Kelsey Bass

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Halloween Spirit Unicorn costume

Angry Unicorn spirit

Angry Unicorn spirit

I'm so pumped for Halloween this year! I have a few parties I'm going to and I want to look spooky! Ever since I moved to Germany I've been seeing, slowly but surely, more Halloween costumes and decorations for sale. I think every year more and more folks are participating in it.

Halloween is one of my favorite Holidays and a holiday that I often miss celebrating in the US. It's fun to create costumes and watch scary movies, and get into the Halloween spirit. 

My favorite Halloween costume as a kid was this rad werewolf costume my mom made. The readymade was the werewolf mask. My mom had sewed me a hairy chest piece, made hairy clawed gloves and feet. I totally threw myself into the character, as most kids do. It's just magical.

My favorite costume, Werewolf!

My favorite costume, Werewolf!

Now when I'm deciding what to be for Halloween I want to make it myself. This year I wanted to be some sort of unicorn. I wasn't sure if I was going to make a mask or paint my face. Then I thought it would be cool to make a skeleton unicorn. I scoured online how-tos until I came across masks made out of cardboard. 

Cardboard is light and is easy to come by. We still had some of our moving boxes that I could use.

Here's my list of the tools/ materials: Hot glue gun, hot glue, masking tape, paint (acrylic), cardboard, box cutter, scissors, and sketched out plans.

Card board base

Card board base

First things first this thing has got to fit my head and be comfortable. I make a sort of helmet, then adjust the pieces around my eyes. It's important to still see. 

Getting the shape right...

Getting the shape right...

Second, is the bare bones of this mask. This step is important to make sure the shape is right and recognizable, because from here you will build up the mask. The mask will not look pretty at this point so don't worry too much about that.

Adding details in the face

Adding details in the face

Third, this is when it is important to figure out the details in the face, what parts stick out from the others. It was at this point where I could either stop (for a quick mask) or go forward. I wanted to go much further. (I sustained a few hot glue burns, and in this picture my fingers are in a glass of cold water.)

Adding masking tape.

Adding masking tape.

Fourthly (going beyond the point where I thought I'd stop). I used masking tape on my mask to smooth out the features to  be painted. I also added the horn. I made the horn with card board and masking tape. I glued it on well with the hot glue gun. I made a cut off horn, because this unicorn was killed for the horn. The thieves managed to cut half the horn off, which in turn with the magic left in the part of the horn allowed for the unicorn spirit to come back and haunt. Also I'd imagine this will be more party friendly ;).

Painting

Painting

Fifthly, the painting stage. I wanted to make this skull look realistic and unsettling. 

And this is what I ended up with. The back of the skull isn't detailed because it'll be coved, but if you'd want to make one yourself, and you'd want a back I'd suggest using masking tape and paper to cover up the back.

If you also live in Germany (or another place that doesn't celebrate Halloween) and you're uninspired by readymade costumes, or you simply can't find a costume you like. I really suggest checking out your nearest craft stores! They're virtually empty on Halloween.

I'm pretty happy with what I've made! Have a Happy Halloween! Be safe and have a lot of fun.