The Not Even Quarantine Can Stop Halloween! Zoom Party Costume

So, I think we can agree this has been one HECK of a year no??

As we passed the midway point of 2020 and the holidays began to approach,

I kept thinking about one of my favorite days, Halloween 🎃

I mean it's all about dressing up, having fun, and eating candy,

how can you not love it!

Of course I knew that just like so many other things,

it was bound to be very different this year.

Well, the first option that came to mind was getting together virtually.

It's become much more prominent these days. I figured why not combine the fact

that the party would be happening online with my actual outfit and well,

the Zoom Party costume was born!

Extra awesome to note about this idea is the fact that most things may be

found in your home already, even if you're not a particularly crafty sort.

Also, with the rough times a lot of us have been weathering,

it's really economical and not too tiring. You'll find that as you go along

and have the opportunity to add in bits of your personality and flair,

it's a bit of a pick me up too.

Okay, so have I convinced you yet?

Sweet, let's get started! 😀

Check out the basics:

A large piece of cardboard, maybe from a delivery you (or a neighbor/friend) has received

A piece of smaller cardboard

Construction paper

Crayons/Markers/Colored pencils ️

Tape and/or Glue

Scissors or Box Cutter/Xacto knife

8 ½ by 11 computer paper

Computer & Printer (If you don't happen to have either, hopefully your local library is open as mine is)

A costume for yourself, as basic or fancy as you'd like!

And that's it...

Not too bad right?

On to Step One, it's Go Time!

Measure your cardboard so you know how many pictures (Zoom Windows)

you can comfortably fit. If it's a little large, you may want to trim it in order to avoid

needing to cover any empty space.

My cardboard happened to be 41x24, so making 3 windows across with standard

8 ½ by 11 guidelines (33” total paper) and adding borders all the way around worked

out pretty well. Deciding to place myself into the top row meant there was room for

one picture on each side of me, giving my project a total of 5 people

(2 + me, top and 3, bottom row) to attend my party.

If you happen to have a few family members or friends who'd like to participate,

that's awesome! A basic pic of each one

(in a costume/look or not, totally up to you/them) waving/smiling/thumbs up-ing

or whatever else is all you need. Open it on the computer to get those RSVPs!

Print and choose full page photo so you'll cover every bit of the paper.

I didn't have others who were partaking with me, so I needed to find some “guests”.

A web search for “Public Domain Free Images” works wonders giving you lots of results.

You can also search for “Halloween Costume Advertisements” to find some more variety.

When you've chosen the amount of your fav pictures you need to fit your cardboard,

minus the space for the life of the party (You!), go ahead and save those images.

Once you open up your print function, remember to do so as a full page photo.

*** A Couple of Extras***

Uh-One: I chose to change the original backgrounds on my pictures.

I wanted a little something that went with the type of costume my guests were wearing,

like a hospital environment for my nurse friend above.

It's definitely not a necessity, but if you're interested, there are some pictures to show

how that went. I used a free program called Paint 3D.

And Uh-Two: I also printed out a taskbar to go along the bottom edge of the 2nd

row of pictures. It was an extra touch I wanted especially since I didn't trim my

cardboard to be more exact in size. I searched for “Zoom taskbar image” and was able

to find one that showed not only the Zoom app taskbar, but one of a standard computer

one underneath as well. After saving that image, I opened it in the basic Paint program.

I selected the portion of the picture I wanted and copied it.

After pasting it into a separate new Paint document, I selected ¼ of the taskbar, then copied

and pasted that into a regular Word document page. Once I had the portion there,

I stretched it out to fill the entire width from left to right. I repeated that action with the next

¼ of the taskbar picture and pasted it into the document page stretching it across to fit the

full 8 ½ across borders. Twice more with the remaining bits of the taskbar and that's all you

need to go ahead and print.

Once you have it printed, just cut the 4 pieces so that you'll be able to assemble them

along the bottom of your pictures later.

Here are some pics if you need a lil help 🤗

Okay, so this has to adjust depending on what size cardboard you are able to rustle up.

In the 41x24 cardboard world of my project, 3 8 ½ by 11 pictures were going

across the bottom and 2 across the top, with me in the center. Laying one piece

of paper near the left edge and one near the right edge, I placed tick marks at the

interior corners and bottom edges to designate where to cut for my window.

Using my scissors, I cut down about 4 inches on each side, then folded to continue

cutting without having my hand pressed between the cut cardboard.

With that window done, it's time to move on to the rest of the layout.

My measurements gave me 17 inches of pictures from top to bottom and 33 inches

left to right, leaving me with 7 and 8 inches respectively. I decided to cut borders

of 2 inches to go lengthwise and 4 inches each to put on the sides.

I would say that ideally you'd like a piece of cardboard about 18-20 by 34-36.

That would negate the need for extra fill-ins or major trimming.

For my situation, I found a few sheets of construction paper and put those to work.

Since there wasn't enough of any one color, I decided I wanted to use purple.

Armed with 2 varied shades of that, I went chose to alternate my 2 inch strips

across the top and bottom and to color a couple of yellow 4 inch pieces for the sides.

I was determined to make this project only using what I could find in my home,

so it's a bit rag-tag!

It's of course completely understandable should you want your items to match properly.

If you don't have colored paper, it's fairly easy to find and not too expensive or you

could color some white computer paper. You could also choose to color/paint your

cardboard overall.

Once you have your decision made on how to approach possible extra space,

color/paste or tape paper/alter your cardboard as needed.

Now, with a prepped backing ready to go, it's time to place the party people.

While I chose to glue mine down, you could also use tape if you have that readily available

Since I had borders in place, my pictures were laid edge to edge with one another.

If you would prefer to designate borders between the pictures, you may want to use

painters tape.

***If you decided to do the taskbar as well, place that atop the edge of the border or along

the bottom of your cardboard.***

Originally when cutting the window space for myself, I didn't want the extra work

of making it a complete cutout, keeping the upper edge of the cardboard in tact.

Since I didn't have a box cutter or Xacto knife, I anticipated it would be fairly difficult.

Once I was done however, I wanted to maintain the look of being inside the computer

screen border as well. My solution was to place my border paper across the empty space,

cut a spare piece of cardboard to fit, and glue that to the backing to complete my window.

Go for it in whichever way works for you!

With a small, approximately 8-10 by 2-3 inch piece of cardboard,

make yourself some snazzy handles.

This will be done with 2 strips, folding the edges up on each end,

about an inch, and taping them down to the back of your sheet of cardboard.

Hold up the board with one hand and put the other where it feels normal based

on you being centered in your window. Attach the handles where you feel

it's most comfortable.

Whatever you happen to have, whether it's a full costume, mask, some makeup,

a headband, hat, maybe make a sheet into a toga or ghost?...

Get it on, grab those handles, and take your place as the star of the party!!!