I'm sure everyone would like to have a 'Santa Claus Conquers the Martians' themed holiday/ party for next season so I am going to share some 'How-to' descriptions of the props I made for our photo shoot. Here is a nice long boring rambling post that I don't recommend you read unless you have a Martian function in your future.
~Martian Head Gear~
Supplies:
kid's plastic army helmets from dollar tree, plastic tubing for organizing electric cords from dollar tree, gold pipe cleaners, green craft foam, green glitter, foam cushioning 3 inch thick pad, gold spray paint, green spray paint, duct tape, craft white glue, hot glue.
How to:
Cut tubing to proper length for side of helmet. Spray paint tubing gold. Set aside to dry. Cut out a rounded edge rectangle of green foam to a size proper for the front of the helmet. Apply thin layer of craft glue to front of craft foam and sprinkle on green glitter. Let dry. Trace green foam onto a piece of 3 inch foam cushion. Cut out cushioning and shape the back into a concave fitting to the rounded front of the helmet by cutting and carving with scissors. I know that sound vague or possibly hard but all you are doing is really cutting out a divot so it fits the helmet. Spray paint molded cushion green and let dry. Hot glue glittered foam rectangle to flat side of carved cushion, let set. Drill small holes in helmet (I used a Drimmel) for the antenna and side tubing. Twist two gold pipe cleaners together for each antennae, Insert a half an inch of the pipe cleaner into the drilled hole on top. Bend over the under side and duct tape in place. Repeat for other antennae. Insert a pipe cleaner through the gold tubing. Insert each end of the pipe cleaner into the pre-drilled side holes. Bend over half an inch of each end on the under side of the helmet. Duct tape in place. Hot glue the front foam piece to the front of the helmet.
I like for things to be used several times. After we wore these as our costumes I then hung them on the Christmas tree as large ornaments!
~Martian Toy Shop Mixed Up Toys~
These are fun to make!
Supplies:
Several stuffed animals from thrift stores.
How To:
Seam rip different characteristics of 2 or more stuffed animals and sew them onto one another!
We placed these guys as decor under the Christmas tree after the photo shot. PB loves them and they will be residing in his room after the holidays.
~Martian Guns (Homemade Wham-O Air Blasters)~
Supplies:
Cheap plastic toy gun form Dollar Tree or a thrift store. black funnel from Dollar Tree, black spray paint, expandable spray foam in a can, duct tape.
How to:
Spray paint gun black, let dry. Remove black tubing from funnel and cut away tip of funnel with a drimmel. Place a strip of duct tape on the inside of the funnel to block the small opening hole. Spray foam into funnel about 3/4 full. Insert painted gun end into spray foam while it is setting up. Hold in place til set. After gun is fixed into funnel, spray paint exposed foam.
I placed the gun under the tree as decor but not sure what else is in store for it.
The Martian patches are made from yellow and black cardstock and filled in with black marker.
PB's says A-11 as a joke. He hates the smell of A-1 sauce and he looks like Voldar's sour mug when he smells it.
I made PB and I Martian belts but did not photograph them. They were very cheaply made and not meant to last longer than the photo shot. They were made from a strip cut from old black t-shirt scraps with a square piece of yellow felt spray painted gold then hot glued down. The dials are plastic coke bottle lids with a circle of yellow card stock glued on the tops then hot glued to the belt.
I made PB a cape from the green tablecloth that I picked up from a thrift store last month which was originally used as the 'pool table' backing on the dining room table for
Thanksgiving. He now can use the cape as part of his wrestling costuming. The green tablecloth was pretty large so I used what was left over from the cape as our tree skirt! As you can see in the above image I even used it as the photo back ground. Who knows what it will become next.
