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Costume Contest
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WITH Instructions ~Costumes from 2008 Halloween Costume Contest~ The
Halloween Costume
Contest for the year 2008 turned out to be a WONDERFUL affair ! One of
the best things about it (aside from having so many contestants) was
that MOST of the Costumes were Homemade! The NEXT very wonderful thing
is that LOTS of those Homemade Costumes came accompanied by
Instructions from their creators! Some instructions are more
detailed than others...but even the briefest of instructions are bound
to be of help to SOME point (at least in giving an IDEA on how......or
where????? Ü.... to begin.)...and that is why I intend to post EACH and
EVERY Homemade Costume that came to the Contest with
"instructions"...ANY instructions at all. The
instructions will
be
posted in the words of the author/costume creator...in that way giving
credit where it is due...and also so nothing gets lost in MY
"translation". Ü
Let me say at this time that I REALLY
appreciate the time spent in typing out and sending in the Costume
making Instructions. I think I have some very big hearted people who
visit my
site and join me for my Costume Contest. Thank you for sharing your
ideas and your time with the rest of the Costumers out there who might
benefit from your skills and your efforts.
I did not put the Costume Creations in any particular order ("order"? me? well that might require me to be ORGANIZED!..One thing that I sincerely try to avoid at this stage of my life Ü) However I WILL list them... in the order that they can be found..just below: Homemade Bi-Plane Costume
Homemade Reptile Costume Homemade Batman w/ Tryke Costume Homemade Lily Monster Costume Homemade Gnome on a Toadstool Costume Homemade Sushi Costume Homemade Phoenix Costume Homemade Hatching Chick Costume Homemade PG Nun Costume Homemade Hunter in Outhouse Costume Homemade Gorilla w/Caged Safari Man Costume Homemade Inspector Gadget Costume Homemade Oompa Loompa Costume Homemade Wicked Witch Costume Homemade Pippi Longstocking Costume Homemade Yoshi Costume Homemade Witch w/ Frog in Cauldron Costume Homemade Sugar & Cookie Costume Homemade Groovy Witch Costume Homemade Fisherman and Fish Costumes Homemade "Deadliest Catch" Fishing Boat Costume Homemade Rusty Robot Costume """""""""
The Costume you see here is one
that will be quite a
challenge for anyone who is daring enough to try it. It DID win first
place in the Costume Contest...HOWEVER! I did NOT
put it
first for fear of scaring people off due to the difficulty level of the
project. I'd say it would
likely be a Costume more for an ADULT than for a child ..the creating
AND the wearing may get quite tedious. Whomever takes on this project
must be patient , committed, and willing to carry through once they
begin. Have fun and GOOD LUCK!Bob's Bi Plane
 Bi
Plane
In Bobs
words:Started out using four cardboard boxes and four rolls of Duct tape my favorite… The first box is the largest of them cut a hole in it to place over the pilots head to make sure he can get it in the bottom has to be bigger for walking in… ( I know from experience!) then once complete I always look at it as if to semi scale of person wearing it I try to see it before I build it. My 9 yr old josh is the pilot he is getting bigger and you see him in the transformer costume and in the tank costume I have built. Yes you have to be a bit of a junk collector a piece here and a piece there you just have to in vision what it can be used for recycling is fantastic way to make these creations. I wrap ever inch of the cardboard plane in duct tape when I have it complete. I use krylon primer spray paint. It helps adhere the top coat this year was krylon red and satin black for the engine cowl. The reason for all the duct tape is cardboard is funny a little bit of moisture its done (warps, bends, swells) The duct tape makes it possible to also fill in gaps and spaces its ok if its folded over and over it makes the plane tighter and more solid. I also use a plastic cup and cardboard tubes for the upper wing support. This time on my plane I took a remote control truck they had that was smashed but still worked and took it apart. To use the rear axle to put on the engine cowl so that the propeller will spin when he pulls the trigger. He loved it another product I use is glue and epoxy to hold the little rear axle on the cardboard and I used a cd and the rim of the toy truck tire to conceal the motor behind it and a spray paint can as the piece on middle of blade. A pair of suspenders are used so he doesn’t have to carry it it rides on his shoulders…. And he is free to walk about freely like he is flying…It started out as the red baron…. But I decided not to put Iron cross’s on it so I used our neighborhood group symbol.. Thanks to Signs by Raymond in pt Pleasant for the decals that are applied. I also try to use krylon clear coat to protect it even more don’t go crazy it has a tendency to shrink both tape and paint so go lightly and many coats,. But not truly needed….. bob_mac72@yahoo.com  You can see more of Bobs fantastic Costume Creations in each year of my Contest since I began this event...Halloween of 2006. