Coolest Praying Mantis Costume 2
by Michelle W.
(San Diego, CA)
Homemade Praying Mantis Costume
This started out as a simple question, “What are you going to be for Halloween?” The first thing that came to mind: Praying Mantis. Upon hearing this my boyfriend responded “please don’t,” and at that moment I knew I had my Praying Mantis Costume and a challenge.
The next day I immediately went to work. I downloaded coloring book images of mantis' so I would have an example of the simplest lines and shaped of the insect. Next I downloaded various pictures of actual praying mantis' to put together a color study of sorts. I then made a shopping list and headed to my local craft store. $50 dollars in craft supplies later I was ready to begin.
I wanted to create a helmet-type head piece to make my head look like the mantis. I made a form out of a mixing bowl, towels, tape, and saran wrap and used paper mache to achieve the mantis head.
I created the arms out of cardboard and a lot of hot glue. I glued pieces of felt on the inside of the cardboard to give it more dimension.
For the bottom wings I hot glued various sheets of glitter-green felt, then cut them into wing shapes and glued green pipe cleaners to simulate the different layers to mantis wings.
For the butt I dyed a pillow case green and stuffed it with cotton batting. Finally I attached the butt and wings to a fanny pack to hold the whole thing on and also carry around my items for the evening.
It turned out exactly as I imagined it would and I was very happy with the result. I also made a Luna moth costume for my friend and a my little pony costume for my sister. Yay for homemade costumes and good ‘ol creativity!
