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Friday, October 23, 2015

LEGO Halloween Costume

All little boys are crazy for  LEGOS. My son, is no exception. So, a LEGO brick was the obvious choice for this years Halloween costume.

To make this costume I used white cardboard display boards from Staples, a glue gun, x-acto knife, masking tape, ribbon, and yellow outdoor spray paint. I measured my son to decide length and width of the costume, then got to work.

The costume has 3 main pieces; 2 front/side pieces and a top. I basically built a rectangular box, but left one end open. I utilized the hinges of the display board so I didn't have to make as many cuts.


On the top piece, I cut out an oval shape for my sons head to fit through. Then I used a ramekin to draw circles on the side pieces for the arm holes, and cut them out with an x-acto knife.  For the LEGO studs (the bumps that make LEGOs stick together) I cut out 6 circles. I measured the circumference of the circles with a tailors tape measure and then cut out 6 strips of cardboard, two inches wide. I also added two tabs on one side of each strip. This is to hold the LEGO stud to the LEGO brick.


Now I assembled the LEGO studs. I bent each cardboard strip so that it forms a circle. Sometimes rolling it around a broomstick is helpful. Then I used masking tape to hold it together. I hot glued the flat end of the cardboard strip to the circle edge with the tabs facing out. I did this step for each stud.

 


With all the studs assembled, I could attach them to the front side of the LEGO brick. I positioned the studs where I wanted them to lay and marked these spots. Then with an x-acto knife I cut out slits, just a little bigger than the actual tabs. I carefully pushed the tabs through the slits into the cardboard. I folded the tabs down and hot glued them in place. I did this step with all the studs.




I assembled the 2 front/side pieces together by taping them first with masking tape, and then hot glued them. I also made small braces on the inside of the corners for added stability and to keep the costume rigid.

Before I attached the top piece, I put the costume on my son to determine how low, or how high it needed to sit. Then took 2 pieces of ribbon to go from front to back of the costume like suspenders. I cut 4 pieces out of scrap cardboard and hot glued them down over the ribbon to prevent the ribbon from slipping.




I was now ready to paint my LEGO brick. I choose an outdoor waterproof spray paint in yellow. I sprayed several coats for best coverage. Now my LEGO costume is complete.


Here is the LEGO costume in action. Happy Halloween everyone!!!



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