Need to make a text-bubble that I can wear. Suggestions?

[MrSouthpaw]

I am making a simple costume that requires me to make a text bubble that will stay above my shoulder.

Basically like this.....



I need to figure out a method to mount it to my body so I can walk around with it staying over my shoulder.

I'll probably stencil the text on a white crafting foam sheet, so I need to figure out how to mount that.

A t-shirt will be the only clothing I wear on my upper body.

Any ideas or suggestions on the mount or the text buble itself? I'm a bit outside my area here, so I appreciate any recommendations.

Thanks everyone.

 

[Harry Bardwell]

Why not make it out of foam board, and use some coat hanger wire to mount it to a head band so it will float out next to your head?

 

[MrSouthpaw]

Why not make it out of foam board, and use some coat hanger wire to mount it to a head band so it will float out next to your head?

I like the foamcore board suggestion, I think I will go with that. Thank you.

However I have neck issues, so I would much prefer a body mount system.

 

[Elusiveg]

Pick up some electric fence wire, make a mount for your belt loops and/or pockets, and have the word bubble on the other end. I'd recommend something around 17 gauge for the wire, You'll likely need to use pliers to shape it but should help keeping your bubble afloat.

 

[Darksyde13]

It is a little spendy but I stumbled upon 'white board' paint at lowes a few weeks back. Could help make your bubble more reusable.

 

[MrSouthpaw]

Pick up some electric fence wire, make a mount for your belt loops and/or pockets, and have the word bubble on the other end. I'd recommend something around 17 gauge for the wire, You'll likely need to use pliers to shape it but should help keeping your bubble afloat.

I'll look into it. Sounds like a workable solution. The effect of the costume will be all up front so a wire running up behind me would be fine.

It is a little spendy but I stumbled upon 'white board' paint at lowes a few weeks back. Could help make your bubble more reusable.

I'm not sure I need to worry about durability, but thank you for the suggestion. If it gets beat up at convention, maybe I'll go for some.

 

[Darksyde13]

I just meant as far as the text in the bubble. What ever you make out of it you can coat it in white board slick stuff so you can decorate with dry erase markers and then just wipe off any time to change it.

 

[MrSouthpaw]

I just meant as far as the text in the bubble. What ever you make out of it you can coat it in white board slick stuff so you can decorate with dry erase markers and then just wipe off any time to change it.

Oh, I see. That's actually pretty cool.

However there will be only one thing written in the bubble for this particular costume. Maybe I'll do it anyways and recycle the bubble to other costumes as appropriate.

 

[Yrien]

We made one for my husband's Onomatopoiea costume last year. It wasn't the best job, since we only had two days left before the con!

We bought a small whiteboard (the kind with cardboard or something inside) and cut it into a text bubble shape, then made the black outline with foam. Our really quick and dirty rig consisted of a pair of long wooden dowels glued to the back a couple of inches apart, with shorter pieces as reinforcement along the length. We cut a slit just behind the shoulder of the trench coat to slide the dowels through, then he stuck it through his belt and into his back pocket. It worked okay, but it wasn't pretty - and it also meant that the bubble sat on his shoulder (any higher and you would have seen the dowels). Wire probably would have worked better but we were in a real time crunch and used what we had on hand!

 

[MrSouthpaw]

Thank you for the suggestions, Yrien. I'll keep it in mind.

 

[Yrien]

Now that I'm home, here's a pic of our setup. Good luck with yours!