Awesome Homemade Costume Idea: The Claw Machine

This is one of those costumes that started small and quickly escalated into something larger than life. My daughter wanted to be a Claw machine for Halloween. After looking at various picture on internet I decided that it would be too heavy for her to carry around on her shoulders all day, so I decided on building the frame out of plywood and attaching wheels to the bottom. I then realized that curbs were going to be an issue, so I hand to install handles on the inside so that she could lift it up as we went up a curb.

I then discovered that she needed a way to get her hands out and some place to store the candy (and her books since she walked around in it all day at school!). This resulted in cutting out little flaps under the joy stick mechanism and creating a holding box behind the flap where you normally collect the prize. After that I had to construct a way for her to get in and out so I created a hinged door on the back, so she could just turn around and walk out. It was a lot of work and a month in the making, but it was definitely worth it. Here is a list of supplies that I used:

Plywood
Four 7 foot 2x4s
Four 2” rubber wheels
3 handles – two to lift it over curbs and one for the rear door
Hinges – for the prize and rear door
Black trash bags for hand flaps
Old joy stick
Heavy duty clear plastic
2 sets of LED string lights and two fluorescent lights (all battery powered)
Mirror Poster Board for back of machine
Funnel, 2 sets of plastic salad tongs, 1 ½” pool hose and silver paint to make claw
Our own collection of claw machine won animals
Black spray paint
Wood glue, Gorilla glue, stapler, screws, thumb tacks and nails

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