Your costume can look finished from ten feet away and still fall apart up close. These homemade fake intestines add the gross, dangling detail that turns a basic horror outfit into something people remember, without paying prop-shop prices for a pile of plastic organs (truly a sentence Halloween makes normal).
A small pack of novelty fake guts or latex gore props often costs more than a thrifted pair of pantyhose plus stuffing, and this version lets you control the size, shape, gloss, and blood level instead of settling for one molded look. You also decide how subtle or graphic the final effect gets, which matters when the wearer is headed to a school event instead of a haunted trail.
You only need 5 core materials for the intestines themselves: natural or sheer white-gray pantyhose, cotton or cut-up cloth stuffing, optional shells or other sharp-looking inserts, a red marker, and clear varnish. The project uses a few basic tools, including scissors, a hot glue gun, and a needle and thread, and the finished length depends on the pair of pantyhose you start with rather than a fixed container or measured yield.
- 🧰 Materials You'll Need
- 🔧 Tools & Equipment
- 🛠️ How to Make Fake Intestines
- 🎨 Customization Ideas
- 🛠️ How to Use Them
- 🛡️ Safety & Care
- 💸 Estimated Cost
- 🛍️ Need Help Finding Everything?
- ❓ Frequently Asked Questions about MYO Fake Intestines
- 📌 Love this MYO Fake Intestines? Pin it!
- 🖨️ Print-Friendly How-To: MYO Fake Intestines
Materials You’ll Need
Choose pantyhose close to a natural skin tone or a sheer white-gray shade so the stuffing still reads as “inside parts” instead of a stuffed tube. If you pack the hose too tightly at the start, you lose the soft bends that make this prop convincing, so aim for full but still flexible.
- 1 old pair of natural color or sheer white/gray pantyhose
- Cotton or cut-up cloth for stuffing
- Optional shells or other sharp-looking objects for a more gruesome effect
- Red marker for drawing veins
- Clear varnish
- Fake blood for finishing
Tools & Equipment
- Scissors
- Hot glue gun
- Needle and thread for stitching twists in place
- Small spritz bottle for fake blood
How to Make Fake Intestines
The order matters here more than people expect. Draw the veins before you add any fake blood, because wet blood makes the marker feather and smear instead of giving you those thin, stringy lines that sell the effect.
- Find an old pair of natural color or sheer white/gray pantyhose and trim the feet off.
- Carefully fill the hose with cotton or cut-up cloth. Old bed sheets work well for this.
- Add shells or other sharp-looking objects inside if you want a nastier, more jagged effect.
- Seal the ends with a hot glue gun.
- Draw veins over the outside with a red marker.
- Randomly twist the stuffed hose and stitch it in various places to create more realistic curves and bunching.
- Spray the intestines thoroughly with clear varnish and let them dry.
- Pour fake blood into a small spritz bottle and spritz several areas for a freshly gutted look.
The glossy coat does more than add shine. It also helps hold the outer shape you just stitched in place, so if you skip it, the prop tends to look limp and unfinished after a little wear.
Nobody mentions this part, but stuffing choice changes the whole result. Cotton gives you softer, rounded bulges, while strips of old sheet make longer, uneven sections that hang more like costume gore instead of a plush craft snake. Both work, but they do not look the same once you twist and stitch them.
Customization Ideas
- Quick version: Skip the drawn veins if you need the prop fast. It still works, but the finish looks flatter and less detailed up close.
- Gorier version: Add the optional shells or other sharp-looking inserts before sealing the ends so you get irregular bumps that suggest damage under the surface.
- Cleaner costume-party version: Use less fake blood and keep the color concentrated near the ends so it reads creepy without soaking everything around it.
- Full body-horror setup: Pair this prop with MYO Fake Blood or layer it with Make Your Own Fake Skin around the shirt opening for a more finished wound effect.
How to Use Them
Hang the finished intestines from a torn shirt, or let them spill over the top of your pants as if the costume includes an unfinished surgery gag. If you wear them at the waist, anchor them to the clothing instead of relying on friction alone, because walking will pull them downward and twist the whole setup out of place by the second candy stop.
Use the blood spritz lightly at first. A fine mist gives you fresher-looking speckles and streaks, while a heavy soak turns the surface into one dark red mass and hides the veins you spent time drawing.
Safety & Care
Spray the clear varnish outdoors or in a very well-ventilated area and let the prop dry completely before you handle or wear it. Aerosol coatings can release flammable vapors during spraying and drying, so keep them away from heat, sparks, and open flame while you work and while the finish cures enough to stop feeling tacky. For general craft-spray precautions, see the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission art and craft safety guide.
Keep fake blood off any surface you do not want stained until you know how that specific product behaves. Test a hidden area of the costume first if you are using store-bought blood, because formulas vary and some leave pink shadows behind after cleanup.
