Everything is Awesome, Everything is Cool When You Are Part of a Team! –Lego Movie
The LEGO head or mask for a LEGO costume does not seem to be readily available from retailers, so you are in for a few hours of DIY if you want a Lego costume.
The couple from their tutorial here said they spent over 12 hours on their Lego costumes, so be prepared for a trip to Home Depot, cutting, gluing, painting, and drying time. It is worth it because their Lego heads turned out very authentic!
Photo courtesy of warfieldfamily.com
They said they got their instructions from this tutorial here from Instructables.com which has a ton of helpful tips in the comments.
If you allow enough prep time or have lots of help, this is a super family or group costume!
13 Days until Halloween and guys, you still have time to pull together a pretty snazzy Halloween costume. These next 6 ideas for Easy Halloween Costumes for Men range from classic to comic and are easy to pull together with a few pieces from your closet and a purchase or two online.
6 Easy Costumes Halloween Costumes for Men:
1. James Bond. Classy, elegant, and he always gets the girl. Black suit or black tux, black bow tie, collared white shirt, well-polished shoes, and don’t forget the cuff links. Even better if you drive a fast car.
2. Indiana Jones. Natural and easy for the rugged or adventurous man. Khaki pants, collared shirt, leather jacket, and a few key accessories including the hat. You must have the hat! A leather or canvas messenger bag is a fitting accessory too and be sure to allow time for some scruff for this costume.
3. Napoleon Dynamite. Comfy, goofy, and you even get a t shirt you might wear again. “Vote for Pedro” tshirt, jeans, and moon boots, which are really hard to find, so the moon boot boot covers may have to suffice. Dig out an old pair of glasses and if you are lucky enough to have some curl in your locks, pick them out for a slight frizzy mess. Oh and keep your mouth hanging open the entire night.
4. Sherlock Holmes. Smart, timeless, and even better with a British accent. Dark trousers, tweed coat, blue scarf, and hat.
5. Jay Gatsby. So smooth and debonair. Oozing style down to his spectator wingtips. Click here for my earlier post on this charming, passionate man.
6. Captain America. Heroic, powerful, and good for those who don’t mind the skinny pants. You can pull off a DIY version in skinny bright blue jeans or sweats, red, white, and blue t shirt, red Converse All-Stars, mask, gloves, and you must have the shield. Or you can just order the really cool but expensive version shown here. Don’t bother with the cheap versions of this costume. You’ll be disappointed in the quality. The fabric on the cheap super hero costumes is so thin you’ll be left feeling a little exposed…
Any extra layer you put under these cheap costumes does not look super heroic. Either do the DIY from real fabric and clothes or go for the pricey one.
Follow me on Facebook for more tips and ideas on costumes for all ages!
We have tickets to an upcoming production of “The Addams Family: The Broadway Musical” and we can’t wait to see it! We are musical theater fans and enjoy the soundtrack, so I am excited to see how the songs all fit in. The Addams Family is a fun and festive group Halloween costume idea. Wednesday Addams would also be easy to put together and looks great even going solo. If people aren’t familiar with the Addams Family characters, you’ll still look like a creepy doll just perfect for Halloween.
Her costume is super easy: a short black dress or black sweater and skirt combo, and the must have is the white collar showing. You probably have something in your closet that will work. If not, take a quick trip to the thrift store or a click on the image below. And because it’s a real dress and not a cheap costume made from thin fabric, you would probably wear it again! So much better than buying a costume sold in a bag. Pair the outfit with black opaque or striped tights and funky black shoes.
Here’s a helpful tutorial for the hair and makeup:
Maybe it’s because steampunk reminds me of those old fashioned photo booths in theme parks where you are instantly transformed a hundred years back… The photo is printed in sepia on tin type. I loved pausing to watch the transformations, but didn’t want to shell out the cash for that experience.
My lucky day came at Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri years ago when my parents footed the bill for the extended family to get all dressed up. Maybe if I get enough requests in the comments, I’d be brave enough to post that picture…:)
Maybe it’s also because of all the cool hats from that time period for both men and women. Hats look so proper. A hat is the finishing touch on a costume from this time period.
I think I also like steampunk for the multitude of textures including the mix up of leather, metal, lace, net, velvet, and taffeta. Often there are some unexpected twists in the costume. The goggles, a little French Moulin Rouge mixed in, uneven hems, the funky revolvers…Tons of room for creativity.
Steampunk even mixes time periods. While steampunk is heavily influenced by the Victorian Era (mid 1840s-1900s), it is often mixed in with modern or militaristic styles.