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brought to you by a young man who is in our Military.. This is Austin ...as REPTILEMAN  (more pictures below instructions) In Austins Words: I came up with the idea while stationed over in Afghanistan with some extra time on my hands. I've always been a big fan of Halloween and wanted to create something that went beyond your typical costume. Instructions on how to make it? It's not for the faint hearted... Start by shaving your entire body, head to toe. Pull on some tight biker shorts. Duct tape horns all over body (the horns were premade and painted out of a light clay). Next, apply about a gallon of liquid latex (this covers up the duct tape), followed by body paint, followed by a layer of fishnet tights, shirt, head, gloves, etc. Apply the facial piece, horns (on the head), stick in some contacts (sclera contacts are what I used, which are about the size of a quarter, so be prepared for some, uh, discomfort...), glue in the teeth, stick on the fingers/feet, and attach the tail. Total prep time? About 12 hours. Get started early.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The pics below are Austin, in the process of becoming The Reptileman    
SO! There it is my
friends. It sure seems like Austin had a good time making the
Reptileman. It sure looks like a LOT of work though doesn't it?
BUT! When you look at the picture of the finished
Costume..you
can see that all of the work turned into an AWESOME
Costume.
Thanks for EVERYTHING Austin! and PLEASE stay safe!  Here's more from our friend Bob (of Bi Plane(top) fameÜ) BATMAN complete with BATCYCLE! 
(Below) in costume... along with
the cardboard, duct tape, utility belt I made him to give it life.
Velcro on it for him to be more inter-active My 4 yr old
Jacob is Batman.
 The bat cycle
(below)
is lots of cardboard and duct tape. I tried to keep it light
weight for him. He loves it.
The tires are made with bubble-wrap to give it tread on tires and keep it light. The steering turns and the lights work. (Note from
Coletta: Below are some pictures of
the
Batcycle during Bobs sculpting process. I don't know if there is a way
to give exact building "instructions" for something like this. I think
that Bob figures it out as he goes (as does any artist Ü). Perhaps the
pictures below will give you an idea of what direction one could go in
to get-er-done.)
    And Below, the finished project Batman and his Batcycle  Thanks again
Bob!
IIIIIIIIIIIII Lily
Monster  
The child in
the Costume
is, in fact, "Lily" Ü In Angela's
words:
I used things around the house:
news
paper liquid
starch wire
hanger old fur
coat paint balloons glue
gun masking
tape First
I
cut up the fur coat to fit my 3 yr
old Used the starch, newspaper, and balloon
and
paper mache' the balloons (3 layers of paper) with drying in between.
Then I cut the balloons to fit her head and cut out and taped smaller
balloons for eyes. Hot glued the leftover fur on the head. Took the
wire hangers cut them in half and wrapped new paper around the
wire and taped it then bent it in the shape. I then paper mache' the
horn, when that is dried I taped and glued the horn on the
head and paper mache' over that. Then when everything is dried you
paint it. The head did not fit that well so I filled it with a think
sponge that would be in a couch cushion. MMMMMMMMMMMMMM
Gnome on a Toadstool  In Cheryl's Words:
Sushi (Note from Coletta: I thought this a
VERY
original idea!)
 In Sherry's words:
My son wanted to be SUSHI a few years ago
after leaving our town Halloween Carnival. He wanted a
costume that would turn heads. I made him a SUSHI costume out
of the foam they use for cushions, packing peanuts, and vinyl around
the outside for the seaweed. The inside is a photo of a real
piece of sushi that I put on tshirt iron on material and ironed onto a
light green material to cover the foam. It took quite a bit
of work but he was thrilled with it.
My son was 7 and his name is Austin . My name is Sherry. Thank You Sherry! PPPPPPPPPPPP
The Phoenix  In the
words of
Allister's Mom:
This is my
daughter Allister, who is a phoenix. We looked up pictures of
bird wings to guide us on making the wings. They are long,
but there is a split in the middle of the wings. How it works
is there is a dowel she holds onto, and the dowel supports the portion
of the wing that goes beyond her hands and makes it stiff.
