One of my favourite accessories to wear as a character is a set of horns. They’re a fun accessory whether they’re installed semi permanently into the wig or worn on some kind of a head band, and the versatility means you can even put them on for casual looks or just to wear around a con.
One of the pitfalls of horns, however, is that your head is suddenly taller and/or wider than you’re used to, making you more likely to smash your new horns off of door frames, your friends, and anything unfortunate enough to cross your path. Likewise, they can get heavy, and being able to easily take them off for breaks is critical. There’s a tricky line between secure and removable!
We tend to make our print files for horns as versatile as possible for this reason. Generally our horns have recesses in the base already for hardware, both magnet slots and screw slots if we can fit them into the design, but if you’re using horns from somewhere else, you might have to do some MacGyvering. (Do the kids understand that reference anymore?)
Painted versions of our Strohl (Metaphor ReFantazio) horns.
Magnets are by far the most popular way to attach horns. You install one half into the slot/base of the horn, and the other half inside of your wig/hat/whatever the character has on their head. Sometimes people even use eyelash glue or body-safe tape to attach a magnet to their body, which the horn then latches onto.
But, as we’ve mentioned in other tutorials, magnets tend to allow the horns to get pushed to the side from an impact and then fall off once the magnets are misaligned, so it’s good to have alternate methods.
We’re going to talk about two below, both of which are removable; this gives you the option to wash and restyle the wig, as well as making it possible to break everything down for travel.
First Method: Chicago Screws and a Headband
Chicago screws are one of my favourite pieces of hardware. They’re a two-part system consisting of a sheath and a post, but as the name implies they screw together for added security. It also allows them to have sheaths of varying length – which can be very handy when you’re trying to put something through some thick wig styles and the sheath needs to reach all the way from the headband (worn under the wig) past the thickness of the hair.
Many of our files have a deep slot meant for Chicago screws (or plain metal posts) if you trim the flange off the sheath with a pair of tin snips, but the chicago screws can also be “countersunk” into the magnet slots so they glue into position better and more evenly.
In the example below, we made “tentacle” horns for Zombae, a V-Tuber.
Once the sheathes are placed, we place the corresponding holes for the screws going through the headband. You’re going to want to use an unupholstered, plastic headband for this. (Upholstered headbands are bulky and difficult to position holes in, as it goes through fabric and padding.)
Your holes can be made with a power drill, a drill attachment on a Dremel, or even by hand with a self-tapping screw. You’ll want to go slow. If you go too fast, you can crack the plastic; this happens specifically when you’re trying to put the bit through the plastic faster than it can tunnel through.
Pro tip for lining up screws with screw holes: use a marker and colour the ends of the chicago screws, then press the headband to the screw tops before it dries. You’ll also want to do this while the headband is on your head! Headbands typically flex to different head shapes, so if you mark it while it isn’t stretched over your head, the positioning may change when it flexes when you put it on. You’ll want to position them based on the flexed headband!
From there, you can thread the screw through from the inside and into the horn. It is now wearable, whether it’s over or under a wig. To wear under the wig, if you do two or more points of contact (like the above example) you’ll need to attach it to the inside of your wig before putting the wig on your own head, as you need to be able to assemble the screws from the inside.
However, with horns that use a single screw, you can put the headband on, put the wig on, and then screw the horn into place. In this case, you may want to glue the base of the screws in position on the headband so they don’t rotate when you try to spin it. I also like to cover the base of the screw with a piece of felt or thin foam so the screw head doesn’t catch on your wig cap or hair.
You can also attach a snap to the headband and a corresponding part to the inside of the wig, so that the headband will always be sitting in the same place.
Depending on their placement on the head and how your wig was made, you may also need to cut holes in the wig cap to accommodate the screws poking through. This is particularly pertinent for more “helmet” style wigs, where you may even choose to skip the headband and install the screw directly into the helmet.
The headband will also help keep the wig in place on your head, which can be helpful with weight distribution in particularly intricate or heavy styles.
You can find updated versions of our Jester cosplay kits, here.
Second Method: Elastic Cord
Recently we made inserts for our horns to convert them to “threaded” versions, where the horns are threaded onto clear elastic that is worn around the head. You can get those files here, if you want! These converter discs are made specifically to thread elastic cord through, and then they slot into the “magnet” slots in the base of the horn. Clear elastic comes in different thicknesses and colours; the holes in the insert allow for a cord up to 1.5mm (which is what we’re using in this tutorial), but thinner would also work! Clear elastic cord is a great option for horns because it’s easy to layer under wigs, or even your own natural hair, and it’s much lower profile even if it is visible than a headband.
The insert itself is shaped like a button, with a channel on the inside that allows the elastic thread to slide back and forth freely. This lets you move the horns around on the elastic, to reposition them on your head on the fly.
To use the insert, thread your elastic through the piece first, before you glue in the insert. Make sure the elastic fits, and can move, and that there aren’t any sharp areas that can snag your elastic that need to be sanded down.
Once that’s done, you can glue the piece in, being careful not to stick down the elastic itself. I applied glue on either side of the insert, but not along the middle where the elastic was, just to make certain there would be no glue on my elastic. (Tip: use a toothpick to apply superglue precisely, instead of the tip of the glue bottle.)
Repeat with the other horn. You may also decide to seal everything in with a fabric backing; here I’ve used felt, which I’ve just hot glued into place. Hot glue is great for non-structural attachments like this.
When both horns are on, tie the elastic off to make your headband. I usually “seal” my knots in this elastic with a dab of flexible clear superglue, to make them super permanent.
Gray used the elastic method to attach Strohl's horns to his head since he chose to create the cosplay with his natural hair!
