14. For the tail I cut a leg off an old pair of women's black leggings. Glue together the seam of the ankle end with a glue gun, waited for it to dry, and then stuffed it with balls of newspaper. I sewed up the open (thigh) end with a needle and thread. I then cut triangles out of black felt for the tail spikes and used my hot glue gun to glue a line of those running down the top of the tail.

21. For the wings I did a REALLY rushed attempt (I'm talking 2am the day my son was wearing it for world book day) I cut a straight line across the top of black fabric and wing shape at the bottom. I attached the ends with glue to the cuffs (the picture below will explain a lot better I think). This is the only part I wish I could have gone back and redone.

So I thought I'd take some time to write up how I made this costume for any other struggling parents like myself who get tasked with this homemade costume for World Book Day, Halloween or, any other Fancy Dress event!

If it is completely empty, your aerosol can may go into the normal recycling for cans/tins. To spray paint it was easier to hang from the washing line, but I think if I was to paint it I would have done it on the saucepan (and covered the pan in clingfilm to keep paint-free. Give a couple of coats of paint to ensure all is covered

When the hot glue was a bit cooler and starting to form I'd press it into the glue and turn it over to cover the other side in glitter. I repeated this lots of times to make enough to cover the protruding nose section of the head, up the ears and enough for the ankle and wrist cuffs that you'll be making later.

held annually in the United Kingdom and Ireland on the first Thursday in March. On World Book Day, every child in full-time education in the UK is given a voucher to be spent on books, and most schools hold fund raising events where children get to dress up as their favourite characters from books.

22.To make the head more secure to wear I made a 30cm width by 70cm length cylinder out of cardboard, and used the Gorilla tape to fix it to the inside top surface of the head. I then taped the bottom circumference to a non peaked skateboard helmet.

7. Cut out eye shapes from your green card to fit in the 'eye sockets' on your head. I used a black sharpie to colour in the pupil and a tiny piece of white card for the reflection. I used my glue gun to glue onto the head.

I did it in sections to ensure the PVA glue didn't dry before the paper went on. Once the balloon is entirely covered you will need to leave to dry. The paper mache took me 3 days. I did 5 layers, one layer each morning and one layer before bed. Make sure each layer is dry before you start the next.

3. Now take your tinfoil and start to mould to the shape of your features. I used it to make a protruding section for the nose and two eye sockets. I then used tape to tape them in place (I used gorilla as it's all I had but masking tape will be fine too)