The 2011 DIY Halloween costume open thread

One artfully torn dress from Goodwill, white face paint, and some of that hairspray-style hair dye to color my hands and feet = A weekend of explaining what a "wight" is to people who have never read Game of Thrones. (Sadly, the cheap blue contact lenses I picked up at a gas station wouldn't go into my eyes successfully.)

What did you dress up as this year?

Maggie Koerth-Baker is the science editor at BoingBoing.net. She writes a monthly column for The New York Times Magazine and is the author of Before the Lights Go Out, a book about electricity, infrastructure, and the future of energy. You can find Maggie on Twitter and Facebook.

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MORE: DIY • Event • happy mutants • Holiday • open thread • Weird • wonderful

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http://pulse.yahoo.com/_O73GS2LP4ARSDL3DDRC4OZXMQI Keith

Nothing, because I’m an adult.
- http://maggiekb.com/ Maggie Koerth-Baker
  
  SHUN THE UNBELIEVER! SHUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNN
- Mister44
  
  You are the worst kind of people.
Guest

You can buy contact lenses at a gas station?
- http://www.framesdirect.com/ EyewearDude
  
  Last time I checked, no, you could not buy contact lenses at a gas station. Even if you could…wtf would you?
- http://maggiekb.com/ Maggie Koerth-Baker
  
  In Texas, all things are possible.
Kirby_G

Nothing. I was too busy making R2D2 for my son:

http://wonderfulpages.com/sawdust/2011/10/homemade-r2d2-costume/
emschelle

Nice vacant stare! Sir and I were Indiana Jones and Marion Ravenwood, Raiders-style.
cholten99

Wow Keith that’s pretty much the saddest thing I’ve seen in print for a long time. Not just that you don’t enjoy the joie de vivre of dressing up in silly costumes just for the fun of it but that you had to share that (and presumably belittle those that do) to everyone on the internet – go you!

My wife and I dress up as a mad scientist and his creation which went down a storm around here.
garyg2

I’m going as Keith.
- Stonewalker
  
  You’d better wear your poopoo pants.
- PhosPhorious
  
  Horrifyng!
OldBrownSquirrel

I’m pleading baby this year. Next year I’ll try to make up for it.
- paulleader
  
  I think we can let you off with that one :)
  
  I’m pleading “just got back from honeymoon”.
  
  Oh, and grow up Keith.
http://twitter.com/oodja Tom Bruno

My daughter is a pirate this year, I’m a giant squid!

http://oodja.blogspot.com/2011/10/here-squiddy-squiddy-squiddy.html
- http://maggiekb.com/ Maggie Koerth-Baker
  
  Tom Bruno, I love it! Great daddy/daughter theme set!
  - http://twitter.com/oodja Tom Bruno
    
    Thanks! One year we did Cleopatra and the Mummy, but I think this year’s our favorite.
- Kirby_G
  
  Brilliant idea with the squid arms you just hold in your hands. This could potentially be one of those costumes that are a huge pain-in-the-butt to wear all night and hold a drink with, etc, but you very creatively worked around that. Nice job.
  - http://twitter.com/oodja Tom Bruno
    
    Thank you! The squid arms are a pool “noodle” that I cut in half. To make the suckers I duct taped (thank goodness for purple Duck Tape!) some purple foam sheets that I’d curved into trough-like shapes, then my daughter glued a bunch of purple buttons to them.
SamSam

I was an anglerfish, made out of sheet metal, wire and a bike light.

My wife was thinking of going as my attached male anglerfish’s gonads, but wisely decided to go as the Flying Spaghetti Monster instead.
http://twitter.com/adamundefined Adam Cox

I went as a photobooth. It was a great way to get photos of people at my party. I used an app called Pocketbooth on my iPhone. I uploaded all the pictures to Flickr as the night went on and had my Apple TV set to display my Flickr stream as a screensaver.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24472807@N07/6290058423/
http://twitter.com/amberto Amber

carrie! complete with a bucket of blood hat (inspired by Raja on Rupaul’s drag race): http://twitter.com/#!/amberto/status/129685177390727168/photo/1
CSMcDonald

The dragons decided to go as this year’s super hero film stars:
http://www.urbandragons.com/hween/2011card.jpg
Rich Keller

I handed out candy in a really ornate wizard robe, a tweed jacket, a fez and goggles, (and pants, too, of course).

So, I was pretty much myself, actually.

Keith, you can dress up as Sam the Eagle from the Muppet Show next year.
Andrew Ferguson

My girlfriend dressed up as a genderbent ‘Sexy Adam Savage’, as part of a sexy/genderbent Wootstock group she organized. Also included genderbent Paul & Storm (by the Doubleclicks), Jamie Hyneman, MC Frontalot, Jonathan Coulton & more.

