Last-minute Glowing Hand Bursting From Chest Halloween Costume

Halloween isn't as big in The Netherlands as it is in the US, but the festivities in our street get bigger each year. Still I found myself without a costume on the eve of October 30th and I took to Pinterest to find some last-minute inspiration. I found instructions on how to make a fake hand using masking tape and from there I decided to make it a bit more scary by making the hand burst from my chest cavity and glow blood-red in search of new victims... Sorry I got a little carried away there.

This is a real last-minute costume and it's perfect for those not willing to spend money buying material. I only used stuff I already had lying around the house and the whole thing took about an hour to make.

Let's get started, shall we?

Like I said this project can be made with stuff you probably have lying around right now. Here is what I used and some alternatives that will work just as well:

1. an old T-shirt that you can cut up. color doesnt matter, but blood stains show up better on lighter fabrics ;)
2. a piece of cardboard (from a recently delivered package for example)
3. a pencil or pen to mark what to cut
4. masking tape (other tape might work too, but masking tape let's the light pass through best I think)
5. a drinking straw
6. optional: latex handgloves to protect your hair from getting waxed ;)
7. scissors or a box cutter or some other craft knife
8. a small LED light, like for a bicycle. red light works best, but white light is also an option
9. glue or hotglue. I used double-sided tape as well
10. red markers or paint or red paper. basically anything to make something red ;)
11. a ribbon or belt to tie the hand around your chest. I used a piece of velcro ribbon

Because it was late and dark and one of my hands was being wrapped in masking tape, I didnt take any pictures of this step. Fortunately I can share the same instructions I used to do this:

https://makezine.com/article/craft/make-these-spoooky-masking-tape-mummy-hands/

In addition to the article above I used a latex glove so the masking tape didnt stick to my hand and armhair and it was easier to get off later. The straw is used to make it safer to cut the tape open with scissors and notcut yourself.

Also after cutting the hand open and taping it back together I added a cardboard strip to the base of the hand to give it a bit more stability. This also made it easier to glue to the cardboard base plate later using hotglue.

I actually cut up my shirt first, but it's probably better to start with the cardboard base. Simply because you can only cut up your shirt once and it would be a shame if the hole is too big..

Place the cardboard on your shirt and sketch a random shape that fits underneath the shirt against your chest.

Cut out the shape and place the fake hand on top to mark the size of the hole for the LED light to go in. Cut out the hole as well and make sure the LED light fits inside.

Using hotglue or any other glue attach all the pieces together. I used hotglue to attach the hand to the base because this is the weakest part and I wanted it to be sturdy enough to walk around with. The cardboard inside the hand makes this a lot stronger when glued to the cardboard base.

I used double sided tape to attach the velcro ribbon to the back of the plate, but glue should work just as well. I only had 1 piece of velcro so I fixed it to the top of the plate so it wouldnt 'hang'. If you have 2 pieces or ribbons you can attach one to the top and one to the bottom of the back of the base plate.

Because it was a snug fit inside the hand, I didnt need to glue or fix the LED light in place. If it keeps coming loose, you can fix it with some tape to the back of the base plate.

When everything is attached, it's time to make it a bit more Halloween-y ;) I used red paper to 'paint' the front of the cardboard base and a marker to add some blood spatter. You can use whatever you have and make it as gruesome as you want.

With the fake hand all finished you can cut out a hole in the shirt that is a bit smaller than the base plate. The shirt will stretch a bit and make sure the edges of the cardboard base dont show. Better to start too small and make it bigger if needed. Try to fit the base through the hole until it can just pass through.

Ask someone to help secure the strap/ribbon/belt behind your back underneath your shirt and see how it fits. Adjust if needed to make sure it doesnt come off when you walk around scaring people.

That's it! You can add some more blood spatter to the shirt below the hole and try different lights to see the effect in the dark.

I ended up being too scary for some of the smaller kids trick-or-treating, though some people might say that had nothing to do with the glowing hand sticking out of my chest.

Anyway we had a fun Halloween and maybe this costume will be a last-minute back-up for some of you too one day.

Let me know what you think or if you have any suggestions on how to make this even better!