Hello!

As Halloween approached this year, I wanted to create an "illusion costume" for the students at my school. I took my inspiration from several posted on YouTube, specifically the "box" costumes. Since I'm known as the class-clown, I thought it would be a great thing to do!

Items you'll need:

Clown Costume
Cardboard Box
Pants/ Jeans
Shoes or Sneakers
Long-sleeved shirt
Crew-style socks
Plastic Zip Ties
Duct Tape - Packaging Tape
Safety Pins and Fishing Line
Old Backpack
Foam Pool Noodles
Multicolored Foam or Paper Sheets
Foam Head
Clown Mask
Googly Eyes

NOTE: the hands are not seen in the pictures, but have since been modified to look like the clown is "holding" the box!

Step 1: "Class Clown Delivery" Halloween Illusion Costume

First, create the head by combining the googly eyes and mask, to the foam head. Create the "shoulders and spine" by zipping together two piece of lightweight wooden dowels. I wrapped mine in duct tape for rigidity. Cover with a long sleeved t-shirt.

Step 2: "Class Clown Delivery" Halloween Illusion Costume

Next, poke a hole in the bottom of the backpack, and slide the backpack up on the "spine" as far as it can go, then zip it tight to the spine/shoulders. You'll need the straps to keep it tight to you when completed. Cut slits in the t-shirt so the handles can go through easily. You then cut the foam pool noodles to length, and zip them to the shoulders to create the "arms". At the end of the arms, fill the gloves with newspaper or tissues, and tape them to the sleeves of the long sleeve t-shirt. Fill the sleeves with newspaper if you want them to "poof out" more, or just leave the pool noodles for a thinner look. The clown's jacket will cover the tape when finished. Fill the backpack with newspaper to make it puffy, and attach the jacket. I included "class clown delivery service" on mine to make it a little more obvious what exactly I was going for! Be sure to try it on several times, and adjust the backpack straps to keep everything at the right height to look natural! Also, I used some fishing line and pins to hold the hat on his head, and used white-out correction fluid to whiten up the teeth, the eyes, etc.

Step 3: "Class Clown Delivery" Halloween Illusion Costume

Once the clown is all set, you'll want to create the box. The box must be cut on the bottom and back, so you can step into it. Mine rested on my hips and belt, but I added a slide belt through the back so I wouldn't have to hold it up all day. The box started out very large, but it was VERY heavy, so I used a much smaller box. Use packaging tape to support the box, not duct tape like I did - the duct tape comes off with humidity and ends up looking terrible. You can see the comparison of box sizes, and my slide-belt on the back. It adds a little humor to the costume too. Decorate the box as much as you'd like, but leave enough room for the legs!

Step 4: "Class Clown Delivery" Halloween Illusion Costume

Once the box is good to go, you'll want to make the shoes (or buy them, if you have the means!). I used a bandana and some modeling glue, and quickly made multicolored sneaks for the "clown". I would redo them with more time, but for now, they look alright. Up next, are the legs. I tried many different versions of the legs, but I realized quickly that they had to be flexible enough to move around, yet lightweight enough so I wouldn't hate myself by the end of the day. Foam pool noodles are the best bet! Cut the noodles to length, cut behind the "knee" portion so they flop naturally over the box edge, and I used "crocs" because they were lightweight. Zip ties are used HEAVILY in this step, especially to get the foot to bend at a natural 90 degree angle. I filled long-crew socks with newspaper and stuffed them into the shoes. Using the holes in the crocs, I zip tied them to the ankle, and the ankle to the foam noodle. This allowed the foot to stay at a natural angle, while securing the foot to the leg. The jeans covered everything nicely, being baggy-style and all. I zip-tied them to stay up, and the legs cram down into the box and are held in place with your chest and stomach. The clown hands can be taped to the bottom of the box, or just tucked inside like I did. I did like the look of the hands on the outside, so I ended up taping them underneath to give the illusion that the clown was actually carrying the box. Play around with your design, I'm sure you'll come up with something cool.

AND THAT'S IT!

You could take the same basic idea, and use any other type of costume to make it your own. Be creative!

Total time: 3-4 hours

Total cost: 40-50 dollars

- Sonata85 :)