Here’s her outfit in the Flickr pool with all the rest:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cabbit/6293440011/in/pool-1834971@N22/lightbox/
- OldBrownSquirrel
  
  If you’ll pardon my saying so, your girlfriend rocks.
http://www.youtube.com/user/Freethinkersanon Christopher

This year I disappointed my co-workers by not wearing a costume. Since Halloween fell on a Monday the decision was made not to have an office party. I was, however, going to be Edgar Allan Poe, which I’d already put together for a short film:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-d33jtM_Tc

In previous years I’ve been Rorschach, Hannibal Lecter, Detective Columbo, an Andorian, a gargoyle, Harpo Marx, and Albert Einstein.
http://nelc.livejournal.com/ NelC

As has become habit in recent years, I dressed as a hikikomori and stayed home. Which was a shame. Perhaps I don’t know enough people who haven’t grown up.
JimGriffioen

I made my son a costume of his favorite movie hero, The Rocketeer:

http://www.sweet-juniper.com/2011/10/kid-rocketeer.html
- http://twitter.com/jordanyerman jordan yerman
  
  That’s incredible. Well done.
- Andrew Ferguson
  
  That is so awesome!
avoision

My costume this year is based on an animated .gif of a guy, cleaning his car. It’s just a pair of coveralls, a hockey mask, and a lot of fake blood… along with some cleaning supplies.

I’ve posted up photos on my blog: The Tidy Serial Killer.
http://www.facebook.com/jamiesueaustin Jamie Sue

I didn’t have much time or cash this year so no costuming fun for me. My son wanted to be an Angry Bird. Specifically, the black one.
dculberson

My costume was simpler than in prior years. I cut off my long hair about a year ago and people kept saying I looked like Conan O’Brien, so I went with it.

Picture of me in a thrift store suit and teased up hair. I got better at the hair but don’t have a picture of that.
Paul Renault

Am I the only one here who thought “Ew!” at the phrase ‘cheap blue contact lenses I picked up at a gas station’?

Like, you were going to put them on your eyeballs? Shudder…
http://twitter.com/tardiskitten thisbikeisatardis

Appa, the flying water bison from Avatar: the last Airbender.
Tablet Meister

Freddie Mercury. There aren’t any readily available costumes, so I had to buy a sewing machine, learn to sew, and make my own.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/443199/Freddie.jpg
dculberson

Okay, so my image link seems to not be working; here’s a second try. This is me in a thrift store suit and teased up hair.
- wannabeplatypus
  
  Can I mate with you?
Tablet Meister

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/443199/Freddie.jpg
Freddie Mercury. There aren’t any readily available costumes, so I had to buy a sewing machine, learn to sew, and make my own.
- dculberson
  
  That’s pretty dang good! Your teeth don’t stick out enough, of course… ;-)
  - Tablet Meister
    
    Heh, thanks. I had some fake big teeth, but they were impossible to talk with, so they were gone before really any photos were taken. And the moustache is real, I shaved most of what you grew for Conan!
http://profiles.google.com/daisy.linden Daisy Linden

I made up for my accidental sexiness of my deer costume by taking pictures of myself eating leaves in my parents’ backyard.

http://i.imgur.com/zhUOe.jpg
- Rich Keller
  
  You didn’t have a date so you had to go stag? Too bad.
Ian Langohr

http://ianlangohr.squarespace.com/masks/factory-face-stinky-2011/

Old abandoned maltage plant in Montreal. I live near-by and it`s always been inspiring. I just augmented it to make it more like a mask.
- http://twitter.com/Foxtongue Jhayne Holmes
  
  I love what you’ve done. It’s incredible, as well as beautiful!
  - Ian Langohr
    
    Thank You.
    Kudos to your idea as well. The jaw is particularly impressive.
http://twitter.com/Stefing Stef of Ing

Me and my girlfriend went for Død Snø and Frida Kahlo…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/79276909@N00/6299241423/
Ryan Kittleson

my zombie Steve Jobs.
- Rich Keller
  
  After embiggening the picture, iDied a little inside.
Bartacus

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bartgoldonflickr/6274369612/

My home brew Doctor Octopus get-up. While a little welding and a lot of cutting styrofoam on a bandsaw were involved, this was full DIY.
http://twitter.com/cicadamania Cicada Mania

I’m going to be a Sea Robin fish again this year.
faithnomore

Being from a Boston suburb post stormageddon, we’re dressing as people trying to stay warm in their dark, 50 degree home !

But slightly more seriously, like much-maligned Keith* upthread, I have some dis-ease about Halloween. I love some of the creative costumes that folks come up with and have partaken in many a party myself, but I also can’t help but feel that Halloween is becoming more and more comodified and adult-focused rather that home-made and kid-centric. I especially hate the “ho-ification” of commercial costumes; I die a little inside every time I see a 5 year old “sexy witch”.

