Easy Monster Platform Shoes

In this Instructable, I plan to show how to make platform shoes to provide about 16-18 inches of height to any Monster costume.

• 5 gallon paint buckets (I found that the blue home improvement big box store had more durable stronger buckets)
• a pair of shoes you don't mind drilling holes in
• large nuts, bolts, washers
• drill and bit
• socket wrench
• 1/4 thick board (might not need)

I would suggest looking for a shoe with a removable sole. This will act as a cushion in the later steps. Unlace the shoes fully and remove the sole.

1. First place the bucket open side down (or upside down)
2. Now place the shoe on the bucket and make sure it is centered both side to side and front to back.
3. While holding the shoe steady, drill through the shoe and the bucket near the heal
4. Now feed a bolt and large washer down through the hole you just drilled. try finding a bolt with a low profile head like a hurricane bolt because you will be standing on top of these bolts.
5. Next repeat the process for the toe end of the shoe
6. With the bolts in place flip the bucket over and add a washer and nut to the bolts and tighten
7. After the bolts are tightened down, replace the inner sole and you are good to try on the shoe and practice walking. And be careful not to fall, it is a long way down...... :)

I have a size 13 shoe so in my case the heal and the toe extend beyond the circumference of the bucket. there is also about a 1/4 lip around the edge of the bucket. When I put the shoes on and stood on the bucket I could feel the 1/4 inch lip under the ball of my foot and under my heal. So in my case I wanted to add a 1/4" thick piece of wood to eliminate that space between the bucket and the shoe. This made the shoe much more comfortable.

You can see the shoe is now about 16-18" above the ground. I also added some monster toes to my bucket (I hope to add an Instructable on that in the future). You can customize to fit your costume. In the full costume pictures I also made some jeans that covered the buckets so all you'd see is the monster toes. I have been very happy the way it turned out and last year the costume as a whole drew a lot of attention just based on how tall it is.

hope you enjoy!