BB-8 Costume

After seeing the most recent Star Wars my son fell in love with BB-8 and told me that was what he wanted to be for Halloween this year. I knew it would be a challenge but I couldn't let him down so I got to work. I did 2 layers of paper mache using a glue/water mixture with newspapers on the outside of a yoga ball. Once it was dry I added some paper mache clay as well as wood filler to give it more stability. I then sanded it to give it a smoother texture. The head was also paper mache on top of a metal bowl and then attached to an old bike helmet using Great Stuff foam insulation. After everything was dry I applied a white gesso paint and got to work drawing the BB-8 design on in pencil followed by painting. All of the designs were drawn free hand except the circles which I traced various objects for. I outlined the designs in black marker and added 2 old tv antennae on the head. I also used half a plastic Christmas ornament (painted black) and a small plastic toy container (the kind from a gum ball machine) for more decoration on the helmet. After all the painting was done I sprayed a mod podge clear spray to give the outside a shiny appearance and added some silver duct tape for decoration. To help my son with wearing the costume on his shoulders I hot glued some foam on the inside of the neck hole. It held up very well and made it through 3 parties and a long night of trick or treating! All in all it took about 3 weeks to complete and was a huge hit! The best part was watching how happy and proud my son was wearing his costume...totally worth all the hours that went into it!