Estimated Cost
If you use thrifted pantyhose and scrap fabric, this prop can cost very little. Using current retail pricing for budget purchased materials, a reasonable estimate lands around $6 to $10 for one project, depending mostly on whether you already have stuffing and whether you buy or make the fake blood. Comparable novelty gore props and fake-organ accessories often cost that much or more before you add blood effects.
That estimate assumes you use only part of the stuffing, marker ink, varnish, and blood rather than consuming the full package of each. Reusable tools such as the glue gun, scissors, and needle are not part of the project cost.
🛍️ Need Help Finding Everything?
- Sheer natural-tone pantyhose
- Cotton balls or cotton stuffing
- Clear gloss spray varnish
- Red marker
- Budget101 MYO Fake Blood
- Small spray bottle or fake blood spritz bottle
Frequently Asked Questions about MYO Fake Intestines
Yes. The project works with either cotton or cut-up cloth, and old bed sheets were specifically noted as a good option. Cloth scraps usually create a longer, more irregular shape, while cotton gives you rounder sections.
No, but the prop looks more realistic if you do. If you skip them, the intestines still read as gore, just with less close-up detail.
Add the marker first because fake blood can make the ink bleed and blur. Once that happens, the fine vein lines turn into red smudges, which is messier than creepy.
It gives the intestines a glossy sheen and helps the outside look wetter and more finished. It also helps the prop keep a more deliberate shaped look instead of reading like a stuffed stocking.
Absolutely. They are optional and only change the look. Leave them out if the prop will be worn by a child, if comfort matters, or if you want the intestines to drape more smoothly under clothing.
Attach them to the torn shirt or waistband instead of just tucking them in place. A few stitches or secure costume-safe fasteners hold the weight better and keep the whole effect from sagging to one side.
Yes. Make the intestines ahead, let the varnish dry fully, and store them flat or loosely coiled so the stitched twists keep their shape. Add the fake blood closer to wear time if you want the finish to look fresher and avoid transferring color during storage.
It can. Test the blood on a hidden area first, especially on light fabric, because formulas vary a lot. Some wash out cleanly and some leave a pink or brown cast behind.
Yes. It pairs especially well with fake blood, fake skin, and other wound effects when you want the costume to look more finished around the shirt opening or waistband.
📌 Love this MYO Fake Intestines? Pin it!
Did you add veins, use sheet strips, or go all-in with the shell bumps? Tell us which version you made and where you attached it on the costume.
🖨️ Print-Friendly How-To: MYO Fake Intestines
MYO Fake Intestines
Equipment
Materials
- 1 old pair of natural color or sheer white/gray pantyhose
- Cotton or cut-up cloth for stuffing
- Optional shells or other sharp-looking objects
- Red marker
- Clear varnish
- Fake blood
Instructions
- Trim the feet off the pantyhose.
- Fill the hose carefully with cotton or cut-up cloth.
- Add optional shells or other sharp-looking objects if desired.
- Seal the ends with hot glue.
- Draw veins on the outside with a red marker.
- Twist the stuffed hose randomly and stitch in various places to make it look more realistic.
- Spray thoroughly with clear varnish and let dry.
- Spritz several areas with fake blood for a freshly gutted look.
- https://www.budget101.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/myo-fake-intestines-.jpeg
- Draw the veins before adding fake blood or the marker will bleed.
- Spray varnish outdoors or in a well-ventilated area away from heat or flame.
- Test fake blood on hidden fabric first because some formulas can stain.
how did you make them shiny and wet looking? thanks!
Spray them thoroughly with clear varnish & let them dry. This will give them a nice glossy sheen.
help!! i am trying to make this for a haunted house, and as it’s the most realist looking fake intestines out there, i am determined to get this! but i’m having extreme difficulty.
i have tried gray, sheer, nude, tights, pantyhose, stocking, etc.
and they are all too wide (even children’s). i have also tried on the inside cut up bed sheets, cotton, felt, rocks, shells, and it looks terrible! it looks like a pillow intestine!
none of the twists are staying, and the sewing just looks bad.
what am i doing wrong? thank you for any help!!
The trick would be to stretch the stockings as you stuff them, that will elongate the stocking making them look thinner!!! Good luck!!!
Use dark red thread in various spots to sew “twists” into the intestines- after you’ve overstretched the nylons. The red won’t stick out after you add the “veins”.
The kids literally played tug of war with them before we used them. It takes a little while to get the hang of it, but you’ll get it.
ok, i will try those! thank you so much! i love how you made them!!
Can you do a video showing the process cause mine, like the haunted house gal, turned out horrible, lol.
We added one that used the same method, they just left out the veins, (which to me are the best part!), but super time consuming.