Maybe you found an old keyboard at a yard sale or thrift shop.  Maybe you had to replace yours after an oops-I-spilled-my-coffee incident shorted it out.  Whatever the reason you have that extra, unused keyboard laying around, you’ll be glad you have it around to make this geektastic jewelry!  Valentina from le idee della Vale disassembled an old keyboard and turned the keys into charms that can in turn be used to spell out anything you like!  You can make lots of different statements with this idea, creating monograms, names, or even just random letters.  The tutorial is in Italian, but there is a handy translate option in the sidebar!  [how to make computer keyboard jewelry]

Project estimate:

• Computer keyboard, on hand or about $5
• Pliers, on hand
• Nail, on hand
• Candle, on hand
• Jewelry findings, on hand or $1 and up

Total:  Free and up!

The post Make Computer Keyboard Jewelry appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Any gamer geeks in the house?  *raises hand*  In particular, any Legend of Zelda fans?  If so, this project will probably look a little familiar.  Modeled after fire from the classic game, this fireplace insert by Kat and Cam at Our Nerd Home is perfect for all of you old-school Nintendo lovers out there!  If you find this project inspiring, you could use the same process to recreate imagery from any of your favorite 8-bit and 16-bit video games.  Image a series of these framed as wall art!  [how to make an 8-bit video game fireplace insert]

Project estimate:

• Paint chips or colored paper, on hand or $1
• Poster board or foam board, $1
• Square punch, on hand or about $5
• Glue, on hand

Total:  $1 and up

The post Make an 8-Bit Video Game Fireplace Insert appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

When you look at your desk, do you ever think, “Gee, this space just isn’t geeky enough”?  (No?  Maybe it’s just me?)  If your workspace is in need of a little personality, perhaps the answer is a wrist rest.  A geeky, keyboard cat wrist rest, perhaps, like this one from the good folks over at Urban Threads.  Cute, practical, and delightfully nerdy – how could I not fall in love?  [how to make a keyboard cat wrist rest]

Project estimate:

• Fabric, on hand or $1
• Embroidery thread, on hand or $1
• Rice, on hand
• Sewing machine or needle and thread, on hand

Total:  Free and up

The post Make a Keyboard Cat Wrist Rest appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

I’ve always loved clever pumpkin carving designs.  At Evil Mad Scientist you can find a step-by-step tutorial showing how to carve a pumpkin into a dalek!  It’s even on a motorized, remote controlled base and swiveling head.  Exterminate!  [how to make a robotic dalek pumpkin]

I found this sonic screwdriver tutorial at Indy Mogul.  However, I am inclined to agree with many of the commenters that this looks more like the laser screwdriver that The Master uses.   Details, details! [how to make a sonic screwdriver]

I love, love, LOVE this dalek dress by Instructables user Valentra.  It looks far less cubersome and time consuming than other dalek costumes I’ve seen while still maintaining the iconic elements that make it recognizable as the most evil thing ever.  [how to make a dalek dress]

One of the most recognizable elements of any Doctor Who costume is the fourth doctor’s wide, stripey scarf.  Actually, the scarf has many incarnations, its pattern and colors changing from season to season and sometimes even episode to episode.  Witty Little  Knitter is a collection of charts for each different scarf, giving you a roadmap to knit or crochet your own.  [Doctor Who scarf charts]

Are you looking for a costume that’s bigger on the inside?  At Southern Fried Northern Chic I came across a TARDIS costume complete with a hat for the light on top!  [how to make a TARDIS costume]

The post Doctor Who Halloween Roundup: 5 Uber Geeky Projects appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

This first costume was the most impressive costume I saw, and it was made with some dollar store stuff!

Predator Kid Costume: (from here)

Ward from At The Eastern Door, creator of this costume said: My son wanted to be the “Hunter” from the “Predator” series of movies. This is our rendition. 30 sheets of EVA foam, a quart of contact cement, spray paint, some items from the dollar store, and voila….The Predator

There’s no info on how it was made, and I really can’t begin to guess how it was done (I specialize in simple craft projects, not incredibly complex and amazing ones!)

This next costume is one of the few that made me laugh out loud in delight:

King Leonidas from 300:

Dollar Store Crafts reader Cristi H. posted this Spartan warrior on the DSC Facebook Fan page! So cute and hilarious!! I LOVE the tummy showing — such a great homage to the famous abs of the movie 300. I might have to do a dedicated post on this one, because Cristi has “making of” photos on Facebook.

Another shot of King Leonidas. Cristi said: I purchased the “chest plate” from the dollar store, then reconstructed it into a new chest piece, and shin guards. the cape i made out of two types of fabric, pin i made from clay, helmet i made from a diaper box, fabric and string (and lots of hairspray lol).

Bender from Futurama Costume: (from here)

The simple and handmade look of this costume is perfect for Bender!

