Tag: DIY

The first thing I did was set out to find a large enough can that could double as a trick or treat bucket. I opted for some large coffee cans-they were the perfect size for what I wanted and provided enough caffeine to help me tackle more costume projects (everybody wins!). First things first, carefully remove the label, empty the cans and give them a good wash. A quick Google image search gave me just what I needed, and I was able to use the back of the coffee can label to free hand my design.
Image found at DeviantArt.com

Once the paint is dry, generously coat the label with a layer of Mod Podge. This helps seal the paint and gives it a nice shine. While the Mod Podge was drying, I took my cans outside to spray with some black PlastiDip. In the game the cans are all black and yellow, and I figure if I’m going all in with making props then I might as well make them as authentic looking as possible!

And viola! That’s it! The extra details are really what bring these costumes to life, and are completely worth the extra effort. Don’t be afraid to take your costume to the next level with a little extra oomph!

I hope you come back tomorrow as we finish our Bendy and the Ink Machine costume tutorials with our Sammy Lawrence axe tutorial!

When we collected our costume haul, my first instinct is to make the job as easy as possible. I tried to find a premade dress that fit the design of Alice’s and had shoulder straps to it to make it a little more appropriate for a 5 year old, so I opted to make my own. The items we purchased were:
*LG black women’s t-shirt
*white costume gloves
*3 pack of tights
*Halloween Devil horns
*air dry modeling clay
*fabric paint markers
*white ribbon
*small sewing kit

This is after I completed the alterations. She is very clearly feeling herself and I had to practically pry the dress off of her! All that was left was to make a white bow and hand sew it onto the neckline. Seriously so easy peasy!

With the clay on the horns, it can add some weight and bulk to the headpiece. So to keep from adding even MORE weight to this (it is for a 5 year old after all) I found a foam circle that I cut a center hole out of. In order to secure it to the headpiece, I used craft matchsticks and hot glue. The hot glue dries in just a few minutes, so I was then able to paint the sticks and headpiece white with craft paint.

And that’s all there was to it! Here’s the finished look all together with her Bacon Soup candy bucket. I love that you can tell exactly who she is supposed to be, while it also being very age appropriate for her. And she wants to live in this shirt/dress so I guess I will be making more of them in the future!

If you’re a gamer, chances are you have heard a thing or two about Bendy and the Ink Machine. Or if you’re the parent of a gamer (like myself), you are VERY familiar with these characters. My son is, in a word, obsessed with BATIM (that’s what all the cool kids are calling it, or so I’m told) This is a kid who could not for the life of himself remember where his shoes were this morning, but can recite every single word to the game’s songs. So much so that I could sing along with a good portion of it (thanks a lot Alexa). Well it comes as no surprise that my BATIM loving child chose a character from this beloved game as his costume for this year. Lucky for him, I knew exactly how I could pull this off, props and all! (image found at bendy.fandom.com)

After a venturing to a few different stores, I was able to find pieces that I could easily alter into exactly what would work for me! For this costume we used:
*suspenders
*yellow women’s ‘jeans’
*yellow women’s tank
*yellow, tan, and black craft paint
* sponges and brushes
*a small sewing kit
*fabric paint markers
(we will cover the rest of the items in a separate post)

The pants and suspenders have a lot of little details on them. The edges and pockets all have small drawing lines on them, and there are ink splatters coming up the leg (I mean, you’re bound to get ink on your clothes when you are an ink monster I guess). In order to keep the paint from seeping thru the fabric, I cut up an old plastic place mat to fit in each leg and in the crotch. I just shimmied it around as things dried and I moved on to another section. I used the thin tipped fabric marker to add all the small lines, along the seams and little details. I used the brush tipped marker to trace the ink splatters that come up the legs, but after trying to fill it in I quickly realized that it was not giving that wet, inky effect like you see on the character. I switched to a small paintbrush and my black craft paint and it worked perfectly!

Here’s a front view of the finished costume. You can see how much darker the ink splatters are in comparison to the drawing lines, and I think it gives it a more authentic look like you see in the game.

When my son was 3 he went thru quite the garbage truck phase. I shouldn’t have been surprised when he requested to be a garbage truck for Halloween. Not a garbage man…but a truck (trust me, I asked) I used diaper and baby wipes boxes to make the truck body. We cut the top of the hopper to be open so he could use it as his candy collector, first collecting them in his miniature garbage bin and then dumping it into the back-which he thought was so much fun! Some spray paint and little details, like working headlights and tail light reflectors, really brought this thing to life. And it will forever be my favorite costume, simply because he was so unbelievable cute in it and he loved it so much.

My daughter LOVES all things Tim Burton, and The Nightmare Before Christmas is her favorite movie of all time. When she said she wanted to be Sally I was thrilled to have a chance to try to make it for her (mostly because I also love all things Tim Burton!). The wig and basket were purchased at Wal Mart. I was able to find some fat quarters of fabric in the basic colors of Sally’s dress and I just cut the pieces and hand decorated them with a fabric marker. Her arms and legs are 2 pairs of white tights that I purchased and then dyed blue, adding hand drawn stitches on them for that ‘sewn together’ look that we all know Sally for. We topped it off with some black and white striped socks a pair of black mary janes (that were some old tap shoes she no longer was using!) and she was a perfect Sally! In fact, she still has this dress in with her princess costumes and it’s a regular part of her dress up routine!