How to Make a Thomas Costume
Thomas the Tank Engine is the main character of the popular children's show "Thomas and Friends." The show's characters are trains that work in a train yard, and the storylines revolve around their work and relationships. If your child wants to be Thomas for Halloween, you could buy a costume at a costume shop, but store-bought outfits can be expensive and don't really resemble trains at all. With a few cardboard boxes, paint and regular household items, you can create a three-dimensional Thomas costume that looks like a real train engine. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- One large square cardboard box
- One large rectangular cardboard box
- Scrap cardboard
- Duct tape
- Blue spray paint
- Red acrylic paint
- Yellow foam paper
- Hot glue gun
- Six paper plates
- Black acrylic paint
- Blue acrylic paint
- Cardboard paper towel tube
- Empty cardboard oatmeal can
- Silver spray paint
- Nylon straps
- Overalls
- Red handkerchief
- Conductor's hat
Instructions
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1
Cut a large circle from the center of a square cardboard box top and cut off the flaps from the bottom of the box. The circle will need to be large enough for your child to fit inside.
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2
Tape the square box to a rectangular box with duct tape. The rectangular box should be upright so it is taller than the square box, but you should try to find boxes that are about the same width.
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3
Spray paint the boxes with two coats of a bright blue paint. Add an additional coat if necessary to cover the brown cardboard.
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4
Paint a 2-inch border with red paint along the bottom of the box train.
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5
Paint a red half-circle on the front of the sides of the box so that the flat side of the half faces down.
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6
Paint a red rectangle on each side of the box, making sure the line on the front side follows the curve of the half-circle shape you just drew.
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7
Cut out two large number "1"s from yellow foam paper and glue one in the center of the red rectangles on each side of the train.
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8
Make six train wheels by painting the bottoms of paper plates. Paint the ribbed border sections black and the center circles blue.
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9
Glue three wheels to the bottom of each side of the train.
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10
Paint two thin strips of cardboard black and glue these to connect the wheels on each side. This is the bar that moves as the wheels turn.
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11
Paint a paper towel tube and cardboard oatmeal can black. Cut out a hole for the oatmeal tube on the front of the train and a smaller hole on the top for the paper towel tube.
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12
Glue the oatmeal can and paper towel tubes into place to make the face and smoke stack. Reinforce the tubes with duct tape on the inside of the box.
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13
Cut out a cardboard circle with a radius about 3 inches bigger than the oatmeal can. Paint the circle silver.
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14
Draw thin black eyebrows, large eyes, a small semi-circle nose and a big white smile to make the Thomas face. Glue the face onto the end of the oatmeal can.
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15
Cut out two 3-inch circles of yellow foam paper for the windows, paint the inside of the circles black and glue them to the front-facing side of the back of the train.
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16
Cut out two 6-inch rectangles from yellow foam paper, paint all but the outer edge black and glue them on the sides of the back of the train.
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17
Glue or tape two nylon straps to the insides of the circle cutout on the train so the costume can be worn like suspenders. You will have to measure your child to determine the length of straps needed for him to wear the costume.
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18
Dress your child in overalls, a red handkerchief and a conductor's hat to complete the costume.
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Tips & Warnings
Feel free to substitute some materials for items that you already have on hand.
Instead of painting the face, you can cut out Thomas' facial features from black and white foam paper and glue them onto the silver circle.
References
- Photo Credit train image by cherie from Fotolia.com