Leeloo from The Fifth Element

Craftster user geniebueller dressed as Leeloo from the movie The Fifth Element. She made her own suspenders out of liquid silicone (using this tutorial from Jia Jem) and bought the spandex pants readymade, but hand-sewed black elastic stripes onto them by hand:

It took about six hours to sew the two vertical stripes on the front because the elastic and spandex stretched at different rates, so the pants had to be held taut the entire time.  I didn’t sew the back stripes due to time (and sanity) contraints, and the four horizontal stripes were actually just sewed as loops, pulled onto the legs and tacked into place rather than entirely sewed on. I just sewed 2 inch black elastic as the waist band instead of purchasing a belt. The wig is a cosplay wig that was midback length and trimmed to the shoulders.  I couldn’t do the twisties in the hair because it made the tracks visible. My dad made me an amazing Multipass and a stencil for the elements tattoo. The shirt was just a purchased shirt which I cropped.

Carol from Where the Wild Things Are (details at {Love Stitched})
This amazing costume was entirely handmade. The head was papier-mached — the process is so interesting. Check out the Where the Wild Things Are Costume at {Love Stitched}

Aang, the Avatar (the last Airbender) Costume: by metria on Craftster

The whole family dressed as airbenders, but by far the cutest is baby Zoey as Aang! More about the costumes here

Couples Costume: Dr. Horrible and Captain Hammer:

Craftster user mellifluousfondue made her own Dr. Horrible and Captain Hammer costumes (just a sidenote, kudos to her for using this as a couples costume!!). She sewed the Dr. Horrible smock (without a pattern!) and appliqued the Captain Hammer shirt. The gloves are from the hardware store and Dr. Horrible’s welding goggles are from Amazon.

Classic Wolverine (Girl) Costume:

Craftster user cxcaitlyn made a costume inspired by Wolverine’s classic yellow, black, and blue look, and she made it on a college kid’s budget! My favorite thing about her costume are the awesome claws (who wouldn’t want to sport those?) which she made from a Wolverine Claws tutorial by BadgerLALA.

Most of the costume was made using t shirts and cardboard — boot covers were made with blue t-shirts, and the belt buckle and claws were made with pizza cardboard. She appliqued a tank top with black t-shirt stripes.

Captain Picard Baby Costume:

Craftster user VeggieJess made her 8 week son a Captain Picard (from Star Trek: The Next Generation just in case anyone’s asking) costume. Looks like she sewed the whole costume from scratch. If you wanted to go the easier route, you could paint maroon on a black longsleeve t-shirt (mask it off with masking tape first), and then applique a Starfleet insignia on, or heck, use sparkly self-stick craft foam.

Optimus Prime Transformers Costume (from here)

The creator of the costume said this: Optimus Prime costume with real working lights on the top of the chest. Made from cardboard boxes and foam board. Designed like the original first generation Optimus Prime.

Again, a complex and amazing-looking costume I couldn’t really begin to guess about. But you could use cardboard, duct tape, and self-stick craft foam. Have at it!

p.s. Here’s an amazing transforming Transformer costume that a dad made for his son (he made it in 2 days) – watch this video even if you usually don’t! (via a post in the comments, and this blog)

Kevin Flynn TRON Costume: (from here)

If I was going to make a TRON costume, I would get a white (or grey) sweatsuit, a whole lotta blue glowsticks and an old bike helmet. Since the new Tron movie is coming out soon, I bet this will be a popular costume for Halloween 2011.

Sesame Street Martian “Yip Yip” Costumes:

Craftster user jessvict made these Sesame Street alien costumes. I found a tutorial on how to make Yip Yip costumes by sliny at Instructables.

Baby Gir (Invader Zim) Costume by ragadyann400 on Craftster:

Body and hood are made out of fleece. Eyes are made out of halfed Styrofoam balls, covered in white jersey with a felt pupil glued on. Tongue is made out of felt and black wire – started to fall apart halfway through the night. Ears and nose are made out of felt.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Villains: Krang and Shredder Costumes by Crafster user merrymaker:

It started as a lazy plan to paint Krang (the disembodied brain and owner of the awesome Technodrome) on the guy’s stomach.  He wasn’t so excited about trying to go out without a shirt, so I turned to my own crafty brain and mostly things I had laying around the house (and a lot of duct tape!).

Shredder is mostly tagboard, duct tape and a lot of staples. With a thrifted grey polo and black t-shirt scraps for belt (which was a tiny fannypack for my ID and camera), oh and some awesome sparkly purple for the cape.

Krang is amazing! Check this out:

Krang is a fabric and batting creation with a cardboard “house” that is covered in a yellow dog food bag, and a tiny joystick!

More pictures here

Clark Kent/Superman Costume: (from here)

This parent was clever, and combined two school projects into one: So that I wouldn’t have to do 2 costumes back-to-back, we transformed my son’s school career day costume (attorney) into Clark Kent/Superman for Halloween!

iPhone Kid Costume: (from here)

My 4 year old son Z. wanted to be an iPhone for Halloween this year. The base is a large piece of leather with elastic straps for his shoulders. The icons and apps were printed on fabric, measured, and applied to the leather. The silver trim and Apple logo were made from faux leather attached with fabric glue. The photo was taken at the Apple Store! Hope you like it as much as we do!

Group Costume: Clue Board Game Costumes by cherry_blossom55 at Craftster.

