Groot Costume With Walkman/Awesome Mix Tape Trick or Treat Bag! (Guardians of the Galaxy)

As Drax once stated: "There are two types of beings in the universe, those who dance and those who do not." We choose to dance!

We love the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, and this year our 8 year old daughter decided she wanted to be Groot for Halloween. This is the 6th year that her Dad (Luke) has been making her Halloween costumes and helping her become her favorite characters.

Luke made the trick or treat bag, Groot mask, Groot body, a basic version of the bomb in the movie, and Groot's flower pot. We added a stuffed Rocket Raccoon and small disco light.

The Guardians of the Galaxy movies are so much fun, and I told Luke that we needed a disco ball. So...well...he got one! We attached the disco ball to the back of the wagon (too heavy to place high) and will have a light shining on it as we trick or treat. We are also bringing our boombox and playing the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack as we trick or treat all over town. Like I said....we plan on dancing! Happy Halloween!!!

Step 1: Walkman/ Awesome Mix Tape Trick or Treat Bag

Step One: Turning a regular trick or treat bag into Quill's Walkman/Awesome Mix Tape

Luke spray painted a regular trick or treat bag black. He took a large piece of cardboard and cut out the Mix Tape shape. He painted the basic shape black. Then he took white poster board and red construction paper to make the design. Luke used brown paint to make the shape of the cassette film in the tape. The last step for the tape was to write "Awesome Mix vol. 2017" in black sharpie marker. We decided to use the Halloween year instead of vol. 1 or vol. 2.

Luke glued the cardboard Mix Tape onto the trick or treat bag. He then created the Walkman controls using foam sheet and paint. Finally, we attached old school headphones to the bag, making it Quill's walkman.

Step 2: Groot Mask

Luke decided to use a basic, generic plastic Halloween mask bought at a store. He created the Groot mask by building on top of the plastic one. Luke cut out a basic shape (eyes/mouth) on foam sheet and glued it onto the mask. The only thing we could really find for the eyes were some tinted document protector sheets found in the school supply aisle. Those were cut and glued into the eye socket/holes.

He then began adding layers of caulk to create a texture somewhat similar to bark. We needed the mask to cover our daughter's head, so he made it wrap around using foam sheet (and later caulk), and added a thick layer of caulk over foam on the top of the mask.

When the mask shape was complete, Luke painted the mask brown with black details. He glued moss and some fake leaves to the top of the Groot mask.

We will use a thin-clothe ski type mask under the Groot mask to cover her neck and make her mask and body seem more connected. We painted the bottom portion brown to match the rest.

Step 3: Groot's Body

Luke created Groot's body using a pair of pants and zipped up hoodie.

(We originally tried a regular t-shirt, but it didn't work with the caulk. It made it too tight, so the zipped up hoodie made sense, and was much easier to change into, etc)

Luke cut off the hood of the hoodie jacket and began applying layers of caulk and painting it brown. The sleeves were slightly long (used a size bigger jacket), so we cut those as well. After the layers of caulk were detailed and dry, Luke painted it all brown with black details.

Luke applied layers of caulk to the pants and painted the caulk brown. He needed to make the bottom of the pants large (for Groot's feet), so he cut the very bottom of the pants and then cut strips on bottom of each pant leg. He took a large piece of foam sheet (for each side) and cut strips in it. Luke then made the foam sheet into a large circular shape, gluing it together. He took each pant strip and each foam sheet stitch, matched them up and then glued them together. He applied extra foam, more glue, and lots of tape to make the shape of Groot's feet. When that was done, he applied more caulk and then painted them.

The final step was adding areas of moss and fake leaves to the upper and bottom parts of the body. Our daughter will be wearing gloves (as pictured) but painted brown.

Step 4: Extras

The Extras! We decided to take a wagon with us trick or treating.

Groot Flowerpot: Luke took a large bucket and painted it white. He then painted "I am Groot" with green paint on the front of the bucket/flowerpot. We had ordered a small stuffed Rocket Raccoon to attach to it, so this size really worked well. Luke put brown foam sheet in the top of the bucket to mimic soil, and added some moss. He attached the stuffed Rocket Raccoon and added a small multi-color (battery run) disco light.

Groot Bomb: We just didn't have much time to complete this, so it's really basic/plain. We used a mailing box and clear food container for the basic shape. I found playdoh toys in the toybox which I thought were perfect size/shape for the bomb levers/switches. So those were all painted gray. I had a hard time finding something to use for the red buttons of the bomb, but discovered that Babybel cheeses are the perfect size and color, ha! So we ate the cheese :-) and used the wax containers. I filled each wax container with cotton balls to hold the shape, glued them on the box, and then painted them with red paint to blend them more. I added some white duct tape to the box as well. I wish we could have done more details but we ran out of time. We attached the bomb to the middle of the wagon.

DISCO TIME: The Guardians of the Galaxy movies are so much fun. I told Luke we needed a disco ball, half joking. Well...uh...he got one!!! It was a bit heavy to mount up high, but we took the (big) regular disco ball and mounted it on the back of the wagon. When we trick or treat we will have a flashlight attached shining on it.

We will also bring our boombox playing the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack as we trick or treat all over town. There will be dancing. Happy Halloween!!!!