Costume Instructions
Prep Time: five to six hours
Costume Materials
1 shoe box, 1 foam wig head, one box (big enough to hold torso comfortably), ten multi-purpose ties, one cape, one full head mask, one pair of gloves, pair of child pants and pair of shoes, duct tape, two sturdy wrapping paper tubes, safety pins hot glue gun, one belt and pillow stuffing.
An exacto knife is needed for cutting and punching slits.
Costume Instructions
Start with your foam head and attach the cape to it. Then move to the big box and cut the front panels off. Then cut an opening in the bottom, but toward the back of the box only. The opening should be about the depth of your child's pelvis from front to back and from hip to hip. Then on the back up from the bottom opening you just cut, you need to cut up about nine inches on both sides up from the bottom opening. Have your child get inside the opening through the hole that you just made. Arms first works best. place the foam head with the cape behind the box while your child is inside. Adjust the height of the cape to just above the ground. Place the shoe box under the foam head and make where box should be attached. With four 7" ties attach the box to the back of the big box. Now attach the head with duct tape (tape it securely). The head may need to be trimmed to be flush against the box before taping. Spray paint the big box black. Make the front jail gate by cutting four extra strips of cardboard the lentgh and height of the big box opening. Staple the pieces together and wrap the square with silver duct tape. Wrap the wrapping paper tubes with silver duct tape. Cut the tubes so the tops and bottom can be flattened and attached to the silver gate with duct tape. The entire gate is then attached to the front of the box with 4" ties. Use four ties on each side. Use the exacto knife to make the slits and push the ties through, tighten and cut off extra tie. On the top and bottom put a one tie through the outer "gate", the tubes and into the box. This gives the "bars" extra support. Stuff your pants legs, safety pin your shoes to the pant and stuff the gloves (with tissue). Place your mask over the foam head and tie the cape on. Apply the gloves with hot glue to the side of the box and
saftey pin them to the cape. Insert the pant legs through the gate bars and have your child get in (arms first). At this point the costume is complete. For comfort you can slip a belt through snug slits close to the bottom back of the bak and tie it around the child's waist. Also, I add a dark nylon strap that was secured by a multi-purpose tie below the shoulders and made hoops like a back pack. Once finished be sure to saftey pin the lower half of the cape around your child's legs to help create the illusion.
