Box of Wine Costume

Looking for an Epic but Easy costume to make for Halloween? The Box of Wine Halloween Costume will make you the life of the party...LITERALLY. This costume is a fully functional wine dispenser. Just turn the spout and you've got drinks for the whole party!

You can make this costume in a day and best of all the cost is approx. $15-$20, depending on what materials you have it could be more or less.

Step 1: Materials

Materials and Tools

1. Cardboard: cut two pieces that are 36" x 24" and one piece that is 20" x 16"
2. Cardboard: a few extra pieces for structural reinforcement
3. Paper - 28 sheets for printing, approx. 20 for other stuff
4. Glue Gun
5. Staple Gun
6. Color Printer
7. Scissors
8. Paper Cutter - if you don't have one you can use scissors, but it is helpful when you are printing out your graphics
9. Tape - clear scotch tape
10. X-acto Knife
11. Yardstick
12. Pencil

Step 2: Build Box

Design

I sketched out the basic structure of my box in my notebook to start. It is a really simple design.

Dimensions of Sides (5 sides: front, back, side 1, side2, top)

• Front and Back: 20" x 24"
• Sides: 16" x 24"
• Top: 16" x 20"

Dimensions of Cutouts: to make this as easy as possible I cut out 3 pieces of cardboard

• (1) Top: 16" x 20"
• (2) Front and Side 1: 36" x 24". You will bend this piece parallel to the 24" side, so there will be a bend along the 36" side making one side of the bend 16" x 24" (side 1) and the other side 20" x 24"
• (3) Back and Side 2: 36" x 24". You will bend this piece parallel to the 24" side, so there will be a bend along the 36" side making one side of the bend 16" x 24" (side 1) and the other side 20" x 24"

Arm Hole Cut Out

• Cut a 9.25" diameter hole in the center of the Top piece.
• Cut a 5.25" diameter hole in the center of the Side pieces (16" side of the bended cardboard) that is approx. 2.25 inches from the top.

Assembly

• With the two 36" x 24" pieces bent at a 90 degree angle, bring them together to form a box. Attach the sides that are touching with tape to temporarily hold them in place.
• Hot glue the taped sides together (remove tape when you do this). Using a glue gun, glue all the way down the sides on the inside AND outside of the box.
• Form maximum durability I added some support to the corners with extra pieces of cardboard. See the last two images below. I adhered the supports using a glue gun, then reinforced it using a staple gun.

Step 3: Printing Graphics

I used some Photoshop magic to create all the panels of the Franzia graphic so it would fit perfectly on the box. I have attached the files so you can easily print out the image on 8.5 x 11 sheets of paper. These images only work for the dimensions of this box (16" x 20" x 24"). I also included the .jpg files if you do not have photoshop. The first 6 .jpg files are for the front/back, the next 6 .jpg files are for the two sides, and the last 4 .jpg files are for the top.

Printing
There are 3 photoshop files which contain the graphics for the sides, front, back and top. The graphics for the front/back are the same, the graphics for the sides are the same, and the graphics for the top is just for the top.

Print Settings: remember these settings for the Printing Layers Section.

• FRONT/BACK: print in landscape layout
• SIDES: print in portrait layout
• TOP: print in landscape layout

Printing Layers: you will be individually print out each layer in each document, here is how you set this up

• Hide all of the layers except for the one you are printing.
• Each layer has an image on it. Here is the size of the image for the sides of the box:
  • FRONT/BACK: 10" x 8". There are 6 layers total -> which means you will be printing out 6 sheets to make the graphic for the front and 6 sheets to make the graphic for the back.
  • SIDES: 8" x 8". There are 6 layers total -> which means you will be printing out 6 sheets to make the graphic for each side.
  • TOP: 10" x 8". There are 4 layers total -> which means you will be printing out 4 sheets to make the graphic for the top.
• Make sure each graphic is centered before you print
• There is an extra layer that is filled in grey. Keep this visible when you print so you can easily cut out each image.
• Start printing!

Step 4: Assemble Graphic

Since I am printing out the graphics for the sides of the Franzia box on several sheets, I wanted to make sure the image was a crisp as possible. Basically, when I taped the images together to make one large image I didn't want gaps between the pages. I figure out a really good way to do this that involved taping mostly on the back of the images (as opposed to the front where everyone could see it). This worked out really well...people in my office even thought the box of wine costume was a real box printed by the Franzia company which was pretty awesome!


Cut Images: cut off grey edged to cut images out. I used a paper cutter to make this really easy, but you can also use scissors.

Assembly

• Cut the blank pieces of computer paper in half so you have some strips of plain white paper.
• For the front of the box there are 6 images that are put together to make the large image with two columns and 3 rows. I taped the two images in each row together and then taped the three rows together. Do the same thing for the back, sides and top.
• TO TAPE: tape the two images in each row to one of the strips of white paper. Only tape on the backside. I added a few SMALL pieces of tape on the front side to keep everything aligned
• Use this same technique to attach the rows together

Step 5: Add Graphics to Box

Prep the Box: I added strips of white paper to the edges of the box so none of the brown cardboard showed through.

Taping Images Down

Once you have the graphic printed out, attach it to the sides using tape and glue. This is pretty straight forward.

• First I attached the top edges of the image using tape. Then I tacked a few points of the graphic down with glue. Then I taped the bottom of the image to the bottom of the box using tape.
• Once the image is on make sure EVERY edge is taped down. You don't want pieces of paper sticking out b/c it could easily get snagged and ripped.

