Halloween DIY: Fantasy Inspired Staff

Halloween.  My favorite of all holidays for multiple reasons:

• Horror movies are my favorite.
• Dressing up is so much fun.
• Haunted houses
• Carving pumpkins

This year, a friend of mine and I decided against spending an insane amount on a store-bought costume that we'd probably only wear one time.  Instead, we are making our own costumes.  This way, we can be exactly what we want and make it look completely unique.  So what did we decide to be for Halloween?  The obvious (and nerdy) choice: our warlocks.

Both of us being World of Warcraft players (as well as both playing a warlock as our main), this choice just made sense.    As my warlock is a Blood Elf, the inspiration for my costume was drawn from this picture.

The first step in creating my costume masterpiece: the Staff, which I modeled after the Golden Staff of the Sin'dorei.  Making this was a lot easier than it looked, and I think it turned out really great!

Finished!

Things I used to make this:
 - 1" pvc pipe (was about $2.30 for 10 feet, we cut it in half to make two 5 foot poles)
- Wooden fence post topper (what the staff's head design is mounted on)
- pvc pipe cap
- spray foam insulation (the kind you'd use to fill cracks outdoors)
- foam-filled poster board
- spray paint
- hot glue gun
 

First, I drew out the design onto a sheet of paper.  To make this easier, I just blew up a picture of the staff's design on my computer and then taped a sheet of paper to my monitor and traced the shape.  It could be even easier if you have a printer at home.  You'd just have to blow it up to the right size and print it out.

Once I got the shape that I wanted and cut it out of the paper, I taped the paper down to the poster board.  Tape all the way around every edge, that way it wont move while cutting.  I was lucky enough to get Matt to help with this part - he cut out my shapes with a razor knife.  Remember to make two of each shape - that way your design will have more of a 3D effect instead of just being a flat top.

Next, we took to the outdoors and spray painted everything the colors that we wanted.  On a side note, the gold spray paint we got was really cool and only needed one coat to cover what we had.  This included the pvc pipe, the cutout shapes, and the fence post topper.

Be sure to get both sides of each of the cut-outs painted, as well as the edges.

Once all the paint is dry, you can start putting the staff together.

First, spray some of the foam insulation into the very top of the pvc pipe (the end that you want to be the top - the other end should have the pvc cap on it).  Set the pipe aside to let the foam begin to dry.

Using hot glue, mount your two main design pieces to either side of the fence post topper.

This photo better shows how the poster board pieces are secured to the fence post topper.  One piece is glued on either side of the square topper.  This is my friend's staff inspired by Staff of Beasts.

Once the hot glue is dry (this should only take a couple minutes), return to the pvc pipe.  While the foam is still drying, put some hot glue around the rim of the pipe, as well as on top of the drying foam.  The fence post topper should then be inserted into the foam - it will dry around the screw at the bottom of the topper and hold it in place.  Once it is in the position you'd like it, add some more hot glue around the edge where the pvc pipe meets the topper to give it a good seal and to help firmly secure the top.  This will be very top heavy - be careful!  You could add a heavy duty screw to the bottom of the pipe (secured to the inside of the pvc cap) if you'd like to even out the weight a bit.

Let it dry overnight and you'll have your very own fantasy-inspired staff!

Find the armor making tutorial here.

xoxo,

-C