She can let go of the dowel and poke her hands out of the wing, in the
split we left (you can see it if you look) so she can pick up cupcakes,
open doors, etc. etc. It worked
beautifully!
Thanks to a
creative
Mom!
rrrrrrrrrrrrrr Hatching Chick  In Aiden's
Mom's words:
This year we decided
to make my
three year old a chick hatching from an egg for Halloween. I
do not remember where I came up with the idea, but it appealed to me,
so I had to find a way to make an eggshell costume! That is
how I came upon your website. I used the instructions for
your egg,( Easter
Costumes .. Near the bottom of "Easter"
page..right above the above picture of THIS chick. Ü ) and modified
them to fit my needs. We just cut out the ovals like you
said, and instead of having them go all the way up, cut it about
halfway with jagged edges. We also simply sewed up the sides,
and left the bottom open for ease of movement. As for how we
kept it up...I made "suspenders". They were just long strips
of muslin that I attached to the inside of the egg. I made 4
suspenders, 2 for the front, 2 for the back, and when I put the costume
on her I just tied them over her shoulder to keep it all up.
That way I didn't have to bother with trying to "fit" them to her
(three year olds are rarely cooperative hehe). I could just
tie and go! The yellow chick shirt went over the suspenders
to hide them.
It worked great! Thanks
again to the
Mom of these beautiful girls!
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX PG Nun  In Stephanie's words: ...here's how I became
a pregnant nun!
I had a black dress
that I wore a few weeks back to a social event for a local radio
station that I wore over a white turtle neck that actually belonged to
my mother. The gold cross necklace is also from my mother. :)
The head dress--- now
here's where I had to get creative!, it's actually a black skirt that I
have and I wore it on my head. I put the thin white head band
over the edge of it. and that's all! the
sign is just sharpie on a white piece of card stock paper! :)Thanks Stephanie!! (and congrats on the newest delivery!) ZZZZZZZZZZZ Hunter in an Outhouse  The next
few Costumes are made by
another very creative Mom and modeled by son, Colby: In the words of Melissa: I was able to make this costume out of a refrigerator box. In order to get the woodgrain effect, I used contact paper to cover both the inside and outside of the box. Fake legs were used by stuffing nylons and sewing up some kneecaps. Of course, we added lots of details, such as an air freshener, toilet paper holder made out of a couple of screws and a small bungee cord, a rope pull cord to shut the door, and a sign hanging from the front saying "Occupied". Caged Safari Man  Mom Melissa says: This costume of course shows how a capture of a gorilla went terribly wrong. Many people thought that this was two people!! I bought the gorilla suit and cut a slit for his waist to go through and then stuffed the upper body of the gorilla with newspaper. We had to make a frame to attach to his back in order to support the top of the gorilla and carry the costume. The gorilla eyes were made from white model magic and then painted to look like eyes. The cage was made out of odds and ends (styrofoam, dowels, plastic rods for the corners, metal bars to hold styrofoam in place and to attach the dowels to, and silver spray paint) that I found walking through a local home improvement store. I made the safari outfit out of a basic pant/shirt pattern and inexpensive material. The fake legs were then stuffed and attached to a pair of old shoes. Inspector
Gadget
 In Melissa's words: The shirt, tie, pants, shoes, coat, and hat were all purchased. I then made the helicopter and handles on top of the hat with pvc pipe and fittings, some rubber grips, wings from a styrofoam airplane, and a motor. The motor was part of a Halloween "walking hand" decoration that I found. It served two purposes. First, was the motor that I cut out to allow the helicopter to spin, and the second was I was able to recycle the rubber hand to make an inspector gadget hand. It had different items coming out of each finger such as a toothbrush, mini umbrella, and a flame made from tissue paper. The next few Costumes are also made by Mom Melissa and modeled by daughter, Megan. Oompa Loompa
