Cut out of a little rectangular piece of Fosshape to serve as a pocket. Sew the pocket with the battery around it. Leave the pocket open at the bottom so it's easy to push the battery out when not in use.