Kid's Costume for under $25
Phase one of my Dr. Horrible costume for my son--the goggles. The entire goal of my project is to put together the Dr. Horrible costume for under $25, quickly and easily and with minimal effort.
Goggles:
The Goggles - eBay - $6.95/Free Shipping
This seller seems to list them regularly at that price with free shipping, so jump in and take advantage of it! As of this posting, it looks like they've got 17 pairs of goggles up for grabs, and they list more as the others close, so we can try to avoid bidding against each other.
Prep: I used a fine sand paper to rough the plastic surface in order to hold the paint better. Popped the vents out, took off the flip-up goggle portion, and lightly roughed it over all the visible surface.
Paint: Good ol' Hobby Lobby sells Anita's and Folk Art metallic acrylic paints. I used Anita's Metallic Silver/Argent ($.69), Anita's Metallic Antique Gold ($.69), and Folk Art Metallic Sequin Black ($.99) to mix the color of Horrible's shades. The price may vary according to your store, but generally you're looking at less than a dollar per 2 fl. oz bottle of the metallics.
The silver and gold colors are both very vibrant. By tossing in the metallic black, I mixed together a burnished silver and bronze tone without sacrificing any of the metallic sheen. To start, I gave it a once-over coat of paint, and allowed it time to set and dry--if you try and simply paint in one thick coat, you're going to end up dragging the paint away and revealing the green plastic underneath. Mix enough paint for the entire project, and place it covered with plastic wrap in the freezer while the first coat dries (about 5 min). When you're ready for the second coat, just give the paint a moment to warm back up (it won't take long) and get to it. The paint may actually be a bit thicker and go on smoother in the second coat for its little bit of chill--take advantage of that.
Personally, I didn't fuss with whether brush strokes (NOT the green beneath, but the texture given by the bristles) showed or not, to give it a bit of depth--it worked out well that I didn't, and gives the finished goggles the faintly beaten up look of Horrible's goggles (rather than a flat shiny out-of-the box metallic look).
I mixed enough in the one batch to have the metallic silver color for the Death Ray, without fiddling with it again later, and put it back in the freezer. I still have more paint in the bottles, as well. A little goes a long way.
Once the paints are dry, pop the vents back in and the flip cover back on and you're good to go. I'll also add that the painted goggles seem to be less floppy than the original green plastic, untreated version. I'm quite happy with how they turned out.
Meanwhile, the finished project (the picture quality is admittedly horrid):
TOTAL COST: $9.32
TIME: apx 15 minutes
Goggles:
The Goggles - eBay - $6.95/Free Shipping
This seller seems to list them regularly at that price with free shipping, so jump in and take advantage of it! As of this posting, it looks like they've got 17 pairs of goggles up for grabs, and they list more as the others close, so we can try to avoid bidding against each other.
Prep: I used a fine sand paper to rough the plastic surface in order to hold the paint better. Popped the vents out, took off the flip-up goggle portion, and lightly roughed it over all the visible surface.
Paint: Good ol' Hobby Lobby sells Anita's and Folk Art metallic acrylic paints. I used Anita's Metallic Silver/Argent ($.69), Anita's Metallic Antique Gold ($.69), and Folk Art Metallic Sequin Black ($.99) to mix the color of Horrible's shades. The price may vary according to your store, but generally you're looking at less than a dollar per 2 fl. oz bottle of the metallics.
The silver and gold colors are both very vibrant. By tossing in the metallic black, I mixed together a burnished silver and bronze tone without sacrificing any of the metallic sheen. To start, I gave it a once-over coat of paint, and allowed it time to set and dry--if you try and simply paint in one thick coat, you're going to end up dragging the paint away and revealing the green plastic underneath. Mix enough paint for the entire project, and place it covered with plastic wrap in the freezer while the first coat dries (about 5 min). When you're ready for the second coat, just give the paint a moment to warm back up (it won't take long) and get to it. The paint may actually be a bit thicker and go on smoother in the second coat for its little bit of chill--take advantage of that.
Personally, I didn't fuss with whether brush strokes (NOT the green beneath, but the texture given by the bristles) showed or not, to give it a bit of depth--it worked out well that I didn't, and gives the finished goggles the faintly beaten up look of Horrible's goggles (rather than a flat shiny out-of-the box metallic look).
I mixed enough in the one batch to have the metallic silver color for the Death Ray, without fiddling with it again later, and put it back in the freezer. I still have more paint in the bottles, as well. A little goes a long way.
Once the paints are dry, pop the vents back in and the flip cover back on and you're good to go. I'll also add that the painted goggles seem to be less floppy than the original green plastic, untreated version. I'm quite happy with how they turned out.
Meanwhile, the finished project (the picture quality is admittedly horrid):
TOTAL COST: $9.32
TIME: apx 15 minutes