Warm, cheap and last-minute
With less than a week to Halloween, it's time to bunker down and create a rocking costume
Miranda Scotland
Northern News Services
Published Monday, October 28, 2013
NUNAVUT
There's only a few days before Halloween and you're still without a costume.
Candace Vincent-Wolfe looks utterly adorable in her ulu costume. Hopefully she doesn't get tossed in the dishwater by mistake. - Miranda Scotland/NNSL photo
Alexis Vincent-Wolfe rocks wirh this inexpensive and easy-to-make
Inukshuk costume. All it took to make was one night and a few supplies, many of which could be found around the house. - . - Miranda Scotland/NNSL photo |
You could just pick one up from the store, but one look at the price tag may have you thinking twice.
Plus, there is nothing worse than spending a pretty penny on a getup only to cover it with a jacket because of the cold.
So why not try creating your own unique costume? Here are a couple quick, easy and cheap ideas that can work for kids or adults, to start you off:
Utterly adorable ulu
Supplies:
- Cardboard or poster board
- Paint
- Ribbon or string
- A headband
- Clear tape or a hot glue gun
- A marker
Instructions:
For this costume you're going to want to raid your storage space for boxes or see if your local store has some cardboard they can give you free of charge.
Once you've got what you need, take a large piece of cardboard, draw an ulu blade on it and then cut out the shape.
The blade should more than cover your mid-section.
If you have enough cardboard you may want to create a second piece to go on your back.
Your next step is to paint the ulu blade however you want.
We mixed together dark brown, black and white paint because it was handy. But you could colour it pink, purple, blue or even paint a design on it. Get creative and make it yours!
It's best to let the paint dry overnight.
For the following part, you'll need to draw the handle of the ulu, cut out the shape and use hot glue or tape to attach it to the headband.
We used three or four pieces of clear tape to make sure it was secure.
Finally, after the blade piece is good and dry, poke two holes at the top to string the ribbon through.
Make sure you tie the ribbon so it fits over your head, but doesn't hang too low.
The best part about this costume is not only is it cute, but you can wear whatever you want under it.
If it's snowing and windy, you can put on your parka or if you're going to be indoors, you can wear something light.
Building an Inukshuk
Supplies:
- Cardboard or poster board
- Paint
- Ribbon or string
- Hot glue gun
- A marker
Instructions:
Bring some Northern flair to Halloween with this inexpensive, stylish and easy-to-make Inukshuk costume.
The first step is to draw the various rock pieces. The key is to make sure the sides aren't perfectly straight and each piece is different.
Also, check to make sure the rocks fit the size of your body.
For example, the bottom two pieces should be the length of your right and left shins.
Once you've finished drawing the rock pieces, cut them out.
Next take the headpiece you've cut and draw a space for your face to go.
To do this, put your head up against the board and draw marks at the sides, top and bottom of your face.
Next, connect the dots so you can cut along the line.
After that, it's time to paint. Apply the purple paint first and use the blue to do some shading around the sides.
You'll want to do the shading before the base coat dries so the colours blend together a bit.
Leave the pieces overnight to dry.
For the next step you're going to want to attach the rocks to the wearer.
This can be done in various ways.
We did it by putting the ribbon around the back of the child's neck and running both ends down to her feet.
We then attached the top two rocks to the ribbon using duct tape.
On the second rock, we taped the ribbon in an L-shape so the excess pieces could be tied around the back.
(Note: hot glue would probably do a better job of keeping the ribbon secure, or you could poke holes in the cardboard and run the ribbon through them.)
For the bottom part, we tied a piece of ribbon around the child's waist and secured two other pieces of ribbon so it would fall along the front of the legs.
We then attached the last four rocks to the ribbon.
To keep the pieces from flapping around, a pair of ribbons were attached to the sides of each of the bottom rocks and tied around the back of the leg.
You'll also want to secure the headpiece with string so it doesn't fly away.
Voila, the costume is done. However, if you have the time, you may want to make a second set of rocks to go on your backside.
