Men's Praying Mantis Fancy Dress Costume

Product Information

I patterned out little wing tops out of thin EVA foam and hot-glued sets of them to the foam wings and painted them green.

This was a big project, so I used a LOT of stuff. Thankfully, most of it I had on hand from other projects. I didn't use anything too crazy, tool-wise. Most things you can use what you prefer, but I've added links to the more specific items.

Recommendations

I’m sure if your little son or daughter comes home one day and announces that they need a praying mantis costume for school, this will do the job nicely. I made everything out of cardboard first. It was a lengthy process of matching it to her arm, keeping the overall mantis look, and making it fit the other pieces when she moved her arm. I added paper, cut paper, etc, until I got the shape I desired. It would have been just as simple to create the visor shape from the foam too. Photo Credit: The Listed Home.

Females die shortly after this feat, and the young, called nymphs, hatch in the spring, looking like tiny versions of the adults. The nymphs disperse immediately and will start looking for food, and might eat each other. They will molt several times before entering adulthood in summertime. Conservation Whether you’re looking for something elaborate, or ideas on how you can DIY your own funny women’s Halloween costume yourself at home from things you already have on hand, or things you can thrift, this list has got you covered. Want to pay tribute to your favorite fandom, TV show, movie, or food? You’ll find it on this list. There’s even some SNL nostalgia thrown in for you to dress up as on the big day. The arm structure consists of two parts: forearm and claw. The forearm is a piece of tri-folded cardboard and the claw is a cardboard tube cut and taped into a pointier, more insect-like shape. The outside of the forearm was painted with green acrylic and topped with a polymer clear coat, but the rest they covered with green felt. Jagged edges in the felt were added to the edges to give a more accurate look. Cool wallpaper can add an air of chill. When you have a wall full of cool wallpaper, it can help create a feeling of chilled outness in the room. This can make you feel more relaxed and allow you to relax more when you’re home. To complete the arm assemblies, they attached the claws at an angle and added some functional structure to the inside of the forearm. The pipe cleaner in the center maintains the structure of the forearm and the two elastic straps keep the arm assemblies on, while still leaving room for free hand movement.

Project Steps

But whatever you call the praying mantis, its name is only one vowel off from the mantises’ real defining characteristic—preying. To begin with I drew round a bowl, to create a couple of circles on one of the sleets of foam, then cut them out with a pair of scissors. Photo Credit: The Listed Home. The mandibles were made from straws cut into pieces and glued into shape, then covered in paper mache. Then I cut the visor into a rounded point and also cut two lengths of foam to make antennae. Photo Credit: The Listed Home. I fitted the top of the claw to the inside of the bottom of the forearm piece, popped matching holes in the sides with an awl, then attached them to each other using Chicago screws. Have I mentioned my love for those yet?

Praying mantises are excellent at using camouflage to blend into their surroundings. European praying mantises are green or brown to match trees and plants. The conehead mantis of southern Europe and Turkey, meanwhile, has a spiny crown on its heart-shaped head and a lower body that looks like parts of a tree’s twigs or branches. The southeast Asian orchid mantis is white with pink or yellow shading like a flower, and the dragon mantis of Brazil resembles the leaves of trees in the rain forest right down to its ability to sway just a bit in the breeze. To connect the joints, I cut the tubes at my decided angle, then hot-glued small pieces of cardboard inside one tube then inserted it into a second tube and hot-glued them together. To keep it sturdy, I poked holes in it with an awl and tied it with jewelry cord, and hot-glued it yet again. Then I reinforced it with cardboard and more hot-glue. So much hot glue.The top of the headpiece was made from cardboard and papier-mâché, with halved styrofoam balls for the eyes. The mantis face and eyes were painted with acrylic paints, with a bit of clear coat on top for added water-resistance in case the weather on Halloween turns a bit wet. Pipe cleaner antennae finish the look. All process photos: Emily Rose The curly plastic band snapped after a couple of ‘dress rehearsal try-ons’, so I ended up making a band from the foam instead. Because the curly band of the visor snapped, I cut a length of foam (around an inch and a half deep), to fit snugly around the circumference of my little boy’s head. The spikes were attached with hot glue. I tried other glues and processes, but ultimately hot glue ruled the day. They were then given a thin coat of green. The arm pieces were all painted with the same green acrylics. Membership connects and supports the people and projects that shape our future and supports the learning