Said the creator: The costumes were made by altering clothes from the thrift store:

• Miss Peacock: We altered a prom dress to look more like a cocktail dress, for my weapon we thrifted an antique silver butter knife*.
• Miss Scarlet: HEAVILY altered a super-gross high necked formal dress to be a V-neck, backless, with a nice long slit along one thigh. we also made her a garter to peek out from the slit. her weapon was a cleverly painted toy pistol*.
• Mrs. White: she made her dress from scratch. a short black dress with white lace trim. She also made a white apron with lace trim and a lace maid’s puff for her hair. Her weapon was a wooden candlestick* that we painted to look like wrought-iron.
• Professor Plum: We took liberties with this one. Professor Plum is my very tall female friend. she wore an existing brown plaid jacket and purple top, and I made her a faux-silk purple pencil skirt. Her weapon was a rope*.
• Colonel Mustard: This was fun, we got a beige/yellowish blazer from Goodwill and added pockets and epaulets to make it look like a jungle explorer’s cargo jacket, covered a styrofoam hat with tea-stained cotton, and he wore some beige pants he already had. His eyebrows and beard were fake fur that we cut to shape: the eyebrows are stuck on with eyelash glue* and the beard has a wire form that hangs off of his ears. His weapon was a wrench that he already had.
• Mr Green: least crafty costume, Mr Green’s suit was entirely thrifted, but we made him a “lead pipe” by covering a paper towel tube in tinfoil and using a little black spray paint to make it look “oxidized”

*Note from Heather: you could get some of this stuff at the dollar store. Mostly the weapony stuff.

And moving from the game costumes to the gaming costumes:

Bowser Costume: (from here)

The creator of this costume said: Our son asked to be Bowser this year from then Mario Brothers video game. Of course we could not purchase this costume so we used some
creativity! Took about a week and a half and cost under $35! Started with an old baseball hat, some styofoam balls and LOTS of felt! He LOVES his costume!

Skull Kid, Legend of Zelda Majora’s Mask Costume by choleblack on Craftster (blog: slightly obsessed) – the mask was papier-mached over a mylar heart balloon! The shoes were modded flip-flops with elf-like socks over them.

My 10 yr old DD is a huge video game fanatic. Her favorite series is, obviously, Legend of Zelda. When asked what she wanted to be for Halloween, she knew exactly, Skull Kid from Majora’s Mask.

This turned into a joint family project, with DD working with either myself or her father on our respective parts. All told it took about a week of afternoons to complete. DD & her dad were in charge of the mask (with some “ideas” from me). The mask is papermache and acrylic paints. It was built over a Mylar heart shaped balloon. The spikes are cut off ends from birthday hats glued in place. We mounted the finished mask to the support from a welding mask. This worked really well & was very stable.

However, we forgot to plan for eye holes & the mask was just TOO COOL to cut into! So she ended up carrying it more than wearing it. We also didn’t account for the welding
helmet when I made the hat, but she ended up being able to wear it under the helmet. It’s just too small to be really noticeable, especially compaired to that awesome mask!

I was in charge of the clothes, but DD did most of the cutting & even a bit of the sewing on the tunic. The tunic is quilters cotton, the rest fleece. Both have a mottled color pallet which DD says “looked like the woods with light in the trees.” I’m really proud of the shoes … I made over sized socks and altered the toes to give them an elf like point. To give them soles, I slipped a pair of old flip-flops inside. All DD had to do was put her foot into the flip-flop and they were both solid & secure for miles of Trick-or-Treating.

Pac-Man Ghost Costumes

Craftster user weirdsisterofprimerib (ha ha, love the username!) made Blinky and Clyde (the red and orange ghosts from Pac-Man) costumes. The front shows the full-power ghost, and the back is the ghost after he’s been chomped by a power-pelleted Pac-Man. She generously provides a tutorial for the costume (which she made from painted cardboard & leftover quilt binding) at her blog, Wonky Face Crafts: Make an 8-bit video game character costume, part 1 and part 2

Pac-Man Group Costume by bmac on Craftster

Not much info on how these costumes were made, but it looks like the ghosts were made from felt and a cardboard frame was underneath the Pac-Man Costume.

Edward Scissorhands Kid Costume: (from here)

The person who posted this costume said: my nephew was Edward Scissorhands.. my sister made his costume of spray hair dye, Halloween make up, black duct tape, painted cardboard and safety pins.. Not only did it come out GREAT it was economical!!

Avatar Costume: (from here)

Jackson wanted to be the blue avatar, so I found a full swimsuit at the consignment for $1 used fabric paint for the detail and pieces of scrap material for the clothing and accesories. He loves it and wears it every day, hope it makes it til halloween!

Speaking of a completely different take on an Avatar costume:

Avatar Neytiri costume by katastrophicallykat at Craftster:

So this Halloween I decided to go as Neytiri from the movie Avatar. But I wanted to go all out, and I didn’t wanna wear the bodysuit they were selling at the costume store. So I got airbrushed and wore colored contacts and fake teeth. I made all the leather pieces: arm cuff, loincloth, and top.

The post 25 Best Geeky Handmade Costumes appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.