DIY Garten of Banban Costumes

When my six-year-old son said he wanted to be his favorite Garten of Banban character, Nabnab, for Halloween, only one question remained. “Which of Banban’s Kindergarten characters will Mom and Dad dress up as?” In our house, we’ve always had themed DIY costumes for Halloween. When our son was born, our DIY couple’s costumes expanded to DIY family costumes. This year’s family costume nailed the mission by becoming creatures from a popular jump scare video game on the internet, Garten of Banban, made by Euphoric Brothers Games.

With our son as the blue monster creature Nabnab, I chose Banbaleena, and of course, Dad had to be Banban. We were ready to enter Banban’s Kindergarten like we were part of the gameplay.

DIY Garten of Banban Costumes

Making a family or group costume based on the icons and graphics in Garten of Banban characters is relatively simple, and I’m showing you how I did it. These characters are each the perfect costume to use comfy hoodies and sweatpants as the base. I went on a quest and snagged each of us a set on Amazon Prime Day and created the Banban costume, Banbaleena Costume, and Nabnab costume for about $20 each. These are intentionally made so the costume parts can be removed and the plain sweatsuit is still usable.

How to Make a Banban Costume

Banban, the namesake of the puzzle game and the head of the friends gang. A plain red hoodie makes an excellent base for attaching Banban’s horns and party hats to the top of the hood. Then, a pink tongue hanging out of the neckline.

I used stiff felt so the horns and hats stood straight up without the need to stuff them. Using fleece or soft felt would also work, but you may need some poly-fil to ensure they don’t flop over.

Banban Materials

• red hoodie
• red pants
• red stiff felt fabric
• white stiff felt fabric
• light pink soft felt fabric
• yellow, magenta, blue felt
• hot glue sticks
• red thread
• cone hat pattern

Making Banban’s Horns

First, create a paper pattern for the horns. (I have a copy of the pattern I created for these. If you’re interested, please send me an email.)

Cut out four horns, ensuring that two of them are reversed if there is a right side and a wrong side to your fabric. Hold them up to the hood when it’s on whoever is wearing the Banban costume, and make sure the size and fit look good.

Place two pairs of horns right sides together and sew around the sides, leaving the bottoms open and making sure to backstitch at the start and stop.

Turn the horns right sides out. With someone wearing the hoodie, place the horns on the hood, check placement, adjust as needed, and pin in place.

For the party hats, I used the cone portion of my Witch Hat pattern and adjusted the size to fit correctly. You can get that pattern here.

Print the paper cone portion and adjust the size with the paper pattern. Trace two cones onto stiff white felt (soft white felt would work fine for the party hats) and cut out. Fold the felt in half so the straight edges align and sew along the side, making sure to start and stop with a backstitch. Turn the cones right side out.

I made the party hats for BanBan differently than Nabnab’s party hat. For Banban, I added the stripes after making the cone. I recommend doing all party hats with this method.

Cut 1/4” -1/2” strips of magenta, yellow, and blue felt. Wrap the three colors diagonally around the hat cones. Pin the strips in place, then hot glue them to the cone.

For each party hat, cut one additional strip of each color, gather three strips in the middle, and then sew or glue to the top of each hat.

Now, you can add the party hats onto the horns with hot glue. I ended up cutting a bit of the ear tips off, then added the party hats.

Banban’s Tongue

Banban’s tongue is a tongue-shaped piece of soft pink felt, safety-pinned inside the hood at the neckline.

Pair this new Banban hoodie with a pair of red pants, and you’re ready to go—extra credit for matching red shoes and some white round glasses.

DIY Garten of Banban Inspired Costume Video Tutorial

How to Make a Banbaleena Costume

Banbaleena is one of the main antagonists of the game, and her motto, “Kindness is free, so sprinkle it everywhere,” can be seen on murals throughout the mysterious establishment.

Banbaleena’s costume comes together even quicker than the DIY Banban costume. The DIY costume consists of a white hoodie, white sweatpants, white horns, and a pink bow.

Banbaleena Materials

• white hoodie
• white pants
• white stiff felt fabric
• candy pink felt
• fucsia felt
• hot glue sticks
• white thread

Cut out Banbaleena’s four ear shapes from stiff white felt. Using stiff felt keeps the horns standing straight without needing to stuff them.

Place two pairs of ear pieces right sides together. Sew around the side, leaving the bottoms open and backstitching at the start/stop. Turn the horns right sides out.

Put the hoodie on and figure out the best placement of the horns so they are standing straight up. Pin in place. Hand sew the horns to the hood.

Cut a bow shape from candy pink felt and a rectangle from fuchsia felt.

Glue the purple rectangle around the pink bow, then onto the left ear.

That’s it! Throw on the white pants, and you’re Banbaleena—bonus points for white shoes and pink makeup.

How to make a Garten of Banban Inspired Banbaleena Costume Video Tutorial

How to Make a Nabnab Costume

Nabnab is one of the establishment’s mascots and one of the cooler monster designs. If you need another Garten of Banban costume in your group, the Nabnab costume comes together just as quickly as the others.

Nabnab Materials

• blue hoodie (I found this blue sweatsuit set on Amazon)
• blue pants
• black felt or fleece fabric
• stiff white felt fabric
• cone hat pattern
• hot glue sticks / hot glue gun
• black thread
• white thread

Making Nabnab’s Mouth

First, measure the space where the mouth will be on the hoodie. I recommend measuring the area with it on whoever is wearing it to get an accurate-sized mouth.

Cut a large oval from black fleece or felt fabric. Cut a bunch of white felt teeth. Place the teeth around the mouth and hot glue in place.

Pin the mouth to the hoodie and hand sew in place.

Nabnab’s Eyes

Cut three white circles and three black circles. Glue the black circles on the white circles for the eyes.

How to Make Nabnab’s Party Hat

I made Nabnab’s party hat slightly different than I made Banban’s hats. I recommend making it how I made Banban’s hats. I’m writing the instructions for how I made Nabnab’s hat so it matches the video.

Cut a cone shape from stiff white felt. (I used my Witch Hat Sewing Pattern as a starting point and resized the cone to fit.)

Cut out strips of black felt or fleece and lay them diagonally onto the cone piece. Sew the ends of the strips in place. Alternatively, you could sew along the strips or glue the strips in place now.

Fold the cone so the flat sides align, and sew along the flat side. Turn the cone right side out and glue the strips in place. Trim off the excess black stripes.

Put the hoodie on the partygoer and place the party hat and eyes onto the hood. Figure out the placement (the hat goes on the right side of the head), pin it in place, then hand sew.

Nabnab’s costume is complete with a matching pair of blue pants.

Watch the DIY Nabnab Inspired Costume Video

An Easy DIY Group Halloween Costume

All three DIY Garten of Banban gamer costumes are an easy handmade alternative to a store-bought Halloween costume. They are made intentionally so the plain colored sweatsuits can be used after Halloween by removing the extras. Or, if you intend to wear your costume as any day wear, I recommend sewing all pieces in place and skipping the hot glue.

Using hoodies and sweats as the base of these handmade Garten of Banban costumes works excellent for layering, especially in cold weather climates. For Halloween evening, we layered our warm great under our costumes and stayed warm for trick-or-treating.

I hope our handmade Halloween costumes inspire you to dress up as your kids (or your) favorite video game characters. Even if only one person recognizes who you are. 🙂

Happy Halloween!