Carl Frederickson UP Movie

I love making costumes and the joy they bring to others. For a few years now I have been wanting to make this costume for our church's trunk or treat so I bit the bullet and finally did it. Here's how:

Paper Towels

1 large box for head

1 large box for house (bought at Wal-Mart)

Wood glue

Elmer's glue

2 Paint stir sticks

Black duct tape

Masking tape

Paint - brown, pink, blue, green, yellow and the color Santa's Flesh for the face

Chicken wire

Cane

4 Tennis balls

Bow tie

Wire cutter

Scissors

Sharpie marker

12" Balloons

Balloon sticks

Curly ribbon

White button up shirt

Suit

Bike helmet

I used a box for the foundation of Carl's head and wrapped the entire box in chicken wire leaving 1 flap down for his jaw.

I folded the flap in half and formed it to make his jaw line. I then wrapped the entire box in masking tape. The paper Mache won't stick to the chicken wire plus it makes the face smoother to put the tape over the wire when you go to paint it. I mixed equal parts water, wood glue and Elmer's glue in a bowl to make a paste for the paper Mache. Instead of newspaper I used paper towels since I did not have any newspaper. I put one paper towel in at a time, squeezed out the water/glue and then just put it on the box with my fingers. That way I could smooth most of the wrinkles but left some for the "old" affect.

I took chicken wire and formed the ears around a Tupperware bowl. Then I sort of folded them in half to form the ears. I also covered those with masking tape and paper towel Mached them. I used part of the chicken wire to attach them to the head making sure they are even so the glasses won't be uneven. I then balled up some craft paper, added chicken wire and paper towel Mached the nose. I also attached it with chicken wire to the box. For the hearing aids I used the bottom of a cup, cut it down and paper towel Mached it and painted it brown. Carl only has one hearing aid in the movie but I left the second one in because normally people have two.

I drew the wrinkles and mouth as a guide. Then I rolled up duct tape and attached it to his face. It will look much better once you get it paper towel Mached.

Time to paint. The color I used was Santa's Flesh for the face and I bought it on Amazon. One bottle was enough but I also mixed a little water with it so it went on smoother and go further.

I cut out holes for the eyes. I took two ping pong balls and added blue paint for the iris and used a black Sharpie for his pupil. I put screws in the back of the ping pong ball just to have something to grab on to when I was hot gluing the eye balls in. That was a huge help. Then I just removed them after the glue was dry. I took two paint stirs for the ears of the glasses and used some smaller wood I had laying around for the rims of the glasses. I then took black duct tape and wrapped them around the wood to secure them together to form the glasses. I then cut out two eyebrows from the fabric I bought at Wal-Mart (https://www.walmart.com/ip/Shason-Textile-1-Yard-P...) and hot glued them on. I then hot glued the glasses the face so they wouldn't fall off.

I bought the Faux Fur at Wal-Mart for $14. I wasn't sure how much I needed so I bought a yard. Once I got home I laid the fabric on top of the box to judge how much I would need and cut the yard in half. The fabric is so messy and my kitchen was a furry mess after I was done but once it was hot glued to the box I really didn't notice it shedding when I wore the costume. I then hot glued it to the box and also made his sideburns and added a little hair to his ears. LOL

I then cut a hole in between his eyes so that I could see while wearing the costume. I tried to hide it under the glasses and so it wasn't very visible unless you knew it was there or you were looking for it.

My husband took a metal sign we had, poked holes in it, duct taped it and added a bike helmet by attaching it to the box with zip ties so it will be more stable while I was wearing it. I sort of felt like a bobble head but it was WAY better then just the box sliding around and around and me having to hold it the entire time.

I bought a large box at Wal-Mart and followed these instructions: Tutorial-on-how-to-make the UP house

I have a Silhouette machine so I cut out the windows out of sticky vinyl and the fence and clouds out of paper. I bought 12" balloons at Wal-Mart for $1 and balloon sticks on Amazon for $15 to make the balloons look like they were floating without helium.

And that's it! All in all it cost me around $85 for the material I did not have on hand.

Cane https://www.walmart.com/ip/Equate-Quad-Cane-Small-Base-Black/14179116

Suit bought at Goodwill for $12 and I used my husband's white shirt and belt

4 Tennis balls

Bow tie

Dark shoes