Plants vs. Zombies Costumes

This Halloween my son Peter went as a Threepeater from the game Plants vs. Zombies with a costume I made with my wife Terri. His pea shooters shot little green balls and he collected candy in a plantern we made, with integrated light to see in the dark. I accompanied him as Crazy Dave. (for completeness, our other son Alex was Thomas the Tank engine and our daughter was a pumpkin, though not of the Plants vs. Zombies variety).

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Step 1: Pea Shooter Head Components

The the pea shooter heads each consist of a 6" diameter foam ball and a cut-down plastic bucket for the cone. The bucket was a little over 5" at its top diameter and we cut it to a height of about 4". The ball was carved out with a utility knive to make a space for a foam ball shooter, and a dowel rod was inserted into the foam ball as a handle. The foam ball, ball shooter, and dowel rod were spray-painted lime green (an unpainted shooter is also shown).

The outer covering of the pea shooter heads was a lime green fleece fabric we found at a fabric store. We had to experiment a bit to find the right shape to sew the head coverings, but hopefully these photos give a good idea. The fleece was very elastic, so the exact shape isn't that important. We just tried to make it on the tight side, so it would stretch around the forms, giving definition to the head and holding everything together.

The dimension of one side of the head covering is roughly 8"x16". With the main part of the head being 8"x8" and the cone protrusion also being 8". We left a fair bit of fabric for the "neck" and only cut it down once all the pieces were assembled. We didn't sew the "neck" seams all the way down because we needed to be sure we could fit the foam ball.

Lk74 says: Oct 8, 2012. 11:40 AM

Ok, one more question...what did you use to cut the bottoms off of the pot and buckets?

Thanks!

nematsakis (author) says: Oct 8, 2012. 5:32 PM

I can't completely remember, but I think I used some kitchen shears. The hard part was getting the cut started; I probably used an awl or steak knife to stab it but be careful not to crack the plastic.

Lk74 says: Sep 15, 2012. 6:56 AM

Thank you so much for sharing!! My son LOVES this game and wants to be a plant for Halloween so this is a godsend! Just one question...we made a rocket for him a few years ago and found that he had to kind of shuffle a tiny bit because of the size of the hole in the bottom. Did that happen with your son with the pot, or was it big/wide enough that he could walk fairly normally? Thanks!

nematsakis (author) says: Sep 16, 2012. 5:12 PM

You are absolutely right, the pot was a little awkward. He could do it, though, and he went trick-or-treating while wearing it. However, when we later went out for a second round he opted to leave it at home. It was worth making just for the photos, though.

Lk74 says: Sep 30, 2012. 8:28 PM

I figured out a way around it! Plastic party tub (they're shorter) and terra cotta spray paint for plastic. :)

jboynton9 says: Aug 22, 2012. 6:35 AM

really cool...my son also wants to be a peashooter, and i had no idea what to do! thanks for the great info!!

Dusk Shadows says: Apr 13, 2012. 2:11 AM

COOL

Lily Baldwin says: Nov 4, 2011. 12:43 PM

My friend is obsessed with plants vs. zombies and when she saw this she practically flipped out.... great job and this is uber creative!!!!

Zincht says: Nov 2, 2011. 5:19 PM

I used this as guidance for my 6 yr old son's costume, but I changed the basic hood design for one I got from a pattern- I just put the 'bucket cover' portion where the face hole was. It was lined, which solved the duct tape/ elastic problem for the main hood, and shaped a curve in the top and bottom for our son's forehead and chin. I had to hand sew the bucket/chin opening closed, but it came out very well. I made some fleece 'leaves' and hand tacked them to the back of the hood, instead of using actual or silk shrubbery (I couldn't find any in small quantities).
Halloween 2011

lazilyma says: Oct 28, 2011. 7:54 AM

This is totally awesome. My whole family loves the game and were planning to do this as a group costume for our church Trunk or Treat. We are also decorating our car with hanging suns, tombstones, etc. I have been struggling with the peashooter. Thanks so much for you ingenuity. I am so stealing it.

slarrissey-hemens says: Oct 25, 2011. 4:37 PM

This rocks out-loud! My 7 yr old wanted to be a pea shooter and I had no idea how to proceed. This is really cool!

the_lonely_snake says: Oct 15, 2011. 11:21 AM

HAHAHAH!totally awesomly crazy!

lmulvehill says: Aug 28, 2011. 6:20 PM

Thank you so much for posting this! My nephews LOVE the Plants Vs. Zombies game and want to dress as characters for this Halloween and asked their favorite Aunt (me) to help them. I was glad to find your instructions to help me get this done for them - thanks again!

mloos says: Jul 15, 2011. 10:36 AM

You could make a lot of money making costumes like that you should try it

nematsakis (author) says: Nov 11, 2010. 6:23 PM

Thanks for the kind comments! Peter did indeed feel special, especially when he went on his school's halloween parade and so many of the 4th-8th graders recognized the costume. He also likes to sing "there's a zombie on your laaaaawn"

BarginsTech says: Nov 30, 2010. 9:11 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yy86WS7pzoM&feature=related

haha had to listen to it after this XD

BarginsTech says: Nov 30, 2010. 9:09 PM

Winnnnnn!

DaveySprocket says: Nov 12, 2010. 1:32 AM

I love Plants vs Zombies and was super excited to see this instructable! Great work on the costumes!

camilaustral says: Nov 11, 2010. 6:31 PM

i love that game so much!! i'm addicted to it on mi ipod :P

nwconniec says: Nov 11, 2010. 10:42 AM

Etremely clever and unique; great tribute to a great game and I'll bet your kid felt like a million bucks in his costume! Kudos to you all, including Crazy Dave!