Heads up!

It's getting to be Halloween time. So, I thought today I would pull out some of Jack's past costumes made from bicycle helmets. I came up with this idea many years ago and like the idea, because it is a lot of effect for the effort. Essentially, you get a great big head. And great big heads are awesome for costumes. The bicycle helmet works nicely, because it fits snugly with a chin strap. Plus, it has ventilation holes leading into a layer of Styrofoam, into which you can anchor things.

The drawbacks with this kind of costume are that the headpiece can become heavy if you load it up too much. So keep the building materials lightweight. The other drawback, is that the child's vision is obscured, so he will need a little extra supervision during treat-or-treating. The headpiece can become a bit cumbersome, so keep in mind your child's tolerance level.

This was a viper fish/angler fish. Probably a species not yet discovered.

I rigged this with little lights along the back, tail and into the hanging lure.

This was a Cyclops.
Here, you can see the underside. I can't think of many blogs that offer you a chance to look up a hairy Cylcops nose. The teeth are made of a modeling plastic (Fimo). Before baking, I inserted toothpicks into the tops of each tooth. I then stuck the toothpicks up into Styrofoam to anchor them. Alas, all that Halloween candy lead to some tooth loss for our Cyclops along the way and he only has two teeth remaining. The helmet is concealed with faux fur cut into shaggy strips.

And a dragon! The snout for this dragon and the nose for the Cyclops were made by carving pieces of Styrofoam with a paring knife and then moulding and glueing felt around the carving. On the dragon snout, I used a Sharpie pen to add shadow and detail. Dragons must eat less candy, because he still has all his teeth! Feathers add detail to the crown and expression to the eyes. The helmet is covered here in probably an old bed sheet spray painted and cut into strips.

So, that's the heads up!