Little Star-Lord Costume

Every year I look forward to Halloween so I can let my creativity run wild with NO limits & am always so excited try new techniques and learn new things by experimenting. For the past 12 years we have always done a couple/ family theme where I make or piece together authentic costumes that are extremely detailed… our friends and family start asking months in advance what our theme will be and are always excited to see the end result! I always try to choose something that my kids will be excited about, as well as something unique that won't be overdone that year. Brainstorming, research on pinterest, and scouring the Internet happen months in advance and then the real work begins!

Last Year my 6 year-old son became absolutely OBSESSED with Star-Lord so I knew I had to make him the costume… Then my husband decided to be Yondu and to go all-out and design/develop the glowing head fin, the glowing arrow, and even made fake teeth! (all things he had never done before) Yay Youtube! As usual I focused on the costumes. This year Pretty much everything started from thrift store clothing, or stuff we already had & I disassembled, chopped, stitched, glued, painted, dyed, stenciled, trimmed and essentially repurposed everything to make it as authentic as possible.

Guess what! I made the Star-Lord costume for under $20! (woot woot!) That’s less money than the shoulder Groot alone! I started with a black girls biker jacket a size bigger than my son & chopped the length & arms, and used the extra fabric to make the shoulder & arm details, straps, etc. I added all the 3D designs with craft foam underneath & rope piping. I chopped up a pair of faux leather thrift store boots to make the boot covers & gun holsters & then used a soldering iron to add the cutout details & seal edges. Even the guns & walkman are homemade from paper, craft foam, and poster foam board! The pants I started with ladies pants and made them much smaller by chopping length in the torso, & hem, taking in the sides, and reattaching the waistband. I dyed the shirt to get the right shade (took 3 tries to get it right), and even made the lapel pin & belt buckle out of craft foam & paint during a lunch break ;-) Once the jacket details were completed I painted the Jacket with leather paint using a sponge brush to give a distressed look- I had to mix colors to get the right shade, and it took multiple coats... but I love the outcome! Lastly I had to add trim and hardware (most of which is not functional and is glued on- sshhh ;)- The headphones & Groot were pretty much the only things I didn't make- The headphones were hard to find- I bought them for less than $2 but its a company in the UK. Groot was a souvenir from Disneyland. For hair we had to heavily gel and clip into waves/curls since my son's hair is stick straight- we dryed with a blow dryer, and combed with my fingers to get rid of the wet look.

For the finishing touch and to set the mood- we had Star-lords “awesome mix” tape playing on a small portable Bluetooth speaker hidden underneath the Jacket! (I just made a playlist on spotify) It was fun to see how excited people would get when they saw my Little Star-Lord! I think my favorite part was when my son busted out doing the Macarena at a Fall festival! I didn’t even know he knew that dance- and so glad I got video! AND when he did a little dance-off for some strangers while trick or treating resulting in a king sized candy bar as well as some life advice that going the extra mile in life pays off ;-)

The pure Joy of seeing how happy you can make your child when they become something they love- and the joy it brings to others is why I do this every year- we can all use a little extra joy in our lives ;-)

Xoxo