Cut Arm/Head Holes

• From the inside of the box cut out the arm and leg holes using scissors or an exacto knife.
• Tape down the edges of the holes.

Step 6: Just Add Wine

I thought and thought about how to attach the bag of wine and decided it would be the most practical to use the body of the person wearing the costume to help support the weight of the wine.

Fanny Pack
To do this I took out the bag of wine from the box-of-wine box and put it in a fanny pack. You can also put it in a backpack and wear the backpack on your front.

All you need to do is cut a hole in the bottom of the fanny pack. The hole should be large enough that the spout and 1" of the wine bag can stick out.

Cut Box
Cut out a square in the box that is about 1.75" x 2". The square should be located in the center of the front of the costume at about 5" from the bottom (this may change depending on your heigh and where the fanny pack sits on your waist).

Step 7: Put on Costume

• Put on Fanny Pack w/ wine inside
• Put on Box
• Pull the spout on the wine back through the hole in the box.

YOUR READY TO DRINK!!!

Comments

[RustyT1]

Thanks for the Great Costume Plans. I was able to throw this together in about 45 minutes before a party. Thought I would share a few lessons learned while building it.

-You are probably not going to be able to reach your own spout. Or a lot of anything else. But it is manageable. I wore a backup costume under the Boxed whine costume so when I took it off for a break I was still in the Halloween spirit.

- I used spray adhesive to clad the box.

- I would recommend using packing tape to water proof around the spout. My box ripped around the spout after a couple hours of use.

- I used one of the packing boxes from U-haul . It was roughly the correct dimensions. I only had to score two new corners to re-fold it how I wanted. Much faster than constructing my own box.

- a layer of insulation between the wine pack and your body is recommended. Parts get cold after wearing it for a while...

Again, the costume was awesome. A great hit. Thanks for helping make this Halloween great.

[CWade1020]

Yes! We used a spray glue and tape for reinforcement. I should have read your comments before making mine as I tried to make my own box and my husband said he'd go get me one. And the layer of insulation...YES! Wish I would have seen that too and I whole-heartedly agree, especially if you are using white or rose wine. LOL!

[CWade1020]

This was a fun costume! I received so many compliments on it. I duct taped an actual box of Franzia on the inside to hold the bag of wine, the wine was cold and stayed taped the entire night; just don't freeze or refrigerate the smaller box as the tape won't stick as well. Genius! I also bought a "small" box from Home Depot with dimensions of 21" x I can't remember and it was perfect size. I'm 5'6" for reference. I would make a slight recommendation for anyone making this: reinforce the shoulder area and put some soft pads where the box would sit on your shoulders. The reason why is the weight of the wine alone stresses on your shoulders and they will be tender for the next couple of days. I am keeping my costume for future use! Although, my husband and I had a laugh when I tried to take a drink as my cup would not reach my mouth. Use a bendy straw! Also, depending on where you place the spout, you may not be able to reach it yourself. It was such a fun costume to make! Thank you for these awesome instructions, I could not have made this without your specific, step-by-step instructions!

[mar1431]

AWESOME costume! I used a drawstring backpack instead of a fanny pack and it worked great. I also reinforced around the spout with a second layer of cardboard internally and put clear packing tape below the spout to keep the box clean. Worked like a charm!

[CWade1020]

I just thought to do this for the year of COVID drinking. I came across your more instructional post. Thank you! (I was searching how to use the wine for the spout and got more than I could have imagined)! Thank you again for sharing and allowing us to use your instructions!!

[thundrepance]

hahahahahahahahahahahahaha! i'd be afraid of how it would look to drink from it if a guy were wearing it, though!!

[dewing721]

So much fun!!!! Thanks for the help!!

[ShelleyN1]

so much fun

[KathyS49]

I can't locate the .pdf pictures. Any help appreciated!

[Baham807]

The jpeg files are the pictures themselves above.

[HeatherU1]

This is so detailed and amazing! You may want to edit your saying,"YOUR READY TO DRINK!!!" to "YOU'RE READY TO DRINK!!!". I think this is absolutely the best costume I have viewed this Halloween season. Thanks for sharing your instructable!

[JackieL17]

I can see the pictures to print but the first two of the front of the box are not the right size!!! everything else matches up fine but those two the Fran zia is to small and smaller then the other pictures please help!

[kokocooper]

Fundamentally disturbing spout placement. Beyond that ... awesome costume.

[SarahB85]

Maybe if it were red wine instead of white...

[RianC1]

I want a drink :,{

[justinbonko]

I can't find the .jpg files here. I printed using the files that she has attached. But they seem to be too small. Does anyone have any hints? I don't have .psd.

[devin.toledo.37]

When I attempt to download the images onto photo shop, only 1 image appears. For example when I click on "Franzia Top" only 1 image shows up on photoshop when I am sure there should be more than one image. The same goes for the front and the side. This might just be my lack of knowledge of the Photoshop program. Could anyone offer any advice?

[acooper21]

When you open the photoshop doc make sure you have the layer view open. There are multiple layers per doc. Each layer is a different part of the the squares that make up each image. By turning off and one each individual layer you will get once piece of the picture "puzzel"

[scotia28]

Hi there - this is genius and your step by step process is brilliant. However when I open the printables in the .psd I don't have the proper program or something because it's all symbols and broken up. Is there another format you might have this in and be willing to share?

[pucksurfer]

.PSD is a Photoshop document