Key elements in steampunk costumes for women may include:
Steampunk costumes are often accessorized with technological and period pieces including parasols, flying/driving goggles, ray guns, canes, and time pieces. “Modern accessories like cell phones or music players can be found in steampunk outfits, after being modified to give them the appearance of Victorian-made objects.” (Wikipedia)
The color palette in steampunk is predominantly dark rich tones of deep reds, burgundy, navy, dark teal, deep purple, gold, mustard, hunter green, olive green, copper, brown, gunmetal grey, silver, bronze, and PLENTY of black.
If you do not want to make a costume, there are plenty of interesting steampunk costumes for women available. Click on the pictures below for more information. When I costume, I like to purchase one or two important aspects of the costume like the hat or an accessory that seems like a beast to make (like those corsets or petticoat), but then I source the rest from thrift stores finds that I refashion or simple sewing and crafty projects. Just depends on what’s already in my costume closet and how much time/money I have.
If I happen to already have a dress that would work with a little draping and some ruffles and lace added, then I would find an inexpensive hat, deck it out with fabric or trim, and then splurge on the boots that I know I can’t make. Watch for more posts on steampunk accessory ideas and other ideas for making your own steampunk costume.
Here’s a few ideas to get your steampunk costume started…
If you like to sew or want to learn how to sew and have a girls getaway, there is a huge sewing expo happening September 26-28, 2014 in Michigan! Three days of interesting sewing classes for all levels of stitchers including costume classes on cosplay, refashioning, fit, fabric, and costume design careers. Here are the costume class descriptions:
*Costume Magic by Bernadine Vida
Join professional costume designer, Bernadine Vida
as she demonstrates fast and easy costume making
without breaking the bank! It’s fun and simple to cre- ate a multitude of costume pieces using thrift store
garments or even clothes from your own closet.
Watch her as she performs this costume magic right
before your very eyes. Be inspired by
I ran across a website that makes mermaid costumes that can be used in water for play or for totally awesome mermaid costumes on land! They are open on the bottom so that you can walk in them, though with tiny steps. They come in many different sizes for girls, teens, and adults and different colors and fabrics. Click here for more info; click on the above picture to purchase on Amazon. Happy swimming!
I was reluctant to see the new “Maleficent” movie by Disney because at first it seemed like some of the other fairy tale movie remakes out there, told from a darker side for a more mature audience. However, “Maleficent” is not one of those. With really beautiful fantasy settings and interesting twists in the storyline, it was a sweet film. And thank you Disney, for not spilling cleavage everywhere. I realized Maleficent is definitely going to be added to the list for popular women’s Halloween costumes and cosplay this year.
Today I’ll feature pieces needed for the title role, Maleficent. More on Aurora and the cute fairies to follow.
To give you a head start on your Maleficent costume, here are a few highlights. Click on the pics to take you right to their listing. They have some great accessories including the Maleficent horns, staff, and cape if you already have a great slinky fitting black dress. Congrats to you if you can look as good as Angelina Jolie in your slinky black dress! Her cheekbones had to have CGI on them, they were just too angular–I mean her ears were elongated too…
Maleficent Costume. Click for detailsMaleficent Horns for Maleficent CostumeMaleficent Staff
Towards the end of the film, she is wearing a black outfit of pants with her wings which you can easily add to some items you may already own.
My girls ran across this Elsa makeup tutorial a few days ago and I wanted to share it with all you Frozen fans! Makeup is one of the 6 magic ingredients in a creating a custom costume, so you want to be sure you have thought about the makeup design to go with your costume. She does a great job of explaining how to do Elsa Makeup including a helpful tip on how to make your eyes pop with false eyelashes. Who knew you could use 2 pair on each eye? Slip on an Elsa wig and a beautiful sparkling blue gown and your Elsa Halloween costume will be the big hit this year!
I have all girls, so my mind isn’t geared to think of costumes for boys as much, so I am always looking out for good boy costume ideas. I was at my daughter’s karate studio for their Halloween party today and saw a boy in this green hoodie, holding the sword, and wearing Minecraft Creeper mask. He looked like a cool cube. You can try to make the mask and sword from cardboard and a careful paint job, but you know how kids are– sometimes you just gotta splurge to get the real thing. Check the shipping date on Amazon or sign up for 2-day shipping with Amazon Prime.
My costuming philosophy is all about being able to reuse something you purchase as part of the Halloween costume. You know these items will be worn and played with long after Halloween, so it is a worthwhile investment in a Halloween costume!
I just had lunch with a friend who said her son wanted to be Sully, but she was having trouble finding the costume in his size, so she was going to make one. Here are some other options for Sully that are simple and no-sew. Top it off with the Sully hat or mask shown.
