Princesses From Outer Space Riding on Shooting Stars Illusion Costumes

These costumes are outer space princesses riding shooting stars into the sky. They are our imaginative take on a starry creature we invented. These are illusion costumes, in that they have fake legs which look like they are riding the shooting stars. Our real legs are actually hidden inside of the fiery tails of the shooting stars.

Foam sheets

Fleece fabric

Foamboard

Glue gun and glue sticks

Silver fabric

Needle and thread

Opal jewels

Silver glitter glue

Shiny red, orange and yellow fabric

Yellow skirts

Blue velvet shirts

Silver, gold and blue applique stars

Tiny clear star jewels

Planet stickers

Velcro

Pool Noodles

Cardboard

Duct tape

Belts

Silver leggings

Tulle skirts with starry pattern

Shiny black boots

Fishing line

Styrofoam

Glittery picks

Styrofoam balls

Glitter

Long blue wigs

Black socks

Shiny silver gloves

Fake nails

Blue and glittery nailpolish

Mini LED lights in blue, orange, yellow and white

Wire

Metallic makeup in silver, blue and purple

Face jewels

We started by working on the shooting star piece that would encompass our real legs and extend behind us. To do this, we created a tube shaped piece out of sheets of foam covered with a fleece fabric. This was sewn together to create the tube, with a hole in the front so that it could be stepped into and then went around our waists. The top of the tube, which progressively got narrower and came to a point at the top, rested on top of our backs. We glued some foamboard sheets, which were slightly bent into a curved shape, inside the tube to help it keep its shape. We added stars made from silver fabric, which we sewed onto the top of the point at the top of the piece. We decorated the star with jewels and silver glitter.

To make the shooting star piece look like it was covered with flames, we cut flame shaped pieces out of shiny red, orange, and yellow fabric. We glued these flame pieces in layers all over the shooting star piece. We also got yellow skirts to wear, which would cover our actual legs. We covered the skirt with these flame shaped pieces as well.

We then worked on the blue shirts, which were blue velvety shirts which we cut open down the back. We decorated the shirts with silver and gold appliqué stars, which we glued all over them. We also glued on about 300 tiny clear star jewels on each one. We added a few foam planet stickers, and finished it off with tiny silver glitter dots, to make it look like the night sky. We then trimmed the sides of the shirt at two angles on the edges, so that it could be attached to the shooting star piece. We glued Velcro on the edges of the shirts, and the other half of the Velcro onto the shooting star piece, so that it could be held in place.

Next we worked on the fake legs, which would be the most important part of the illusion. To create the fake legs, we cut pool noodles, each to about the size of a leg. We then cut a notch into the middle of each leg piece, to allow it to bend. We also cut a slit down the side of each noodle, which only went part of the way through. We cut an L shaped strip of cardboard for each leg, and glued the pool noodle leg onto it, gluing it in a bended position. We left a little extra cardboard free on the end of each leg. We then cut another strip of cardboard to go around the waist. We used the extra cardboard on each leg to attach the legs to the cardboard for the waist. We did this by cutting a slit in the waist cardboard and sticking the extra piece on the legs through it, bending it down on the back, gluing it in place and adding support with duct tape. We then cut four slits into the waist cardboard, two on either side of each leg, and threaded a belt in and out through the slits. This way each end of the belt came out on either end so we could buckle the legs around our waists.

To make the pool noodles look like real legs, we dressed them in shiny silver leggings. We decorated the leggings with blue appliqué stars. We also attached a blue tulle skirt with little stars on it on the top of the legs, where the waist would be. We glued the edges of the leggings and the skirt onto the piece of cardboard for the waist, so they would stay in place. To finish off the legs, we attached shiny black boots, which we attached by tying knots with fishing line along the top rim onto the legs. We decorated the boots with a row of the silver appliqué stars.

To top off the costume, we made outer space headpieces. We used styrofoam to make planet shapes, which we painted and decorated with glitter. We then stuck various decorations into the Styrofoam including silver glittery picks and stars. This was all attached to a long blue wig.

To cover our real feet, we decorated socks with more flame pieces, which we cut from the fabric. We then pulled these socks over our shoes, so it would blend in with the rest of the fire. To cover our hands, we bought shiny silver gloves. We decided to add nails to the gloves, so we painted fake nails blue with a glittery topcoat. We then glued the nails onto each of the fingers on the gloves.

We then added lights to various parts of the costume. We used mini sets of battery operated LED lights. We added two sets of white lights to the headpiece by weaving them in and out among the decorations, and using some pieces of wire to secure them. We added two sets of blue lights to the shooting star, which we tied in place with fishing line around the edges of the stars. Finally, we added orange and yellow lights, which we tied in wavy lines to the shooting star tail piece and skirt piece, to look like the fire was catching the light.

Lastly, we covered our face with metallic blue makeup. We drew on little stars and moons with silver metallic paint, and added a few purple planets. We also glued on little clear jewels. Then we added little tiny silver dots all over our faces, to complete the night sky look.