Introduction: Shrub (Bush, Plant) Costume

About: Architect

Pretty simple really, my son had an idea to make a bush costume and this is how we did it.
It turned out pretty cool.
Everyone who saw him out trick or treating in it was taking pictures of the costume.
We threw this together in less than 2 hours on Halloween morning.

Step 1: Flower Pot

First, get a big plastic flower pot. 
We got a 20" one from the Home Cheapo for $14.99.
There was a removable bottom piece that holds the water.
Take that off and cut a hole in the bottom.
I used a jigsaw.

Next I used some electric service cable clamps that I had lying around for suspender supports.
I clamped these in a vise and hammered them over to create a loop to fit a piece of rope that we used for the suspenders.
I screwed the clamps to the inside of the pot, near the top, with 3/4" #10 machine screws, washers and nuts.

2 pieces of rope create the 2 suspender straps and a 3rd smaller piece holds them together so they don't slide off your shoulders.

Step 2: Forming the Shrubbery

Next you'll need some chicken wire to form the basic shape of the shrub.
We just rolled a section that would fit into the top of the pot and then we scrunched it up a bit at the top for better shrubbery shape. We then cut some arm holes in the sides. We folded over all of the sharp edges of the chicken wire to protect from scratching.

Next we cut clippings from some azalea bushes, since that is what we had handy that could spare some foliage. We laid out the clippings to get a good idea of what we had to work with, and starting with the longer ones at the bottom of the wire form and worked our way up. We also started with the generally larger ones and then filled in with smaller pieces after we got good coverage all the way around.

Step 3: That's Pretty Much It

Throw on some loose leaves, maybe a bird's nest and you're done.
It's pretty easy.

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