The {Human} Apple iPod Touch Halloween Costume

It all started with a bright idea from my son, a cardboard box and an amateur sketch that elicited a chuckle from nearly every person I showed.

But the story has a happier ending.

Last week, Kaden and I begin collecting materials for his Halloween costume. We already own a great amount of crafting supplies, thanks to Elmer's, so all we needed was a plan.

One Friday afternoon, after the end of the school day, Kaden begged me to start working on his "Human Apple iPod Touch". Of course I was not up to it at all, but I knew I could not let him down. He reminded me of last year's dilemma where we went rummaging through leftover costumes at Walmart. He was pleased with his costume, but it wasn't what he was used to.

Since preschool, we have always come up with something fun and exciting for Halloween.Whenever we can't make a costume, we simply add personal touches to bring the costume to life. Here he is below dressed as a pirate during his toddler days, and dressed as Avatar a couple of years ago.

Now back to the "Human Apple iPod Touch" story.

This is how it all began:

First, we used a cardboard box as the foundation of the costume. If you're a blogger, you know how plentiful cardboard boxes can be. I usually break them down and wait for recycling day. For some odd reason, the shape of this particular box caught my eye. It had project written all over it.

Using a circular cutter, I made a hole at the top of the box for Kaden's head to fit through. I did the same for his arms. This was a bit of trial and error because we did not know exactly where the holes should go, how big they should be or if the holes would work at all.

Of course we used Duct tape to provide a bit of sturdiness and to give the box some shape. If I had to do this project over, I would not use Duct tape for the outside. You can still see it through the spray paint in the final outcome. Not a big deal, but we aim for perfection with our projects. 

For a few days, the box just collected dust. Kaden kept reminding me that time was running out. In my mind I knew he was right. I was freaking out, but I was not going to let him see me sweat.

Then, the news of a hurricane put a bit of fire under my butt. We did not have all the supplies we needed, so it was inevitable that a trip to the store was in the future. As always, I waited until the high winds started and the rain began to pour to travel to Walmart for last minute supplies.

Kaden picked the night before the hurricane to sleep over at his cousin's house. This took a bit of time off of completion, but it was all worth it. Family time is important. However, we had no more time to waste.

Before Hurricane Sandy reared her ugly head, Kaden and I jetted outside to spray paint the boring cardboard box. Apple products are known to be white, but we decided to make ours black. It hides the flaws and gives it a more polished look.

We somehow managed to get it spray painted and out of harms way to dry during the storm.

 

The next day, the storm had cleared. But I knew that a bigger mess was about to be made as we dove into this project. We placed ourselves on the living room floor and let the creative juices flow.

• The app icons were printed off of the computer onto white paper. We cut them out and glued them to cardboard. We also rounded the corners.
• Kaden found the Apple apple icon on the computer. We did the same for this – printed it, cut it out and glued it.
• I already had a bunch of letters in my craft kit to spell the word, "iPod". We did not display the letters exactly the way they are on the product, but you get the idea. 

• Using a large, blue poster board as the screen's background color, we began placing the app icons on the board. There were too many apps to choose from, so we selected a few well-known ones. 
• We tried our best to re-create the Apple iPod touch screen. We included the product name, the wireless signal, the time and the battery life indicator on the top bar. 
• The three dots represent the different screens you can scroll to for more apps.
• The circle with the square inside is the HOME button.
• It's not pictured here, but Kaden wrote the name of each app under the icon. He will go over the letters tomorrow to make them stand out. 

This entire project was Kaden's idea. However, I suggested he add one more element to the costume to make it official. I suggested he place his own iPod Touch inside of the box and play music. This way it would be like the actual thing.

He loved this idea, so we did it!

There wasn't much planned in our day, so we sat there for hours without realizing we had done so. Of course we stopped to eat a grilled chicken Caesar salad. Peep the Chipotle napkins.

After all was said and done, the sun began to set and we began to yawn. We had somehow managed to create a huge mess. In the world of crafting, this is normal. Making a mess is like a badge of honor. By the way, the mess is still there. Kaden (more like I) will get it tomorrow.

Here is a video to give a little more up close and personal look at Kaden's costume. There is no audio because it was somehow sped up when I uploaded to the computer.

Who would have guessed that a birthday present from his Aunt would have inspired such a costume?!

Kaden loves his iPod. Can't you tell?!

Needless to say, he has placed another Apple product on his birthday and Christmas list for this year. Maybe Santa is listening. Will he trick or treat Kaden?

Wait...wrong holiday!

Be safe, everyone. Enjoy your festivities, whether you celebrate the day or not.
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Disclosure Information
Apple did not sponsor this post in any way (although I wouldn't mind). I was not required to, nor was I asked, to write this post. Kaden really does love his iPod.