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Well, this is embarrassing! I should have known that a lot of kids would want to wear a Pokemon costume this year. It finally sank in when I started receiving a lot of emails and blog comments from parents who were making Pokemon costumes for Halloween.
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Save $10 when you buy this three-pattern set. Use the patterns to create memorable gifts, or to bring a little bit of Africa to your own home
If I made one now, by the time I got the video done and got it online, there wouldn’t be enough time left for you to get the supplies and make one of your own.
So – that means that I don’t have a finished Pokemon head to show you in this video, but I’m giving you the same advice that I’m giving to all the parents who have written to me for advice: Make your Pokemon mask over a big ball, the same way I made my Humpty Dumpty, with a base layer of plaster cloth and one layer of paper mache on top. The finished head will be light and strong, and you can probably paint it within 24 hours – no waiting for many, many layers of paper mache to dry.
Plus, if you do it this way, you won’t have any of the problems that I had when I tried using paper mache clay over a balloon (the wrinkling or cracking that happens when the balloon changes shape).
The plaster cloth hardens within minutes. I suggest leaving it on the ball for a couple of hours, and then take the ball out. The plaster cloth will still feel slightly damp, but you can add paper mache right away. Both the inside and the outside will have access to air, so it should dry within 24 hours. Be sure to use a fan, if possible, because that really speeds things up.
- The Humpty Dumpty video, which also shows you another reason why you might not want to use paper mache over a balloon (even though kids in kindergarten do it all the time..)
- Plaster cloth at Amazon.com.
- Paper mache paste recipes.
- Rex’s article about making fast pumpkins with paper mache clay.
I hope this tip will help you make a Pokemon costume for this Halloween, even though I didn’t have time to make one myself. If you do make one, I hope you’ll show it off in the comments below – I’d love to see how it comes out. If the trend continues, maybe I’ll make one myself next year – I think it’s a great idea. In fact, I wish I’d thought of it myself … 🙂
Hello, I’m making a star wars BB8 costume for my son for Halloween and have a question. Does the dry compound add considerable strength to the sphere? I’ve done 1 layer of plaster cloth on a pilates ball (so quite a large sphere) and am hoping I can skip the paper mache step and go straight to dry compound. The single layer of plaster cloth seems a bit flimsy to me, and don’t want to skip steps that will make it fall apart before we’re done trick-or-treating. Thoughts?
Hi Jennifer. You’re right – one layer of plaster cloth isn’t enough, and it won’t be strong enough. You’ll probably want to add two more layers because your ball is so large. I’m not sure what you mean by dry compound, though. I just watched the video on this page and I didn’t hear any reference to anything called dry compound. Could you explain that for us?
Thank you for the feedback. The dry compound is mentioned in the humpty video as part of the homemade gesso (dry compound and glue).
Oh, I see. That was drywall joint compound, and when you mix it with glue you can use the mixture in place of gesso. But it doesn’t add any strength to the piece, it’s just to make it smoother, like thick paint. Does that help?
Yes, very much so. Thank you!
Hi Jonni, here is what I made for my husband and myself. As we were a bit short on time – the tip of the plaster cloth was excellent. As a matter of fact – the whole video of the Humpty Dumpty was brilliant!
So I ended up doing 2 layers of plaster cloth, 2 of paper marche outside and 1 inside. I then painted with white acrylic + Elmers glue (to cover the newspaper’s prints), and to finish it off, I painted 2 layers of acrylic peach (skin) tone.
Charlie’s nose and eyes were drawn with sharpie.
Marcie’s nose was drawn with sharpie. Her glasses were cut out of paper, drawn with sharpie and glued on.
I think it turned out quite nice! : )
Thank you for your great and inspiring projects!
Attached is a photo of the costumes.
Gabi
Hi Gabi. It sounds like their costumes are really cute – but we can’t see them. The image you tried to upload might be too big. I hope you’ll try to make it smaller, and try again. I would love to see how they came out.
Hi Jonni, Oh I’m sorry. Here is the photo! Hope you can see it!
We can see it – what cheerful costumes. I’ll bet you made a lot of people smile this Halloween. 🙂
Hi Jonni: Thanks for your great instructions! I am making my daughter a hollow sphere to wear for halloween–she is dressing as a puffer fish. My questions are: 1. do you think the sphere would be fine with just the plaster gauze and not the paper mache? It won’t matter if the surface is smooth because she’ll be covered with little prickles for the fish. And 2. What do you suggest coating the plaster gauze with so it doesn’t flake and disintegrate? I’d like something quick-drying and non-toxic. Thanks for any advice!
Hi Kate. What a clever costume idea! The plaster cloth doesn’t need the paper mache. You can brush on some white glue, perhaps thinned with a little bit of water. That would be the easiest thing to use if you’re going to be adding the prickles anyway.
Great, thanks so much for the suggestion. The plaster gauze saved me so much time….thanks again!
You’re welcome! I’m glad it helped.
I’m not sure how anything works, but it seems like one would pay $6.91 to download a PDF that has instructions and the person must supply their own “basic materials”.
Never know what someone may want. Anything here?
http://www.coolest-homemade-costumes.com/pokemon-costume.html
That’s how I do it, but I assumed the card for those masks would be too big for a home printer. Never hurts to read the fine print, though, eh?
I’ve heard of Pokémon but know nothing about it. However, my neighbor Cathy has a grandson who wants to go as Pokémon for Halloween. I’ll have to ask her what she is doing for a costume. Ten days, so that ought to be enough time using this method. Thanks.
Her grandson will have great fun with it. My grandson made a Minecraft costume last year (with a lot of help from his mom) and he still treasures it. I don’t know anything about Pokémon either. Or Minecraft. but the kids do love them both.
Jonni, I know nothing about this site except that it costs $ and it’s probably not at all helpful to parents trying to make a (good) wearable mask, but it looks interesting. What do you think?
https://www.thisiswhyimbroke.com/pokemon-paper-masks/
They look like nice masks. I wonder if they can get them shipped in time for someone to put them together?