*also, I heart curmudgeons.
http://aspal-putih.blogspot.com cybermales

wow
lydia daugherty

Maggie, I don’t think you’re cold enough to be a wight. :)
- http://maggiekb.com/ Maggie Koerth-Baker
  
  Tell that to my husband. He claims my feet and hands are totally cold enough.
DougGroves

Don’t have the costume on at the moment, but Walter White, S01E01, green shirt, tighty whities, handgun tucked in the back, gas mask and the most appropriate Hallowe’en treat… blue meth.
http://twitter.com/amyicurrie amyicurrie

For Keith http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2s-kDIJrJM
Spud Cheezwhiz

I was able to exploit my morbid obesity this year. A crew of 6″ action figures from the dollar store, attached to anchor points on my clothing with lengths of string… runaway parade balloon!
http://twitter.com/amyicurrie amyicurrie

also – i was lichtenstein’s “drowning girl” http://i.imgur.com/sLPFE.jpg
drkptt

Airport body scanner. Outside the scanner is a businessman trying to catch a plane; secrets you can’t keep from the TSA are inside (illuminated by the faux radiation of a strobe).

http://i.imgur.com/qmJYF.jpg

I’ve got to compliment the costume competition: the crab boat Time Bandit from Deadliest Catch, except the crabs have seized the ship. Note the little slicker-suited crew tied inside the traps like bait:

http://i.imgur.com/xtQPA.jpg
alephxero

I made a Bunsen Honeydew costume:
http://twitter.com/andreastart Andrea Start

:)
PrettyBoyTim

I made some mechanical bat wings out of Lego Technic and a bin liner [edit: but the links don't seem to work. Grr.]
Jen Gillette

My friends and I did a group costume as Jim Henson’s Labyrinth. Clockwise from the left, we have Sir Didymus, The Junk Lady, Ludo, Jareth the Goblin King, Baby Toby, Sarah, and the Labyrinth personified. I wish we had a better group photo.

http://imgur.com/CfaUf
http://twitter.com/3rdplacepress Vladimir Verano

A long-held dream of mine was to go as one of the nicknames I was called as a kid: The most excellent COUNT VON COUNT! http://campl.us/gDCy
banksette

My homemade Creepster costume (Hipster Creeper). :) Happy Halloween, everyone!

http://rocalyn3d.deviantart.com/#/d4ehncs
pundog

I used about 500 Post-Its and went as the guy on the Office Space poster:
gallery.me.com/pundog#100489/IMG_0849&

Great thread! I love Halloween and Boing Boing!
http://www.nothinginside.net mindysan33

I’m going as Emma Goldman to take my little girl out trick or treating tonight…. and she’s dressing as a member of Kraftwerk from the Man Machine era. “If I can’t dance to Kraftwerk, I don’t want to be part of your revolution.” Or some such. I should note by daughter and husband made an led light up tie for her costume. I just threw on some victorianish clothes that I had and a hat…
http://twitter.com/ducchau99 duc chau

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you, “Offended Gentleman“
- banksette
  
  Fantastic!
http://twitter.com/Foxtongue Jhayne Holmes

With some rubber bands and some make-up, I transformed into a creepy ball-jointed doll.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/foxtongue/6293704317/
- garyg2
  
  That’s really clever; simple but very effective (read: unnerving)
Bethany King

I went as a modern-day Snow White. I’m a school teacher, so I wanted to appeal to the kids. These were all pieces I either had or purchased but would wear again (just not together).
awjt

Woman, you scarrrrrrrrrry
Jay Converse

I play my arachnophone. The Addams Family Theme is this year’s crowd favorite.
Virginia Jones

I’m myself in negative. Not a Drow! Left is my makeup, and right is the same image inverted. Heavily influenced by the Greyscales!
- http://www.jjsaul.com Jim Saul
  
  That effect is amazing.
geech

Mr. I.M. Shameless, Director of Public Relations for Bank of America

Pummeled, as he should be.
planettom

I went as a green-screen invisible man.
http://planettom.livejournal.com/310024.html
Anselm

Red hair color, a belt cut down into a dog collar, drum sticks and a manic look and voila! Animal!
Lauren Pedersen

On Saturday I was a maneki neko (complete with collar & ryo coin) and tonight I’m riding my bicycle dressed as Lara Croft!
terry childers

my wife and i went to a party saturday night dressed as a drug-sniffing dog and a kabuki-esque lady samurai.
mattcornell

I’m a big baby. Not really a costume. More of an excuse.

http://twitpic.com/79182c

http://twitpic.com/7918g3
Jessica Jones

I made my son a Totoro costume:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XkbwbQkB_qo/Tq8eBPmadrI/AAAAAAAABMk/HmQfDVNJDNk/s1600/totoro-1.jpg
pjcamp

“Sadly, the cheap blue contact lenses I picked up at a gas station wouldn’t go into my eyes successfully.”

