Eyeball Alien Costume

In this instructable I will show and tell how to make an Eye Head Alien Businessman costume. In Alaska, there are four variables that you have to incorporate into your costume:

DIY
It is easy to go buy a costume from the department store with your oranges, but that is not what instructables is about.

Ease of Transport
when you are 10 ft taller than normal because you wanted to be a giant robot, it is kinda hard to get in and out of the car.

Visibility
It is a good Idea to have good visibility, especially if you are going to a neighborhood which doesn't restrict cars on All Hallows Eve.

Warmth
In alaska, we normally have snow on the ground during halloween, so it's good to incorporate a coat into the costume instead of slapping one over the costume.

             My costume is DIY, it is very easy to transport, and is very warm. My visibility is terrible which would be a problem with a 6 year old, but not with a 14 year old like myself. Note. This costume is very warm, especially with a lined trench coat. If you live in the tropics, or are going to a dress party, you could easily supplement the trench coat with a business suit, or some other less insulating clothing.

Materials
-1 globe (It would be better to get a globe without all the mountain ranges raised, as this makes the eyeball look lumpy. Since I couldn't find oneI just placed the Iris right smack on the Pacific ocean.)
-Scrap Cardboard (make sure that you can cut long strips from this cardboard)
-Clothes (Whatever you want your alien to wear, something with a collar makes the transition nicer.)
-White spray paint
-Black and _____ acrylic paint (The second color is entirely up to you, I used red.)


Tools

-Hot glue gun (a necessity in any project)
-scissors
-razor knife

Begin by cutting a 4" hole at the north pole of the globe. If this hole is too small for your head, cut back towards Britain, as we are trying for the iris to be on the Pacific. After cutting about half and inch off, try the globe on again. If it is still too small, repeat the process until it is large enough to fit over your head. Since I have such a HUGE head, I had to widen the hole about 3 time before it would finally fit.

              Now, unless you want to go about with your eye flopping about like a bobble head, you have to create support for your head. To do this I created a headpiece out of cardboard strips.

           First, cut an extremely long cardboard strip, the longer the better. If you want to be mathematic about it, measure your head then make sure you cut the strip at least four inches longer than that. Wrap the cardboard around your head as seen in the second picture, then mark both sides of the cardboard with a pen. Take the the strip off, then cut halfway through the cardboard at the points you measured on the opposite sides, one cut on the top of the one side of the strip, the other on the bottom of the opposite side of the strip. Now you should be able to fit the two strips together like shown in the third picture. Cut off the flaps on the back of the cardboard, leaving just about a half inch, then glue down the rest of the strip as shown in pic 4.

            Next, take a second strip of cardboard, measure it to fit over the top of your head, and glue it perpendicular to the ring.  See 6 and 7 pictures.

Now you have to mount the head support in the globe. To do this, I glued two cardboard strips to the sides of the vertical strip as seen in the first and the second picture. From there, I taped the two strips to the inside of the globe, then glued it using the hot glue gun. BEFORE YOU GLUE IT MAKE SURE THAT THE HEADPIECE LINES UP WITH THE PACIFIC OCEAN.

             Now, to secure the headpiece further, you should cut about 8 strips of cardboard, then slide these strips between the top vertical piece of cardboard and the top of the globe. Now place the globe on your head, and judge if there is enough strips between the top of your head and the globe. Keep on adding or subtracting strips until your chin is about level with the bottom of the globe. To glue them down, place hot glue on the top of the strip and place it in the proper position. Take the next strip and repeat the process until all the cardboard is glued down, then glue the last cardboard strip to the headpiece as well. After creating a secure headpiece, we can move onto funner tasks.

Pretty self explanatory. cut a hole were your eyes are going to look through, try on helmet, widen hole if needed. I suggest you start with a 1 in tall hole then widen the sides to be 4 in long, then widen it incrementally.

Paint your eyeball white. I recommend you use white, gloss spray paint. After painting it white and waiting for it to dry, draw a 8 in circle on the front of the eyeball, and then a 4 in circle inside of that. Paint the inner circle black and the outer circle whatever color you wish the iris to be. as far as the type of paint to use, i suggest acrylics, not spray paint as that is harder to control. After the paint is dry, touch up with a black sharpie, then your eyeball is to a completed point. You can now go out and surprise innocent bystanders and galactic officers abroad.

Now if you want to spice up your eyeball a little bit, all you have to add is a little headgear. If you use a normal hat, all you halve to do is run a thick bead of hot glue on the edge of the hat, then hold the hat onto the eyeball's top until cooled. This is a nifty way to give a lot of esthetic value to your eye.  It can also add to the theme of your costume.  If you are a alien businessman, a bowler hat is perfect, and if you are a alien sailor, well you get the Idea.

This was a realy fun costume to make. A few things I wish I had done differently was to add some air holes, or some ice packs, because it got quite stuffy in there. Another thing I should have done was to sacrifice a different hat, as this hat was one of those cheep plastic hats. Also, If I was going to a party instead of trick or treating, I would have dressed differently than in a trench coat, a scarf, and gloves, but like I stated in my intro, this costume was made for Alaskan Halloweens, not a fancy dress party, but it could be easily modified for the latter purpose. I hope whoever reads this intructable, or even just looks at the picture, is inspired to do something fantastic, wether it is a Alien businessman, or something I wouldn't come up with even in my wildest dreams.