Diary of a Wimpy Kid - Greg costume, help needed!

cndnveggie

New Member
Hope it's okay to start a thread for Diary of a Wimpy Kid - if one already exists, please let me know :)

This was a fun and fairly easy costume to make - I need to credit http://www.projectdenneler.com/2011/10/wimpy-kid.html for the great idea and material suggestions!

However, I need some last minute advice. I have created the head out of a 12" smoothfoam ball, which is hollow and comes in two pieces. In order to keep it from moving back and forth too much, and also because I cut the mouth a bit lower than I should have, the hole in the bottom is not large enough to lift the ball off my son's head if I glue the two pieces together. So I'm trying to think of a way to attach the front and back pieces so that we can take it apart as needed. I thought velcro might work, but two problems - it leaves a visible gap between the two pieces due to the thickness of the velcro, and it also doesn't stick that well to the smoothfoam (although I'm sure I could overcome this with the right glue). Before I resort to that, I thought I'd ask for advice here - any ideas of how we can have the front and back pieces of the head stick together securely while being worn, but come apart again easily whenever we need to take the head off? TIA!

Below are pics of front and back pieces of head, then side views so you can see how they fit and how the seam should ideally look. The last pic is the almost finished costume - I still have to cut/shape the hair and make a red "Diary" to carry around, but otherwise good!

IMG_0100.JPGIMG_0101.JPGIMG_0103.JPGIMG_0096.JPG
 
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However, I need some last minute advice. I have created the head out of a 12" smoothfoam ball, which is hollow and comes in two pieces. In order to keep it from moving back and forth too much, and also because I cut the mouth a bit lower than I should have, the hole in the bottom is not large enough to lift the ball off my son's head if I glue the two pieces together. So I'm trying to think of a way to attach the front and back pieces so that we can take it apart as needed. I thought velcro might work, but two problems - it leaves a visible gap between the two pieces due to the thickness of the velcro, and it also doesn't stick that well to the smoothfoam (although I'm sure I could overcome this with the right glue). Before I resort to that, I thought I'd ask for advice here - any ideas of how we can have the front and back pieces of the head stick together securely while being worn, but come apart again easily whenever we need to take the head off? TIA!

Magnets are an easy suggestion. I don't know if you considered these. I don't know where you're located but you should be able to get them no matter where you're at.

http://www.michaels.com/pro-mag-neodymium-magnets-.5%22/10382640.html#q=neodymium&start=1

http://www.ebay.com/itm/lot-100-50-...hash=item2c9a7898f5:m:mGIYH0Nwt6_sWFrkVhLDnOA

Three to four embedded around the border of each half like so --

wimpymagnets.JPG

And then just match the two halves together. The neodymium magnets are pretty strong, so you don't have to worry about them jiggling apart. I recommend taking something hot like a soldering iron and melting recesses in the foam and then hot gluing the magnets in place.

I may steal this costume idea, too. It looks awesome. Good luck!
 
Magnets, great idea! I actually have some of those really strong ones already, just need to find them. I also have some that are weaker but might do the job! I will be giving that a try tomorrow :) Thanks again - and steal away :)
 
I just have to say, this is an awesome idea for a costume. I've never seen a costume from Diary of a Wimpy Kid... Awesome! :D
 
Magnets worked great! I only had 4 of the strong magnets and I worried they were too strong, so I used them on one side and a less strong magnet on the other, but it didn't feel as secure as I wanted. So I'm going to go buy more of the strong magnets tomorrow - when I glue them on, there will be a bit of a gap, so I'm hoping that they will hold it together without getting too attached.

Here's the finished costume - happy kid, satisfied mom :)
12065961_10153730069588799_5648114440201851091_n.jpg
 
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