Never mind.

The red ones are Teh Awesome!
Scott Seland

Me outside my math classroom.
http://kingdomoffife.blogspot.com/ Merkin

My son went as a Medieval Plague Doctor . . .
http://kingdomoffife.blogspot.com/2011/10/medieval-plague-doctor-halloween-2011.html
http://celesteagnes.blogspot.com/ Sekino

My husband and I went as steampunk insects; a moth and a bumble bee. I made the papier-mache and plaster moth mask and altered a blouse and skirt from the thrift store. I was carrying an LED in a lantern (you know, moths following a light…)

My husband made a bumble bee gas-mask out of wire, mesh, plaster and fake yellow fur with awesome tanks (they’re mostly cardboard but they really look heavy duty).

http://weirdly.net/images/Moth1.jpg

http://weirdly.net/images/Bee1.jpg
http://twitter.com/kelsonphilo Stephen Hill

The Spirit.
Kristi Rifenbark

Not a single person knew who I was on Saturday…I was a little disappointed. Wild Zero!
- Kathleen Conahan
  
  It’s because you forgot the wrist tattoos.
  On a related note: HAVE MY BABIES.
Aknaton

I’m running out of blond men with beards, having already been young Obi-Wan and the Dude, so this year I proved my cultural irrelevance as Sonny Crockett. A few other old-timers recognized me. Last year I was a conehead (plants vs.) zombie.
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  Thor?
missshirley

Muppet Babies flashback, if she ever left the house:
James Daniels

I was the Flying Spaghetti Monster. It was a hit, I almost won the “concept” category of the costume contest. & yes, I made it myself!
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  Nice meatballs.
Nathan Pryor

I made my son a train costume. Not content to be a generic choo-choo, the little trainspotter specifically wanted to be a GE Dash 9. Here he is posing alongside a real one.
Danny Donny-Clark

I went as a modified Monster from the previous How to Make a Monster thread. I won three costume contests- thank you boingboing!
http://pineappledonut.org Lachlan Musicman

Me and the family – as an Australian, we don’t traditionally celebrate Halloween with the same fervour that Americans do – what we did we consider “an effort”. Having said that, it was all very last minute – we only realised that Tuesday was a public holiday on Sunday, which put us more in the mood.

Started as us and the young girl next door from my son’s class, her father and her friend. Then we bumped into two others that weren’t even going to knock on doors. Ended up being ~12 children and ~6 adults for a wonderful evening – fun and friendly, community building.
justinfwest

I was a Mormon Bike Missionary. Last minute idea after my first costume bombed.
KludgeGrrl

Most of my energy went towards doing my 5 yr old son’s costume (Luke Skywalker, the original version). My nominal costume was a black cat, but judging from my consumptive coughing fits I was actually something far scarier — a contagion vector for the 2011 Toronto Plague.
Mister44

In order to not have 100 posts – but awesome costumes. I love the muppets nanny, the Spirit (fun fact, my oldest comic book is a “Spirit” comic.), and the photo negative especially.

I flaked out this year. I just wore my ren fair outfit, but I got a new tricorn, which zipped it forward about 200 years in history. I also got to carry my rapier and main gauche, but used frogs made of duct tape because my real leather ones are not done yet.

Last year I wore my silk mandarin shirt and staff to be a passable father to my girl’s Mulan.

The year before THAT I found a bitchin’ purple 80′s suit and went as the joker. It was the first time I ever wore make up. (well, no, I guess I had some when I went as death in 3rd grade). It was the year everyone was Heath Ledger’s version, but I went as the more classy comic book one. Too bad I didn’t have a good picture taken of me, but here is one post trick or treating.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/63283251@N04/6290400025/
Kathleen Conahan

About half a pound of rhinestones plus a plastic mask and some acrylic fingernails led to a pretty decent “For the Love of God” costume. Fortunately I know a lot of art majors so I only had to explain this one about five times.
JimPurbrick

I wore the impaled skateboarder costume again and got better pics this year: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimpurbrick/sets/72157628007233428/
Danny Donny-Clark

A shot of mid-creation. I used bamboo slats and poles to make the frame, the entire thing was about 3 kilos when fully skinned and toothy. The teeth are made from paper-based clay, painted and covered in glue to preserve the shape. Farming plastic sheets for the skin. The final costume also had arms and legs, clawed hands and feet.
theo lane

Two words: Daft Fett

I had cycling colored LEDs, and a built in sound system, which I Thoroughly abused at work :D
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_QOWENBWUU3K2TR3N4RUDABKLO4 Bernie

I’d wanted to be a peacock for a while, so I went for it. Some purchased, some DIY and I did the face painting myself.

http://www.twitpic.com/78v0hw