Getting ET Home Costume for Under $20!

As a child I grew up watching ET and was fascinated. Eight years ago I met my best friend and we both discovered our love for aliens. So much so, that for my first tattoo on my 18th birthday I got “UFO” tattooed on my inner lip. Every Halloween I try to outdo myself, thinking of something better, something that will catch your attention and make you want to ask my a bunch of questions.

After searching and searching it finally hit me. Why not live out my dream and be ET?! I was so indecisive on what I wanted to be I ended up constructing my costume in 24 hours and for $20 EXACTLY just in time to show it off for the weekend before Halloween. I attempted to get a real ET stuffed animal except cost and shipping dates were ridiculous. Instead, my thrifty artistic self went to Kinkos and enlarged my favorite photo of ET that I could find. I taped that onto a plastic mask which I purchased at a local costume store. For ET’s body I grabbed my favorite stuffed frog and burrito wrapped it in a white bed sheet until it looked just liked the scene from the movie.

To keep him on me, I took a belt and tighted the basket on my waist and of course for the finishing touch, how could I forget his famous glowing heart? I purchased a LED stick at a costume store, cut up a piece of a pink shopping bag and taped it around so it would have a similar effect of his heart. Oh and the basket… that was free (but don’t ask me how). What about the red hoodie? I walked into a store and they had two left. I picked one closer to my size and went to the register. While ringing me up she announced “$11 please” I was surprised because the price tag said $18. Of course I told her and her manager standing behind her replied “it must be your lucky day”.

By the time I let the world see my costume it was the Saturday before Halloween. I work in the heart of a college town right on the most popular street packed with bars. That night they had the annual Monster Masquerade and ALL night I got complimented for the best costume along with tons of pictures. I felt great that everyone was so endeared by my costume. Fast forward one week to Halloween night they had another event going on a couple bars down, DJ’s, lights the whole nine yards. Walking down the packed streets to get to the bar was an adventure since I had to squeeze a basket strapped to myself through a mob.

Finally when I made it into the bar, I ended up getting on stage dancing my heart out with little old ET strapped to me the entire time (and yes, there is a video! ). Eventually a guy who worked at the bar personally led me through the crowd to take photos with the professional photographer and I currently am up on their website. It was such a great night being complimented on how creative and awesome everyone thought my costume was. What was the best part is that everyone knew who I was, young and old and that it only cost me $20 and a few hours to put together.

Getting ET Home Costume for Under $20!

Getting ET Home Costume for Under $20!



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23 thoughts on “Getting ET Home Costume for Under $20!”

  1. Could you share the link or fiel you used? also what did you make the handle bars out of ? this is awesome!! kudos to your creativity!!!

    Reply
  2. If you’re asking about the handlebars I just got some 3/4″ PVC at Home Depot with two 90 degree elbows and silver spray paint for $6.32. Buy the 10 foot pipe, have them cut it into 1.5 foot sections (the bar) and 5 inch sections (the handle). Attach 90 degree elbow and voila! I bought spray paint for $4, but you could also wrap the bar in duct tape and the handle in electrical tape that you have at home for free. The PVC pipe itself was $1.95 and the elbows were 40 cents each.

    With a red sweatshirt from Goodwill for $6, and a basket for $2 that makes my rendition less than $15!!

    Reply
      • Here’s the full E.T. costume (sans me in red hoodie) with handlebar tutorial with pictures: http://imgur.com/a/5bIsL

        I included a link to the image I used for E.T.’s face. In all I spent less than $15 and 2 hours. $5 for the hoodie at Goodwill, $4 for the crate at Fleet Farm, ~$3 for the handlebars at Home Depot and $1.50 for E.T.’s face. I had a red bike light for his heart and a white towel to wrap him in. I used a small rectangular pillow for his body.

        Reply
  3. If you’re asking about the handlebars I just got some 3/4″ PVC at Home Depot with two 90 degree elbows and silver spray paint for $6.32. Buy the 10 foot pipe, have them cut it into 1.5 foot sections (the bar) and 5 inch sections (the handle). Attach 90 degree elbow and voila! I bought spray paint for $4, but you could also wrap the bar in duct tape and the handle in electrical tape that you have at home for free. The PVC pipe itself was $1.95 and the elbows were 40 cents each.

    With a red sweatshirt from Goodwill for $6, and a basket for $2 that makes my rendition less than $15!!

    Reply
      • In all I spent less than $15 and 2 hours. $5 for the hoodie at Goodwill, $4 for the crate at Fleet Farm, ~$3 for the handlebars at Home Depot and $1.50 for E.T.’s face. I had a red bike light for his heart and a white towel to wrap him in. I used a small rectangular pillow for his body.

        Reply

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