Easy Book (Marky) Mark Halloween Costume

Maybe this costume is a bit too niche, but I love an easy, inexpensive, and punny Halloween costume. If you're a children's librarian, however, maybe it's best to skip Marky Mark's iconic Calvin Klein groin grab and be a more family friendly The Very Hungry Caterpillar bookmark.

Materials

• 12" x 36" piece of cardboard (I cut a piece from a Tri-Fold Project Display Board)
• Copy paper (Glossy photo or cardstock recommended but not required)
• Laminating roll or clear packing tape
• Yarn
• Ribbon, cord, or bias tape (for straps)
• Hot Glue
• Headband
• Marky Mark PDF (attached to Step 1)

Tools

• Scissors
• Craft knife
• Hot Glue Gun and glue sticks

Scaling

If you're planning on making a Marky Mark themed bookmark, you can skip to the printing section of this step and print out the attached "12 X 36 Marky Mark" PDF. Otherwise, open Photoshop and create a custom canvas that has a width of 12 inches and a height of 36 inches. Copy and paste your image onto the canvas, and resize it until you're happy with how it looks. Finally, save it as a Photoshop PDF.

Printing

Open your PDF in Adobe Acrobat, and select print. Under the "Page Size and Handling" section, select the "Poster" option, scale it to 100% with 0.005 inch overlap, and check the box for cut marks. Print your PDF on either glossy photo paper or cardstock for durability and thickness.

Note: Regular copy paper will work fine, but it's usually thin. If you back your printed image in Step 3 with cardboard that has logos on it, those markings might be visible through thin copy paper. So either use thicker paper, use a solid color piece of cardboard, or paint your cardboard before attaching your image.

After printing your PDF, align a ruler with the cut marks and use a craft knife to cut away the bottom boarder on all the pieces and the left boarder on the four right pieces (see images for a diagram of where to cut).

As you assemble the pieces, tape them together on the backside where they overlap, and once they are all together, use scissors to cut away the thick outer boarder.

Cut out a 12 X 36 inch piece of cardboard, which is the exact size of one of the side panels of tri-fold project display board that I used. Tape your image to the piece of cardboard.

I wanted to protect the front seams of my Marky Mark image and make it glossy like a common bookmark, so I sandwiched my bookmark between two pieces of laminate and trimmed away the edges. This step is optional, or you can use clear packing tape instead.

In order to wear the bookmark, add straps to the center top and at waist height so that you can tie the straps around your neck and waist.

I didn't want to puncture holes in my bookmark, so I knew that I would be attaching my straps with hot glue. In order to give the glue more surface area to grab onto and create a stronger bond, I used flattened bias tape for my straps. If you're fine with puncturing holes in your bookmark, though, you can feed some cord with knotted ends through the holes to create your straps.

To create the tassel, first cut ~50 strands of yarn measuring a little over 60 inches. Tie one end of the yarn together with an elastic band, and then braid the yarn together. Once you reach the end of the braid, tie it into a knot and cut away the excess.

Next, cut out another ~50 strands of yarn measuring 30 inches. Tie them around the braid approximately 15 inches from the end with the elastic band. Remove the elastic tie and comb out the braided yarn below the knot. Cut the strands of yarn so that they're even, and now you have a tassel.

Insert a headband into the knotted end, and hot glue the yarn braid around the rest of the headband to complete your costume.

I recommend pairing your bookmark with simple, neutral clothes that won't distract from the costume. For example, I chose black leggings and long-sleeved shirt.

I also carried around a book to make the bookmark aspect of the costume more apparent for people who were either too young to recognize Marky Mark during his Funky Bunch days or too distracted by the Calin Klein advertisement's suggestiveness.