Under the Bigtop: Halloween 2018
Myself and my wife at our 2018 Halloween Party. I was a “Pierrot White Face Clown” and she was a box of popcorn!
In the whirlwind that is 2018, we found time to throw our annual Halloween party!
This year’s theme was a “circus” and with that came a plethora of costume and prop options including freak shows, fairs, carnivals and amusement parks.
I like to theme out each room in some way. On the outside I went with a giant jack-in-the-box prop and the word “circus” on the roof, implying a circus tent. Inside I went with some midway and freak show props.
Events like a circus have a lot of canvas and lights, so I did my best to drape streamers and implement lights where I could. I found some sets of LED lights on Amazon that I wanted to incorporate into as many things as I could without breaking the bank…
From there I found all the circus props I could on Amazon. In the past I would have made every little detail, but now I get as thrifty as I can and find things that will work for me. I did want a few statement pieces, including the ticket booth, midway, freak show and circus sign. I built most of these items with my craft material of choice: foam core. I use foam core for tons of things because it’s a flexible, sturdy material. Then I would paint the items to look like the inspiration I find for them. A lot of inspiration came from Pinterest as usual.
Then came the costumes. I contemplated the ring leader approach, as he’s head of the show, but I wanted to do something a little trickier and obscure. Plus I try to do a costume I know no one else will probably choose, and someone just so happened to come as a ring leader! But no one was a Pierrot White Face Clown! 🤡 I looked at a lot of clown outfits and styles and went with the look you see above. The standard white face with suspenders and a striped shirt. Then I made a hat that I precariously placed on my head. I love to do costumes that make me look like someone completely different, sometimes that involves covering my whole face, but when you’re at a party trying to enjoy yourself it really limits what you can do and eat. So painting my face was a nice break from the trickier masks I’ve done. My wife is a fan of more flattering costumes, so she found her own take on popcorn! 🍿
Despite all we had going on this year, the event went great and almost everyone had a clever circus themed costume!
- The Media Buff
