It should come as NO surprise that we are beyond excited for the all-new Star Wars: The Force Awakens movie that hits theaters this December! The new little droid, BB-8, from the movie has already captured the hearts of many and is hugely popular (as evidenced by the insane popularity of Sphero BB-8)! So, when we decided to do a Star Wars character family Halloween costume theme again this year, we knew BB-8 needed to be part of our crew! Baby Brother was thrilled to play the part and have me make him his very own BB-8 costume! And what a cute BB-8 he is!
This costume is perfect for a last-minute Halloween idea…or for some fun for the new movie release!!! In addition to being totally cute, the costume is SO easy to make – no sewing, no million pieces. In fact, you could have this cranked out in a couple hours while watching tv! Here’s what you need:
Materials:
- White Foam Core (2 large pieces)
- X-Acto Knife
- Orange Foam Sheets (4-5, thin)
- pencil
- Silver paint pen
- White Duct Tape
- Velcro
- Double stick tape
- White hat
- Orange, gray, black & white felt
- White & black chenille stems (pipe cleaners)
- hot glue
DIY BB-8 Costume Directions:
1. You’ll start by cutting two large circles out of the foam board. (Note: Standard foam board should work for kids 5 and under. If you’d like a large circle for older kids and adults, you’ll likely need to use cut cardboard or poster board and then paint it.) To make cutting easier, I recommend making a template out of craft paper/ cheap poster board first. Then, cut the circles out of the foam board with an X-Acto knife.
2. Once the circles are cut, you need to do the embellishments – lots of orange and silver. I used our Sphero BB-8 droid as a model. If you don’t have a model in the house like that, then just print some images from the internet. I started by lightly sketching the droid designs on to the foam board.
3. Once you’re happy with mapping out your designs/shapes/etc., you’ll cut the orange shapes out of the foam sheets. Use double stick tape to stick them down. Easy peasy! Once the orange is in place, you’ll add all the metallic details with a metallic silver paint pen! You can make it even more detailed by adding the dusty/dirty/roughed up spots to BB-8. I did this by dabbing a steeped tea bag & cinnamon. The results look even better in person.
4. In order to wear the BB-8 body & connect the front/back, you’ll need to add straps. We did this with some simple white duct tape. Put the sticky side up to attach to each inside side of the foam core. Then cover the exposed part with another piece of tape, sticky side down. On 3 of the 4 stick-down locations, we just stuck the tape straight on to the costume. But, you need to be able to get the straps over the head. So, for easy removal, we added strong Velcro to the 4th attachment point (allowing you to open and close that one strap). 5. And last but certainly not least, you’ll need the hat to really complete the BB-8 look. The hat is SO easy to make (really just some cutting & gluing). My friend Allison at All for the Boys has the perfect tutorial to walk you through it –> BB-8 Hat Tutorial.
And that’s it! An easy, DIY Star Wars costume!
These ARE the droids you’re looking for! 😉 We can’t wait for our Star Wars Halloween fun and then will continue to count down the days to the opening of The Force Awakens and getting to see BB-8 on the big screen. If you’re as excited as we are, you can print your own Star Wars movie countdown printable here.
May the Force be with You!!!!!
If you’re interested in another BB-8 costume tutorial, be sure to check out this more 3D version over at Desert Chica!
And for even more Star Wars costume fun, be sure to check out these posts: