Alice in the White Rabbit's House Costume From Cardboard Boxes

I made this award-winning costume for Halloween 2012.  It was inspired by the scene in Alice in Wonderland where Alice eats a cookie that causes her grow so big, so pops out of the White Rabbit's house.

For this project I used:

- 2 cardboard boxes, a little bit wider than myself
- Duct tape
- Xacto knife
- Scissors
- Foam core
- Paint
- Brushes and sponges
- White glue
- Spray Adhesive
- Wire
- Colored pencils
- Sharpie
- Raffia (I used a hula skirt costume)
- Plastic report cover
- A small branch and a few miniature fake flowers
- Store-bought Alice costume, plus shoes, tights, and headband purchased separately

The First Box
The first step in making the costume was to shape the cardboard boxes into a house.  I cut top 4 flaps of one box so they would fold in to be the angled roof.  I left a space in the top between the two flaps and cut extra space out of the flaps themselves for my head. I also cut an arm hole on each side. This took quite a bit of trying on and re-trying on to get everything just right.  

I cut the bottom flaps out of the box completely so the second box could be added as the bottom portion of the house.  I used this extra cardboard to finish the peaks of the roof in the front and back.  I also cut out the top front window, leaving flaps in place as shutters.  I used duct tape to attach the extra pieces and to reinforce the entire structure. 

The Second Box
I then trimmed down the flaps on the top of the second box so they would fit into the bottom of the first box, and cut the flaps completely out of the bottom, for my legs.  I also cut out windows on the front and each side.  I used duct tape to attach the second box's flaps to the inside of the first box.  

Paint
Next, I gave the house a base coat of paint and I followed that with using a sponge and several shades of gray paint to give the bottom half of the house a rock look and texture.  

Details
Then I started to add details.  I cut strips out of foam core to give the top portion of the house a dimensional, wood beam texture.  I painted them pink to match the scene from the movie and attached them with white glue.

I painted a door on and added details to the door, shutters, and rock walls using colored pencils.  I made window glass by drawing a pattern onto pieces of plastic cut from report covers.  I secured them behind the window holes with duct tape.  

I scavenged outside and found a branch that resembled a small tree, which I then secured to the front using wire.  I added a flower box made of foam core and placed miniature flowers in it, as well as in the tree.  I then made a chimney out of foam core, painted it to match the rock walls,  and secured it into a hole in the top rear using duct tape.  I also made a foam core window bracelet, as Alice had busted the window out when she grew. 

Roof
The last step was to create the thatched straw roof.  To do this, I cut  the raffia from a hula skirt costume into various lengths and used spray adhesive to secure it to the roof in layers.  

Presentation
When Halloween came, I put on my Alice costume and shimmied into the house from the bottom. Then I went out and showed it off!