How to Create Star Wars Characters & Light Sabers

Dress up as a popular Star Wars character to add excitement to your costume parties this year. Avoid spending too much on a costume by making your costume at home. Choose a character from the series who wore a simple outfit that can be created from household materials. Darth Vader, Lord of the Sith, is a suitable choice, because he is one of the most widely recognized characters from the movie. Create a light saber as a prop for your Darth Vader costume.

Things You'll Need

• Tape measure
• Large cardboard box
• Scissors
• Hole punch
• Black rope
• Rubber gloves
• Black spray paint
• 3 yards of black polyester fabric
• Black shirt
• Black pants
• Black hooded sweatshirt
• Black shades or goggles
• Tall black boots
• 3 paper towel rolls
• Clear heavy duty tape
• Newspaper
• Florescent pink spray paint

Instructions

Darth Vader

1. Measure the width of your chest and shoulders using a tape measure. Cut two large triangles from your cardboard box to create armor. Use the measurements of your shoulders and chest to ensure that the base of your triangles are large enough to cover your chest area.

2. Measure your triangles 6 inches down from the top of the shape. At the 6-inch mark, cut off the tip of both triangles. To create the armor, use a hole punch to make holes in each corner of the sides that will go across your chest and back. These sides should be opposite the corners that you cut. Insert black rope through the holes and place armor over your head. Adjust the tightness of the rope to fit your body. Trim excess rope and tie knots to secure the armor.

3. Set cardboard armor and a pair of rubber gloves aside in a garage or well ventilated area. Spray paint both items black on both sides. Allow the pieces to dry overnight.

4. Cut a sheet of black fabric into the shape of a large triangle with three equal sides. Fold down one tip on the triangle. Adjust the fold so that the flap hangs 6-inches onto the triangle. Use a hole punch to create two holes in the top corners of the triangle fold. Loop a piece of rope through the holes and tie the ends together.

5. Put on a black shirt and pants, and then a black hooded sweatshirt. Pull the hood of the sweatshirt over your head and place the dried armor over your shoulders. Next, pull on the cape. Put on your shades and boots, and then complete the look with your black rubber gloves.

Light Saber

1. Tape together three paper towel rolls end-to-end using clear heavy duty tape.

2. Place the paper towel rolls on newspaper and paint two of the rolls with a fluorescent pink spray paint. In the movie, the light sabers glowed in neon colors when in use.

3. Paint the third paper towel roll in black. This will serve as the handle for the light saber.

Tips & Warnings

• You can use a black ski mask or black face paint to create a full Darth Vader mask if you want a more authentic look.

References

• Star Wars: Vader, Darth