Luigi's Green Fireball Prop - Super Mario Brothers

Bring Luigi’s fire flower powers from the Super Mario Universe to life with this fireball cosplay prop.

Built from felt and a foam ball, this prop is safe, cheap, and pretty sturdy. Since I made it for a Luigi costume, I opted for green flames, but you could just as easily make the classic yellow & red fireball for Mario using the same techniques.

Step 1: Materials & Equipment

Materials

5 Inch diameter foam or plastic ball
Sheet of felt (white, light green, dark green), 3 sheets a piece
Matching fleece scrap to cover ball

Equipment

Hot glue gun & glue
Basic drawing and cutting tools
Mug to balance the fireball on

Step 2: Create Templates for the Flames

You will be layering your felt to create the illusion of flames coming off of the fireball. For the dark and light green, draw several flame shapes coming out of an open triangular shape with convex sides (approx. 5 inch open side). The triangular end will cover the ball more closely and the flame end will stick out behind the main body. Adjust the size of the light green flames to determine how much of the dark green will be showing. Go wild.

For the white center of the fireball, freehand two flaming circles about 2/3rds the size of the side of the ball. Also create a strip of white flame to go down the center of the fireball (this part helps cover up seams).

Step 3: Cut Out Felt

Cut out 2 full size dark and 2 full size light green flames from the templates you like best. These will be the sides of your fireball and will have the white flame glued to them.

Cut out 2 shorter flames from each felt for the top and bottom of your fireball. These help cover up the core ball. I used the templates I made for the side flames, but trimmed them to be a little shorter and more narrow to fit the available space.

Cut out 2 white circular flames and strip of white flame for the center of the fireball.

Step 4: Cover the Core Ball

Glue fleece or another stretchy material over the surface of the ball. This will give you a surface to attached the felt to and reduce the chance that any of the white foam will be visible in the completed project.

Step 5: Glue on Flames

Starting with the dark green flames, hot glue the felt pieces to the core; top/bottom first and then sides. Glue on the top/bottom light green flames next, followed by the light green for the sides.

Position the white flames in the approximate middle of the side pieces of flame and glue down.

At the top of the fireball, glue the strip of white flame down to cover the seams created by the green flame.

You may need to fiddle a bit with the pieces of felt to get them the lay on the core the way you want. Be patient, and take your time to get the best shape you can.

If you find your flames want to flop over, glue a circle of dark green felt into the space behind the flames and glue the flames to the folded up edges of the circle to give extra support.