Introduction: Light-Up Jack-o-Lantern Costume

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About: Makeademic

When my first costume idea didn't work out, I needed a fast, cheap, easy DIY costume for Halloween. With a t-shirt I got on sale at Michael's, a chisel sharpie, and one of the battery-powered string lights I got on sale at Target, I made a fun costume in less than an hour! I hope you enjoy and Happy Halloween!

Step 1: Gather Supplies

For this costume, you will need:

  • Orange T-shirt
  • Cereal box
  • Masking tape
  • Sharpie
  • Ruler
  • 9ft battery-pack LED string lights
  • 3 AA batteries

Step 2: Prepare and Plan Design

In order to prepare and plan:

  1. Try on the shirt and determine where you want the design to start and end. (I wanted to tuck in my shirt so I needed it to be pretty high up)
  2. Fold a crease down the center of the shirt so that your design will be centered
  3. Stick a flattened cereal box in the shirt so that the permanent marker does not stain through
  4. Use a ruler and draw tick marks at the two ends of the drawing of the mouth with the middle of your design in line with the middle of the shirt

Step 3: Draw Face and Color In

To form the face:

  1. Find a reference image online (my jack-o-lantern smile is based off of the pumpkin from Disney Channel Original Movie Halloweentown)
  2. Draw the outline of the smile with a sharpie and use a ruler to approximate the tops and bottoms of the eyes
  3. Shade in the outline

Step 4: Add Lights

To make your costume light up:

  1. Remove the cereal box and flip your t-shirt inside out
  2. Use masking tape to tape down the string lights in patterns around your shapes
  3. Put in the batteries and test that your lights work

Step 5: Wear and Wow!

For the final steps:

  1. Gently pull the shirt on
  2. Put the battery pack in your pocket
  3. Switch on the lights and enjoy!

Now you have a great costume for day or night!