Brutus The Buckeye Costume

Meet Brutus. My 10 year old son Alyjah is wearing the costume. We are huge Ohio State Buckeye fans so this is by far the perfect costume for him. I started with a punching balloon and paper mache. I did about 5 layers, letting it dry out really well in between. Once completely dry, I popped the balloon and cut the rould object in half. I then blew up another punching balloon and placed one end of the cut pieces on the balloon. I again used multiple layers of paper mache to attach them together. This gave me more of the oval like shape I needed. Be sure to let this dry out very well. I also added salt to my mache mixture to help prevent molding. I then cut out a hole in the bottom for the mouth. This is also where he will see out of the costume so be sure to try it on bfefore cuttin the mouth out. I purchased a fleece like material at the fabric store along with the felt I needed to design the face. Covering the head was by far the biggest challenge of the costume. I worked the fabric in a little at a time using large loose stitches at first around the head opening. Once I had the fabric worked in I went back and made smaller stitches to hold the fabric in place around the head. Next, it was time to cut out the face, eyes, eyebrows, and nose from the felt. For the nose, I cut out a circle, stuffed it with newspaper, and stitched around the edges to give it a 3 dimensional look. I used spray glue to attach the face to the head as well as the eyes, nose, and eyebrows to the face. I put a pillow pet inside to fill the head and make it more comfortable. It also keeps the head from moving around while he's walking. I purchased a red and gray striped shirt and red sweat pants from the thrift store. I used felt letters for his shirt and pants and hot glued them on. For the hat, I covered a mixing bowl with felt and covered a piece of cardboard for the bill. He loves his costume. He got to ride in a parade last week at Cedar Point with it and had everyone yelling Go Bucks when he went by. Everyone wanted a picture of Brutus.