Homemade Game of Thrones Optical Illusion Throne Costume

I wanted to create a Game of Thrones style throne for a costume I made. This version is made from slats from a set of vertical blinds, a cardboard box and palm fronds. I really wanted to challenge myself to make a throne that was quick, cheap and easy to do.

I started by making a base for the throne from a cardboard box. This is an illusion costume, therefore the wearer is not sitting on the throne, but standing in a hole cut into the seat.

The back layer of “swords ” are the slats from the blinds that I cut on a band saw to give them pointed ends. I added another layer of slats that I cut into various sizes, using the scrap pieces of the slats for handles/pummels on the swords. The top of the handles on the swords are adorned with buttons.

We live in Florida and have a dozen varieties of pals in our yard. The pal fronds I used were the longest and strongest from a silver palm. They are from a single frond that I stripped the individual sword sections from. The fronds were pressed under a plank of wood to help flatten and dry them over several days. I am not sure that the pressing and drying were necessary, but I didn’t want to risk curling as they dried.

The fronds were glued in layers down the sides of the box leaving the ends long at the bottom. As the layers filled I I added a top layer of fronds in a crisscross pattern on the sides. There is one cross in the front of the bottom of the throne.

I used a wood glue on the slats and hot glue for the frond sections. After the throne was all glued together, I trimmed the fronds and turned up the bottom edge. The entire throne was sprayed black and then painted a dusting of silver over that.

If I had the room for it, I would love to make a sturdier more detailed version someday.

For the jacket I used a heavy weight cotton and made a jacket with a fitted bodice. There are two flaps at the bottom of the jacket in the front and back. There is a faux fur collar attached to a simple cloak that I made.

The pants which are attached to the faux throne are leggings stuffed with fiberfill with boots over them.

There are crisscrossed straps that I made that go across the chest and are attached to the cape.

People love illusion costumes and I wanted to make one like I had never seen before. Everyone loved it!