Here’s our homemade illusion costume. It’s the best time to let your creation shine! I LOVE Halloween so when my preteen asked to be an M&M wearing a tutu I was mortified! She is about to age out and the last to leave the nest. I took it as a personal challenge to make her costume the best and the cheapest.
I started out “dumpster diving” digging in my out building and scrounging through my sister’s trash. Then I hit the thrift store! I found the perfect unwanted antique wedding dress for $5
I had a can of gold spray paint and a pack of garb gems in my craft room.
The frame of the chair was made from 1/2 inch aluminum pipe. The Hubs formed it with a pipe bender after watching me struggle with the measuring tape and a pipe wrench. I made the back of the chair from a broken boogie board and attached it with cable ties.
I cut the back out of the dress only leaving the top half. I added the golden gems and lovely $1 goodwill belt.
The fun part of this homemade illusion costume was the making of the mummy!
I wrapped my feet and legs with aluminum foil, shrink wrap, and a layer of masking tape. I then carefully cut it away, retapped it and stuffed it with grocery bags and paper. I wrapped my daughter’s torso and arms using the same method. For the head…. While home alone (bad idea) I wrapped my head in a Kroger bag making openings for the mouth and eyes. I added layers of tape to ensure the mold would be firm enough. Unfortunately for me, I was alone during this step and had a minor meltdown removing this from my head and praying not to give myself a new hairdo.
When this step was complete I attached the head to the torso with a broken fly swat and extra tape.
I propped “Fred” on the couch and continued on with my night. 3am I was awakened by a screaming husband. He returned from work to find a man sitting on the couch. For the next few days poor Fred had to be tucked out of sight.
I wrapped an oversized pair of sleep pants and a pair of Croc shoes with a shredded sheet. The pantyhose covered legs were attached to a worn out pair of $2 flip flops using gold ribbon then tied to the frame.
I made the arms of the chair from blocks of styrofoam. After Miss Cleopatra stepped through the opening of the seat it was secured around her with a pre-used arm sling. Fred was attached to the back using twine that ran through the boogie board and tied to an over sized washer. The lower portion of the seat was covered with felt-like material using a hot glue gun.
Although this homemade illusion costume seems like a lot of work it was so worth seeing the smiles and watching the faces of the little ones and a few adults that couldn’t believe the mummy carried her the whole time.
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