BB-8 Costume

Supplies:
36″ round balloon
12″ balloon
Papier mâché paste (I used the boiled water and flour paste)
Newspapers, cut into 1 1/2″ strips
Acrylic Paint (orange, grey, black)
Spray paint (white)
Paintbrush
Thick permanent marker
2 dowels
Plastic ornament ball
Small rubber ball
Gorilla glue

Directions:
1. Inflate balloons to desired size, then papier mâché its entirety. I did about 4 layers and it took a few days since we let each layer dry before adding on.
2. Once the papier mâché is completely dry, deflate the balloons, and spray paint the entire ball white.
3. Draw on the design (I used various size bowls to get the circles) and outline with marker. Paint the design, then outline again with marker. Paint the dowels white.
4. Cut out top opening and bottom. Then, cut out desired opening for the headpiece.
5. Use box cutter to cut holes for the 2 balls and antennas.
6. Paint one half the ornament balls black on the inside. Allow to dry completely, then insert, and glue in place. Insert the smaller ball in its place.

These are rough instructions, and as you can see, I’m clearly not a papier mâché artist, but we are all pretty happy with the result. I was so frustrated making this that I wanted to give up and buy it instead. But all the girls exclaimed, “NO! We like costumes homemade.” I’m glad I didn’t give up because my girls really like this one. It’ll no doubt be used as decor in someone’s bedroom after Halloween.

Initially, I started to paint the white with a paintbrush and acrylic paint (as seen above), but that paint was too wet and causing the paper to rip, so I stopped once I noticed that, and Ben took it outside and used spray paint. He put a stick in the ground, rested the ball on it, then painted all around.

I made Glow shoulder pads, so it’s resting on that when she wears it. We haven’t cut any holes for her arms. I thought about cutting a flap, so she can collect her candy inside, but the girls don’t want me to cut a hole in it. They said they will just help her and hold her candy basket for her.

Glow’s the cutest little BB-8 and she walks around making her little beeping sounds. Next year, she’s requesting R2-D2, so I have a year to figure out how to make that one. If you want to make this one, don’t wait until the night before because it takes a few days to let all the papier mâché dry.