How to Make a Pencil Sharpener Costume

Construct a simple, classic manual sharpener.

If you have more imagination and creativity than money, make your own costume, like a pencil sharpener costume from a box. Repurpose a large cardboard box for the base of the costume and paint-on the fine details. This craft is simple enough for beginners and it is an ideal outfit to wear with a partner dressed as a pencil or a box of crayons. Children young and old can wear this for Halloween or for a costume party.

Things You'll Need

• Large cardboard box
• Tape
• Utility knife
• Pencil
• Silver spray paint
• Black marker
• Red spray paint

Instructions

1. 

   A moving box is ideal for this costume.

   Tape up a large cardboard box so the two long sides are sealed. Also seal one of the short sides. The costume uses the box in a vertical fashion. Remove the flaps from the other short side that you did not seal.

2. Cut out a 15-inch-wide hole with a utility knife in the center of the short side you sealed. This is where your head pushes through so you can wear the box for your costume. Test it over your head to be sure it fits. Trim if necessary. Pick one of the widest long sides to use for the front of the costume. Cut out a smaller head hole for children, roughly 10 inches wide.

3. Put your head through the hole you cut. Trace two arm holes on either top side of the box approximately 10 inches wide, near the head opening. By wearing the box, you can figure out where the arm holes should be placed. Remove the box and cut out the holes.

4. Draw a rectangle on the front body of the box that starts at the top head opening and ends all the way to the bottom. It should look like a doorway but it is the sharpening blade and it needs to take up roughly one-third of the front of the box.

5. Add a circle to be the screw in the center and side of the rectangle you just drew. It looks like a doorknob. Add a cross on it because it is a Philips screw. Spray paint this entire section with silver spray paint.

6. Darken the outline for the screw and the cross on the screw with black marker. Spray the rest of the box red to cover the color of the box. Outline the silver blade area with black marker. Draw side grips like a real pencil sharpener by adding 10 horizontal lines, 1 inch apart, in the center of the arm hole sides.

Tips & Warnings

• Instead of taping the box initially, it can be glued shut.

• Wear a dark long-sleeved T-shirt and dark pants underneath your box costume so the focus is on the costume.

• You can carry around sharpened pencils as an accessory.