Teddy Monster Halloween Costume

I'm going to be honest here. I made this Monster Teddy Costume to win the affections of my son. See, he looks up to a YouTuber called "Bobby Duke Arts." Every Halloween Bobby carves a really cool and unique pumpkin. I too look forward to them but I couldn't have Booby Duke being cooler in my son's eye than me. Clearly, I was not insecure about my dadding at all LOL.

So, I set out this Halloween to make something to win back my son's affections and prove that I was a cool dad.

For this project you'll need a couple of things.

Supplies:

• Giant Teddy +5ft (+150cm)
• Onesie
• Old shoes
• Old gloves
• Aluminum Foil
• EVA foam
• XPS foam
• Gaffe tape
• Contact Adhesive
• Mod Podge sealer
• Assortment of Acrylic paint
• Semi-gloss varnish
• Small Velcro patch
• 8x roofing nails
• Super glue
• Assortment of wood stains
• Latex or silicone sealant
• 1mm wire
• Thick fake blood
• Fake blood for clothing
• Red nail polish

Tools:

• Hobby knife
• Needle & thread
• Dremel / rotary carver
• Sand paper 80 -240 grit
• Paint brushes

Find yourself a Giant Teddy

I'm guessing most do not have a surplus of giant teddies just lying around. So I recommend hitting the equivalent of Craigslist in your country to start your search.

In Norway, it is Finn.no There I found a 5ft teddy for about $10 USD However after not realizing where this teddy was located. I punched the address into Google maps and was shocked to find it was going to be a 3 hour round trip.

So, 3 hours later and $50 worth of gas. We had a teddy.

One factor I failed to calculate though, was that my son became quickly attached to the teddy on the way home. It was here I felt like a horrible dad. Was I going to have to break my son's heart to make this costume?

The inner helmet was made to ensure the position of the head inside the teddy's big fluffy head and to provide a mounting system for the mouth which I will explain later.

First get some aluminum foil and wrap it around their head. (Be sure to take photos so that you can embarrass them on their 18th birthday.) Layer tape on top of the foil until it holds its shape. Mark the center and then divide one half in to sections. You will most probably see where the natural joins will be. If in doubt just use the rule of thirds.

With a pair of scissors or knife. Cut each part and lay flat onto some EVA foam. These are your templates. Mark them onto the foam ensuring when you mark the parts for the other side you flip them so that they are mirrored. Cut your parts out and using some contact adhesive glue them together.

The inner lining will serve the same purpose as the helmet. It will position the body inside the costume.

To start, find yourself a onesie. I found this one online at Lindex but if you have more time I'm sure you could find one much cheaper from China. You will also have to find yourself some gloves and shoes. I found a pair my son was going to grow out of soon and some gloves that were a little oversized. The gloves were great! I just wished that I had gotten some oversized shoes too. As it would have made it a lot easier for him to get in and out of the costume.

Sew these gloves and shoes to the onesie. (Warning: Sewing can be dangerous. A needle up under your fingernail will hurt like hell.)

The cuffs on this onesie wanted to tear when you tried to force the foot into the small shoe. So as an added security I also added a foot strap so that the shoe did not come loose inside the costume.

Glue the helmet in with some contact adhesive to the outside of the onesie hood.

Now test fit the onesie and make any changes required to make it more comfortable.

It is now time to kill your teddy. A hobby knife is all that you'll need here. "Not an Axe"

Using the hobby knife cut the stiches down his belly from his neck to his belly button. Or however long your onesie zipper is. I then cut his throat rather dramatically. However you do not have to do that. Instead just cut up his neck to his mouth.

Traumatically remove enough stuffing to fit an 8 year old boy. If you find yourself on the floor traumatized. I suggest you watch David Goggin. That should get you out of your funk. I mean really! "Who is going to carry the boats?"

Last but not least you are going to have to remove his mouth and nose. Using the came technique as before. Cut the stiches around his snout until you have completely removed it.

Starting with the legs. Shimmy the shoes down the legs and make sure the sole of the shoe has no stuffing underneath it. Then shimmy the arms into position. Find the middle finger of the glove and sew the tip of the finger in position. This is so the arm stays in position.

Pin the zipper opening in position then sew it along the belly up to the neck.

On the chin, sew a tab of Velcro's on each side. This will be used to close the fur around the mouth. That we will make in the next step.

The mouth is one of the most complicated parts of this build.

Start by tracing the shape of the bear's snout onto some XPS foam. Cut the the outer shape with a bandsaw or just a knife. So that, you get a good idea of where you need to cut and shape. Roughly draw the design you are thinking onto the foam. Remove the excess foam using a knife. However, don't do what I did and dangerously cut towards yourself resulting in a trip to the emergency room and a couple of stitches.

