How to Make a R2D2 Costume for $10!

As a student, I didn't want to spend much on my halloween costume this year, so I opted for making a cheap R2D2 costume (I was recently introduced to Star Wars this year and fell in love).  The materials I used were:

-2 pieces of white poster paper 
-8 orange pipe cleaners
-Glue gun & glue sticks
-White paint (I used house paint)
-White school glue
-Craft foam
-Duct tape
-My own shoes

Step 1: Preliminary Sketches

First, I made rough measurements of how much poster board I needed to wrap around myself.  Then, I made sketches of the front and the back of R2D2 on the poster board pieces using images from the internet.

Using the sketches, I cut out craft foam to match and super glued it to the poster board.

Step 2: Fitting

Now, I'm no good with clothing fittings, so all I did to "fit" this to myself was held the two pieces of poster board together and made it smaller until I thought it was a comfortable fit.  I then marked this on the sides and used hot glue to attach the two pieces of poster board.

To reinforce this, I used layers duct tape to hold the pieces together.

In the same way I freestyled the body, I also did so with the straps.  An easier way to do this would be to measure your shoulders and then add a couple more inches, depending on your size.

Step 3: The Helmet

To make the "lid", I paper-mached a balloon that I sized by holding it up to my head in the mirror while blowing it up (can you tell I am very precise?)

To paper mache, you mix flour, water, and school glue.  Cut strips of news paper, dip it in your concoction and place on the upper half of the balloon.  Once it was dry, I trimmed around any edges where it wasn't even.

I then used white house paint to paint the lid and let it dry for a day.  I then hot-glued craft foam in the patterns I saw on internet images.

Step 4: The Shoes

Lastly, I attached strips of poster board to my shoes using a double sided piece of duct tape.  I then decorated them (as seen in the photo).  This was truly a freestyle thing and didn't follow any pattern of R2D2, except for the orange pipe cleaners that were supposed to resemble wires.

Step 5: Putting It Together

Underneath, I wore gray leggings and a long sleeve white shirt.  And that's pretty much it!  It essentially requires a lot of time with a little creativity.  I'm sure all of you could improve on this, as I really only had time in between studying to plan and work on this. (ex. it would probably look better with R2D2-like sleeves).  I hope you could all follow my instructions.

Here's a photo of it on..sorry I didn't get a full body shot to include the shoes.