 and in Melissa's words again Ü: This has been a favorite movie of mine since I was a little girl, so when my daughter agreed to be an Oompa Loompa, I went for it. I made the pants using a simple child pants pattern and added "humps" to the sides. To make them stiff, I used a couple layers of interfacing. I then attached ribbon for the straps. <>The top is a purchased brown turtleneck. For the neck and wristbands, I used white "sweatbands" and painted brown stripes. I did the same for the socks, but bought brown socks and painted white stripes. The wig was a Marilyn Monroe wig that I spray painted green. Here face was painted orange with white accents. But, I didn't stop there. I also saw the need to make Violet Beauraguarde as the blueberry. I did this by using an exercise ball. I then made basic clothes to fit the ball. For the hands and feet, we bent wire and taped it securely to the ball and covered with socks, shoes, and stuffed gloves. For the head, I bought one of those head only dolls that you can style her hair and securely attached it to the ball as well. Wicked Witch
 In Mom Melissa's words: This was a store bought witch costume that only came with the skirt and top, but of course I had to give it a few extras. I found the great witch hat at a dollar store and attached a spider hanging from the top of it using thread. We added a wig of long black hair, long black nails, a wicker broom, witch tights, and a cauldron for her treats. But the fun part of the whole thing was the makeup. We attached a lightweight rubber nose over her nose and painted her entire face and neck green. We then added great eyebrows/eyelashes, lips, and even a mole. Nobody recognized her!!! Pippi
Longstocking
 and
now,
In Mom Melissa's words once more Ü: I started by buying a couple of patterns that would best fit into the shapes that I needed for the clothing. I made a bright pink dress with long sleeves. Then I adjusted a pattern to create a blue "apron" that would fit over the front of the dress. The "apron" criss-crosses and ties in the back. I added details by ironing on some misc. fabric swatches to the front of the "apron". She then wore black tights with mismatched colorful socks and black boots. In order to get the socks long enough I purchased adult women's socks (the kind with the individual toes in them) and cut of the feet and added elasticin the bottoms. I could of used leg warmers, but hard to find and not colorful enough. Although I was able to find Pippi braids on a headband, I was unable to find a complete wig. So, I gathered some material using elastic to fit over her head and then sewed and hot glued where needed orange yarn to match the braids that I had purchased. We completed the costume by adding Pippi's monkey, Mr. Nelson and giving her lots of blush and freckles. I think that this costume turned out so cute. Much better than any store bought one would have been. (Note by Coletta: Melissa I TOTALLY agree with your last statement! Ü) Melissa I thank you VERY much for your kind considerationin putting all of the instructions together for your beautiful Homemade Costume Creations. WOW! I am SO Impressed! I hope to hear from you for the up-coming 2009 Costume Contest!!!! JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ
Next are a couple of great Homemade Costumes from Mrs. J Yoshi
 In Mrs. J's
Words:
My son wanted to be
Yoshi this Halloween, so we made his custume by adapting a penguin
pattern. The body is made of felt. We stuffed it with plastic bags.
Yoshi's head is made of a plaster paris type stuff, called Rigid Wrap.
We covered balloons to get the basic shape of Yoshi's head. This is
sitting on top of a bike helmet. To allow him to see, we put a sheer
peice of fabric at the top of Yoshi's neck. The rest of the neck is
felt to match the body.
<>Yoshi has
a felt
shell on back and a stuffed Mario is riding along. A Yoshi backpack
makes a great treat bag.
Witch with
Frog
in Cauldron  Again in
Mrs.J's Words:
This is hard to see, but
we have an optical illusion costume. Her legs are the witch's legs and
from the waist up, she is the frog. The witch's head and torso are
strapped behind her, to look like the witch has captured a frog in her
cauldron and plans to make the frog into a spell. Stuffed frog legs are
coming out of the cauldron. She has a party blow-out for a frog
tongue.
Sugar &
Cookie
 In the
words of Mrs. J
one more time Ü: And these two call each other Sugar and Cookie. So together they are SUGAR COOKIE. It was a very easy costume to create. Sugar is really wearing a vintage 100# sugar sack and carries a vintage 10# sugar sack for her treats. The cookie is spray painted foam with foam stickers for sprinkles. We matched wigs and sunglasses with gloves (not shown) and the cookie is carrying a cookie jar for treats. As Always Mrs. J. Thanks for EVERYTHING! Your Costumes are exceptional as usual. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Groovy Witch
 In the
words of Mila's
Mom, LaKrisha: I sewed the corset on my sewing
machine, and I also hand sewn several details on it as well.
I did not use a pattern. I am not sure how much detail you
would like, so here goes!
I measured my daughters
size around her ribs were I wanted the top of it to fit her.