Once you have been stitched up and you are happy with the rough shape. Cut a V shaped groove around the outside of the lips. This is where the skin will tighten around the mouth to secure it to the costume. Now, mark where you want your teeth. I suggest you use a soldering iron here to make the holes for the teeth. Unlike me who used a drill. A drill will drift in the soft foam making your holes bigger than you want. This will make you wonder why you even started such a project in the first place. Regardless, I made the front teeth holes ø10mm and back teeth holes ø8mm

Next you you'll need to shape your gums using a Dremel. When I say your gums. I mean the foam gums. I highly recommend you do not use a Dremel on your own gums. This most probably will result in at best, sharp teeth. Or at worst a trip to hospital for mouth reconstruction surgery.

You want to kind of create a small mole hill around each tooth hole. I used a small barrel sander bit and a nylon abrasive brush (Scotch Brite) bit. Round the lips and then use some fine sandpaper to buff out any rough bits. To finish coat in a sealer such as Mod Podge. Once the sealer is dry, paint with acrylic paint your desired gum red color.

Cut some cuboid's (Rectangular cubes) from your foam. Mark the diameter of your teeth on the end. I used a 10mm and 8 mm hole punch to mark the diameter of each tooth. Then Roughly shape each individual tooth using a knife. Smooth out the tooth shape with 120 grit sandpaper then a Scotch Brite pad.

Seal with Mod Podge. Once dry, apply acrylic paint to your teeth. I painted mine in a light yellow (ivory) base color. Then blended an off white for the tips and a watered down brown for the base of the teeth. To finish dip in a water-based varnish and insert into your gums when dry.

FYI Depending on how tight a fit you have you may also need a little super glue to hold them in position.

No not that kind of rough and dirty. There is no plushophilia here. Although, looking at some of these photos now, one might say otherwise.

Anyway....The teddy looked too clean. So, it was important to make him look rough and ragged.

Start by trimming off the fur where you would expect some wear. this will be in such places as the knees and elbows, then anywhere else you want to remove some fur. I also shaved some areas where I wanted to make some cool looking scars.

Using what I had, which was an assortment of wood stains. I applied stain to the areas I though should be dirty. Such as around the mouth, stomach, knees, feet, hands and his behind. However if you have some other dye you want to use feel free to try that.

Where you shaved the fur in the step before. Apply some latex or silicone sealant then smooth out with your finger. Once dried apply some skin colored acrylic paint. Once dry apply fake blood to the wound. I had this fake blood just lying around but I'm sure you could just mix or buy a blood colored acrylic paint. Layer up the wound with color until you get the desired affect. The ear uses the same process. Just cut the ear and applying silicone to the edge, then paint.

The last part of the scars is to make some stitches / staples from some thick wire. Cut several lengths of wire using some pliers. Find yourself some scrap wood and shape it into a jig you can use to bend the wire over. Peirce each staple through the fur and bend them over to secure them. If you are worried they maybe a little sharp you can always layer a piece of gaffe tape on the inside.

The claws were also made from XPS foam using exactly the same process as the teeth. The only difference being that The base color was a mustard yellow with a blended brown color from the base to the tip.

The claws were attached using roofing nails pierced through from the inside of the paw then secured with super glue.

No teddy monster would be complete without blood. I couldn't seem to find any fake blood for a DIY teddy monster halloween costume. However, I found this fake blood for clothing at my local party shop. Apply the fake blood liberally to the fur. Applying it where you would think blood would splatter or soak into the fur. I chose the hands, front torso and around his mouth. There was a problem though. The fake blood did not seem to soak into the synthetic fur very well. As a result it dried a faint red color, which I did not like.

So to get the red blood effect I wanted. I "borrowed" 6 bottles of my wife's cherished nail polish. Lets just say she was not happy about it. But I smoothed it all over by telling her "there was no point crying about spilt nail polish." I'm guessing when she told me to sleep on the sofa she didn't deal with that so well.

Anyways....Apply the nail polish liberally to the fur and whilst you are at it. Apply to the teeth and lips.

Warning: Open a door or window. the fumes of 6 bottles of nail polish will give you hallucinations and the teddy monster might just come alive.

Slide your child inside and zip him up. Place the mouth into the head and tighten around using the Velcro under the chin.

Once they are comfy in there. It is compulsory for him to chase the dog and scare little children in the streets. Film them doing the Fornite Dance and post in on social media, to get millions of views and likes.

Congrats, you have successfully made a Teddy Monster Halloween Costume.

FYI I asked my son "Am I finally cooler than Bobby Duke Arts now?" His answer........"No"

&%?# A dad can never compete against a big youtuber :(

Happy Halloween and thanks for reading

Love the Garage Avenger