Sooner or later, every dad is called upon to step up and make a killer outfit for their kid’s school play. Here are a few creative ways to make a tin man costume when your child’s school decides to take a trip to Oz. Your confidence with cardboard, spray paint, or more advanced tools like rivets and welding will dictate just how elaborate you can get.
Use a Cardboard Box for the Torso
Slice the flaps off the top and bottom of a large box to fit your child’s torso from shoulders to waist. Then roll it up and unroll it a few times to soften it. Form it into a cylindrical shape and glue or tape the edges together. Finally, cut out two arm holes and spray paint the box silver or gray to give it a metallic look.
Get Fancy With Welding
If you’re feeling a bit more ambitious, and you have the skills (and be honest with yourself here, or you’re going to hurt yourself and potentially burn your house down), you could make the torso out of metal and use a welding torch to join the edges. Add some industrial details like rivets down the front.
Of course, since the Tin Man is a major character, and your kid is a future star of stage and screen, you could decide to spare no expense and pay a visit to your local metal fabrication shop. There, they could whip up a Tin Man torso in short order using professional arc or laser welding tools and laser cutting equipment.
Add Aluminum Duct Arms and Legs
For the arms and legs, cut aluminum ducting into arm- and leg-length shapes with flexible piping connecting the pieces to form the elbows and knees.
The leg pieces must slip on independently of the torso. Review the classic 1939 Wizard of Oz movie or look up still pictures from the film. You’ll see how the legs look like they are attached to suspenders inside the torso, so you can do your best to replicate the design. Attach the arms to the body using glue or duct tape, and use duct tape to blunt sharp edges.
Hat and Footwear
Find a large metal funnel and spray paint it silver for the Tin Man’s hat. For the shoes, you can cover sneakers with duct tape or spray-paint them. Craft silver-gray spats out of cardboard or metal to go around the ankles and cover the shoes to get the unique look of the Tin Man’s feet. Finally, attach a big red heart to the center-left of the torso.
So there you have it—a few creative ways to make a Tin Man costume. Since school plays usually happen in the spring, you’ll be ahead of the game in the annual creative Dad Halloween costume contest. Way to go!