I then cut a rectangle an inch longer and wider than my measurements
for her. I hemmed the edges on all sides. I then
cut three strips of fabric in different widths for the ruffles (2in,
4in, 6in)-and double the length. I then sewed each
ruffle on by gathering the fabric like an accordion. I
started with the shortest and repeated until the longest was sewn
on. I did leave the
ruffles unhemmed because I liked the
frayed look. I then punch holes in the front and used Medium
size Eyelets for the ribbon to thread through. I added an
embroidery detail on the edge by the ruffles and rhinestoned the top
edge with Swarovski stones. Black ribbon was laced through
and tied at the top. I bought the black tee from target for
$4 and the Striped tights for 98 cents. The tutu was hand
tied on elastic cording. I used 5 different colors of
tulle. I cut in 3 in striped and then in half and tied them
on. I used about 6 yards on this one because I wanted it
thick and full. The hat was a $1 and I hand tacked the pink
marabou around. The witch's wand was made from a 12 in dow
rod that was sprayed silver and black sequin was wrapped around
it. Green Feathers were glued to the top along with an orange
bow. Purple hairbows were handmade too.
:) Whew! Was that detailed enough?...haha.
ARE you, perhaps, a professional
seemstress? Ü)(Note from Coletta: Yes Ma'am! Quite detailed instructions indeed! and I THANK you for all of your effort in writing it down! The Groovy Witch IS darn GROOVY I must say! Just BEAUTIFUL! Great Job Mom! RRRRRRRRRRRR
Fisherman &
Fish
 In the
words of Mom Tricia:
Joseph, the 4 yr old, was a fisherman and Jacob, the 18m old, was a fish. I used stuff around the house for Joseph's costume. I ended up buying the boots for him at Walmart ($11, but I bought them big so he can actually wear them fishing next summer with Grandpa). I didn't use any kind of pattern for the fish, totally handmade. I used a metal clothes hanger to make the tail stick out. I also sent a little 5 second video of him walking. I think it's cute cause the little tale flips up and down. I spray painted his hair orange and spiked it like a fin. He has white hair so I was very (pleasantly) surprised that all the orange came out with just one washing! Thanks for the info Tricia Great Idea for a pair of siblings Ü NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
Deadliest
Catch
  Here is another Cardboard Sculpted Costume Creation by our friend Bob Worn by his wife Christine Instructions in Bobs Words:
<>One cardboard Box long and one smaller on this one I
cut the
hole out to make sure of the fit.
And started to see what I wanted. It to be I taped the control bridge on and shaped it up. To look like a ship. I used plastic separators from them sorting boxes. For the windows.. ½ pvc for the mast drilled out the end caps for the lights. I used Christmas lights. Cut them and wired them in using lighted toggle switch and a nine volt battery the bigger square one .a pair of suspenders. On this one I needed to add a piece of 1x2 under the control tower for support. A trip to Ac Moore for accessories barrels and buckets. From doll house stuff. I printed out the numbers for my wife’s costume being funny….( adult humor) the rear of the boat is Signs by Raymond again they do nice work. All krylon spray paint is used and the reason I prefer Krylon it dries fast and is durable enough for the costumes cause usually. I have to work on these things at night after the kids go to bed… yes Many a night till midnight doing them. It took I would say one week to complete at night few hours every night this one is quick to build. Pretty much every other piece the rope the little black lights and the netting on rear I had laying around. Again a good way to recycle. And the best part the kids will play with these after Halloween for a couple weeks. And for a total cost of 3 rolls duct tape and 3 cans of spray paint worth it. Some old Christmas lights . If anyone ever needed help or advice they can contact me at: bob_mac72@yahoo.com.
Rusty Robot
 In Bob's
Words:
My Costume, Rusty Robot has cardboard, duct tape, tons of paint, and special items. Hard to see but there are lights in panels front and rear. The eyes are red christmas lights carrying two 9 volt square batteries and on my belt I have two storage boxes and two built in drink cups... with tubing that goes to my mouth so I can drink with out removing the head piece..... a little captain thank you...lol ( Friend Bob didn't have very much to add in the way of instructions for his Robot Costume. HOWVER! I think he was likely tired from all of the costumes he made for his wife and children! You are a good man Bob...especially handy at Halloween time! Ü Ü ) SO! Thank you again Bob and ALL of my friends above who took the time to write down, even the smallest of ideas or helpful hints on making a costume to share with other persons looking for a little help. I Toast you ALL (with a little of Bob's Captain Thank You I think Ü) PLEASE remember that I am here each year!(and even BETWEEN Halloweens actually!!) So get those pencils out when you are creating...so we can pass around even more Costume ideas!
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