We pass the time of day to forget how time passes: costume

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Eight brilliant Halloween costumes

From the folks of Mental Floss:

1. Sputnik 2

Last year, Flickr user vietnamted put together a costume that recreated Sputnik 2, the Soviet spaceship that took the dog Laika into space. As you can see, Laika is aboard and ready for liftoff. However, this Laika survived the mission. See the costume at a different angle at Flickr.

2. AT-ST

Sam Morningstar was eight years old when he went trick-or-treating in this AT-ST costume from the Star Wars universe two years ago. He and his father built it with moving legs and a working “concussion launcher” that shot foam darts. See it in action at his family’s website! Two of his siblings were Ewoks that year.

3. Port-A-Potty

Sam’s brother had a homemade illusion costume that set him in a Port-a-Potty last year. Seven-year-old Ben could walk around and “sit” at the same time! The brand name in their area is Honey Bucket, so Ben’s door was labeled the same. What costumes will the Morningstar family come up with this year? Follow their blog to find out!

4. Chomping Pac-Man

Matthew Varas built a Pacman costume a few years ago, and this decided to improve upon the idea by building a Pacman with a Chomping Mouth! The project took six weeks, but as you can see, the results are awesome. See the building process at Make.

5. Robot Couple

Instructables member onebrokenneck made a robot couple for a costume competition, but didn’t mention whether they won. These classic Hollywood-style robots are made of aluminum, but according to the build process at Instructables, you can probably use cardboard instead if you don’t have a metal shop. The arms and legs are dryer ducts, and various LED gizmos were used to give them an electric

6. Halo

Shawn Thorsson has made a bunch of fantastic costumes. He planned a Halo-themed build for Halloween 2008, but then was deployed to Afghanistan. The project was finally completed last year. Thorsson fabricated armor from the video game world of Halo, painted them in different colors, and dressed his friends as the characters from the Red vs. Blue series. He posted lots of pictures to show you the process.

7. The Birds

Last year redditor CampingIsInTents posted a picture of her Tippi Hedren costume and got a rousing response. The idea references a popular movie, but you won’t see other people wearing it at the same party. It’s sexy without being slutty, scary without being (too) gory, and it’s homemade! She bought the birds, but had to alter the wings to make them just right. The idea has been used by creative costume-makers a couple of times before, even on TV.

8. Krang

Melissa Dunphy made her husband a Krang costume for Halloween 2010. Krang is a cartoon villain who vexes the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The costume required a lot of foam rubber, repurposed electronics, and duct tape.