Awesome Life-Sized Mr. Potato Head Costume

My son wanted a costume that he could be “hidden” in. We saw a different Mr. Potato Head costume and he loved the idea.

I purchased a yoga exercise ball on Craigslist to use for the body and inflated a punching balloon for the head. I taped them together and then Saran Wrapped them together, making sure the plug for the yoga ball was on the bottom. I then paper mached them together with a wallpaper paste, glue and water mixture, making sure to smooth the paper out to keep it from getting bumpy.

I used newspaper for the first four layers and plain copy paper for the last two, alternating the paper direction from horizontal to vertical with each layer. I then paper mached half of a Styrofoam ball twice and a squished bouncy ball for the eyes and nose. I cut a piece of foam pipe insulation and wrapped it around the head to define the hat.

When it was completely dry, I removed the yoga balls and balloon and trimmed the base so my son could walk easily in it. I then taped off the hat area and face and spray painted the body tan. Using craft paint, I painted the hat black, eyes white, nose red and added the black details in the eyes.

After that, I sprayed a layer of clear spray paint over everything to help waterproof it. I cut out the areas for the eyebrows and duct taped a few layers of black tulle to hide my son’s face, but still allowed him to see out. Arm holes were then cut out. I used pink plates to make the ears by gluing a piece of cardboard between them that extended out and then painted the back of them pink. I cut a slot for the ears and taped the cardboard extension on the ears to the inside of the “head” to secure them.

The mouth was made with a piece of foam paper and the mustache was stiffened black yarn.

For the clothing, he wore a white long sleeve top, I purchased a pair of white cartoon gloves, I made a pair of blue felt pants and made him some oversized shoes out of cardboard and felt that were stuffed with pillow filling. These were tied to a pair of his shoes with yarn.