Shrub (Bush, Plant) Costume

by marple200

110K20145

Intro: Shrub (Bush, Plant) Costume

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.

36 Comments

hotdogwater800 10 months ago

hello, my friend and i must complete a dire, high-risk mission. does the chicken wire make rattling noises? or is this mechanism soundproof. this is very important as she will be eavesdropping on my breakup in a park (im afraid her humming of juice by lizzo will echo throughout the shrubbery and scare my soon to be ex-boyfriend away and i will not be able to complete said breakup).

marple200 10 months ago

No rattling
Your clandestine operation should be good to go

stitcygal 6 years ago

How did you get the chicken wire to stay in place? Did you clamp it as well? And what would you recommend if we don't have those types of clamps (nor a vise)? Thank you! In the midst of making one now!

marple200 6 years ago

actually, now that I look back at the pics, I did use the clamps to secure the chicken wire.
if you do as I previously mentioned, use wire to tie chicken wire to planter, you can probably then tie the suspenders to the chicken wire

marple200 6 years ago

the chicken wire is held together with wire and then I think it was all secured to the planter with wire through small holes punched in planter.

gumcrazy 11 years ago

Brilliant! I might make one myself.

randofo 13 years ago

There is a guy here in S.F. who makes his living pretending to be a bush and scaring tourists.

caitlinsdad 13 years ago

There was a Bush in Washington D.C. who makes his living pretending to be a president and scaring citizens.

god squad 101 11 years ago

i read that wikipedia thing. wow. you'd think he'd run out of people to scare

paqrat 12 years ago

LOL He also scared the economy so badly it hasn't come out of hiding yet.

caitlinsdad 13 years ago

and watch out for dogs that mistake the planter for a tree.

clibanarius 12 years ago

My son and I made this costume for a Halloween contest at his school and my 30 days of instructables personal challenge. It landed him third place (he was robbed!). It was looking pretty tattered by the end of the day, which was the first chance I had to photograph it, as did several parents of other trick-or-treaters. Brilliantly original idea; thanks for posting it!

lolcat360 12 years ago

Finally, a fellow Monty Python lover! Internet high-five!!!

Jack A Lopez 12 years ago

Yes!!! Not sure if the Knights are still out there, lurking in some primeval forest somewhere, or even they still say "ni", or some other word, but I'm sure if they are out there, their lust for shrubberies continues, and will probably never be sated.

paqrat 12 years ago

Can a lust for shrubberies ever be sated? Is there a 12 step program?
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