Beetlejuice: Maitlands Costume

OK,

So you're gunna need quite a few things but the main thing you will need is patience! This is not a one night project and a project for someone who will really enjoy making this and just enjoy the process. If you can make it to the end you and everyone will love your hard work! We won the costume contest! Of course through this process adjust what you think is best and put the movie on repeat because this is going to be fun!

Things you will need:

1. 2 Helmets (thrift store)

2. 2 Wire hangers (Hidden in closet)

3. Thick cardstock or thin cardboard (my boyfriend brought these home from work at the hospital)

4. Kids Air dry modeling clay (any modeling clay that is light) I found some at a thrift store unopened! Score!

5. Newspaper (free newstand at gas station)

6. Flour (w/ water and salt)

7. Paper towel roll (trash)

8. Masking tap (dollar tree)

9. Winter gloves (4 pack at walmart for $3)

10. Plastic hollow eye balls ( dollar tree pack of 15 for $1)

11: Glue sticks/ glue gun

12. Paint ($.50 per color walmart)

13. Flower dress

First start with the helmet and the wire making the base of the jaw. I threaded mine threw the helmet holes and that worked out pretty will! You can use some pliers if its hard to bend but you really just have to measure it to your face. Make it a little bigger than you need because the paper will make it smaller.

Once you get it in place use tape to secure it to the helmet and to begin the shape to wrap paper around. Duct tape and masking tape work the best. Then you can sketch out how wide you want the jaw to be. Make sure it's not too tall. You want to get through doors and have room for the teeth. I wanted mine to be small but of course it came out quite big. But once you get the shape, cut it out and tape it to the wires. I used the paper I cut out the tapes of the make the edges that will hold the teeth. then tape those on a dn fit them to the size of the mouth. Lots of taping.

I used a helmet for his as well. Got the right angle for the nose and for my boyfriend to be comfortable in. The taped the paper towel tube to the head and taped the side pieces that make the sides of the face. I also taped the newspaper to the head so it would be easy to paste to. I used a normal glove that was filled with newspaper and taped that to the head in the position I believed looked good. I am also referencing photos of the movie as I'm making but still having fun.

You can find a simple recipe for paper mache on youtube. But I just used 1 cup of flour for every 1 cup of water. So 1/1 ratio with alittle bit of salt. And cut a lot of news papers. I found that strip of like 1"x2" works well but once you start you will find what works for you. I did both of the mask at the same time so I could just do the process once.

First I did Adam's head which I made little divots for his eyes and folds. And I put as little of paper as possible because the more paper you put the heavier it gets. Mine did end up being heavy but I was fine just holding it up alittle and making the helmet tight to stay up!

For the teeth I used the modeling clay. I made wads of newspaper and tape and the wrapped them in the clay. i them glues the teeth on there first. For the tongue I mached pieced newspaper together and then wrapped it in the clay so it would then harden in the shape that. I used toilet paper rolls to help it keep it's shape while it hardened. I did glue the tongue on before I painted, it doesn't really matter. You decide.

There are so many props you can made for the costumes but I just chose the gloves for Adam's. I got gloves from walmart and the eye balls from the dollar tree. I melted the eyeballs to fit the fingers with a lighter, then glued them with a glue gun to the gloves. I put foil in the gloves to be able to keep the shape of finger as it hardened so I wouldn't burn myself. It took alittle while but was fun to play with!

The Barbra's Mask, after macheing the whole make I first primed the mask. Painted the mouth two tones of red and the left the teeth white, and painted the face skin tone and the eyes black. I tried to make the tongue look really interesting so adjust painting as needed.I also pinned and glues a long curly wig for her hair. At this point you see the end is near.

I just painted his the skin color and made the eye black with some darker skin tone folds to simulate skin. I didn't do hair but you can if you would like. His was rather easy and we did just one glove so he would be able to use his other hand.

We had too much fun with these! So many people loved the nostalgic costumes and that was seriously one of my favorite parts. Taking to so many people and people really enjoying your hard work. I didn't have the old dress but It worked out! We won the costume contest and got a case a of beer! A nice reward for all our hard work!