Coolest NY Pedestrian Crosswalk Sign Couple Costume

My brother Jesse and I went as the Walk/Don’t Walk signs in NY for Halloween last year. Jesse got the idea while walking around NYC and trying to think of something that would be instantly recognizable, but also flashy and would work perfectly for the 2 of us. The Homemade NY Pedestrian Crosswalk Sign Couple Costume is completely made from scratch out of LED Christmas lights, pingpong balls, and cardboard. I went as the “hand,” Jesse as the “guy.”

We made the “hand” out of 2 big sheets of cardboard with the Christmas lights sandwiched in between and the lights poking through holes in the front. Then we poked holes in pingpong balls and stuck those over the end of each light to make it bigger and diffused. For the “guy” costume, we cut holes in a black hoodie and sweat pants and hot glued in the lights before we stuck the pingpong balls on. With a good deal of experimenting, we figured out a way to power standard Christmas lights with 2 of those big 6v batteries, a 12V car adapter (the kind that turns a cigarette lighter socket into a standard outlet), and a bunch of alligator clips. I kept my power supply in a backpack that also served as a way to attach and support the big cardboard hand.

Jesse had a his in a black fanny pack. Throughout the night, we had to keep adding additional AA batteries as the big ones lost juice, which was a little annoying, but it still worked for the entire night! (which was especially impressive considering it was raining). We even hooked up a switch that ran down our arms so we were able to blink on and off just like the real sign. At one point, we stood at a corner in Union Square and synchronized ourselves with the actual pedestrian crosswalk sign. We drew quite a crowd!