From office parties to birthdays, there is always a good excuse to get playful and creative with your outfits.
Unless the event organizers imposed a theme, anything goes. You can come to the party as your favorite character, an animal, or a random object. Some folks even put on costumes as a group wherein they dress up as a team of superheroes or a set of markers.
Still, not all of us have time to prepare. If you’re in a rush, let me share a simple guide on how to make an Expo marker costume.
Table of Contents
What You Need
- White aprons
- Stencil of Expo marker’s logo (instructions below)
- Acrylic fabric paint
- Construction papers
- Paintbrush
- Measuring tape
- Ruler
- Pencil and eraser
- Old newspapers
Step-by-step Guide
To make the process easier for you, I divided this Expo costume tutorial into three parts: preparing the materials and work area, as well as creating the marker’s body, and the cap.
Step 1: Prepping your materials and work area
- Logo: Search the Expo marker logo and print it on a printer paper. You can print the logo on two pages with the letters “E” and “X” on one and “P” and “O” on the other.
- Since we will be using the paper to make the marker caps as the hats, select colors that match your acrylic paints. As for the size of the construction paper, choose the following to fit the wearer’s head:
- Children: 9-by-12-inch papers
- Adults: 2-by-18-inch
- Cover your work area with old newspaper so that no paint will damage your furniture or carpet.
- If you are working with a team, make sure the members are supplied with a paintbrush, scissors, measuring tape, and ruler.
Step 2: Creating the marker’s body
- Place the stencil on top of the apron and secure it with the pins around the edges. Keep in mind that you will need to paint the areas outside of the letter.
With that, make sure that the logo is at the center of the apron.
Get your pencil and start tracing the letters of the Expo logo. Once you’re done, remove the stencil from the apron.
- Using your pencil, draw a rectangle around the Expo logo.
The size of the rectangle depends on your preference and the size of your apron. A good starting point is about 1 inch from the edges of the logo.
If you think 1 inch is too small, try 1.5 or 2 inches. Don’t be afraid to experiment with this since you can always erase the pencil markings and try again.
- Grab your paint and paintbrush and start painting!
Lay the acrylic outside the letters and within the rectangle that you have just drawn.
Repeat the process for the remaining aprons using other colors. Let the paint dry thoroughly before wearing them.
Step 3: Creating the marker’s cap
Your Expo marker Halloween costume will not be complete without the marker’s cap.
Note that the cap is composed of two parts: The tapered cone on the outer side and the cylinder on the inside.
- Let’s start with the tapered cone:
Measure the head of the person who will wear the costume. Then, draw a pattern for the tapered cone.
There are tons of patterns for this online. The folks over at Over The Rainbow and Back were generous enough to provide this template.
If you are making this for kids, you can head over to this Youtube by Make It Your Own for the measurements.
After sketching the pattern, cut them and paste the two ends.
- Next is the inner cylinder:
Luckily, this one is pretty simple. Just cut up the construction paper according to the circumference of the wearer’s head.
This time, however, the long sides of the paper should be of the same length to form a perfect cylinder, while, the height should be longer than the outer to mimic the marker’s cap.
- Stick the outer and inner parts of the hat:
You can do this by putting the cylinder inside the tapered cone and gluing the two sides that meet.
To be clear, you will be sticking the portions of the cone and the cylinder on the wearer’s head.
For a visual guide, feel free to check out this blog.
Useful Tips
- There are other brands besides Expo. You can create a Sharpie costume using the same tutorial. All you have to do is create a Sharpie logo stencil!
- If you need to mass-produce Expo markers costumes, the most efficient way to go about it is to trace the logo on all of the aprons before moving to Step 2.
- This DIY tutorial is suitable for both adults and kids. Just make sure to supervise your children while they are working on the project!
Conclusion
Most of the materials needed for this tutorial on how to make an Expo marker costume are inexpensive and easy to find. If you happen to have a white apron and construction papers at home, you won’t even need to buy anything.
Meanwhile, the steps are so easy that even children can help out with the project! In a few hours, you will be able to complete at least one costume.
Whether you are preparing your Halloween costume last-minute or looking for ideas for a costume that you and your friends can wear, I hope this tutorial was useful!
Besides, you can also refer to other topics of expo markers:
I am a former art teacher, so it is evident to me the importance of art in educating the new generation. We also want to help parents who plan to teach their children and desire the best tools and tips for them.