DIY 80’s Rock Halloween Costumes Using Amazon Prime Boxes

Make these darling 80’s Rock kids Halloween costumes out of a cardboard Amazon Prime box.

I’m so excited to share these DIY Halloween costumes – aka Boxtumes – with you today. This year we decided to throw it back to the 80’s with a DIY cassette tape costume and an 80’s rocker costume for my two youngest kids. Toddlers in Halloween costumes absolutely crack me up and my little guy totally rocked his costume. Ahem. Get it? 

This post is sponsored by Amazon and Forward Influence Network. All ideas and opinions are my own.

If you’re anything like me, you’ve done a lot of online shopping the last few months. We have acquired quite a pile of boxes, so I decided to do a bit of upcycling while making awesome handmade “boxtumes” for my kids. It’s just so much fun to have a one-of-a-kind costume. And because I had most of the supplies on hand (hello giant craft stash), I have more money left to buy candy. LOL.

Let me walk you through how to make each of the boxtumes.

DIY Cassette Tape Costume

To make the cassette tape, start by cutting a rectangle of cardboard approximately 16 inches by 21 inches. Find a round object and trace it in the corners, then cut along the line to round each of the corners.

Cut a second piece of cardboard into a trapezoid shape. The easiest way to do this is to cut an 11.5 inch by 4.25 inch rectangle, then measure 1 inch in from each side and cut at an angle from that measurement to the bottom corner. 

The next step is where the magic happens. It’s time to decorate and add all the details that would be on the front of a cassette tape. First I sprayed the entire piece of cardboard with pink glittery spray paint, then cut out vinyl and printed details off my computer and glued everything on. The trapezoid shape goes along the bottom edge and I just attached it with a bit of hot glue.

The last step is to add the neck strap. Hold the cardboard up to the person who will wear the costume and measure out a length of ribbon so that the cassette tape will sit at a comfortable height. Make sure that the ribbon is long enough to be able to slip over the head, then attach the ribbon ends onto the back of the cardboard with hot glue.

And that’s it! A super simple costume or ‘boxtume,’ but the colorful details make it SO. MUCH. FUN.

My daughter donned her most colorful 80’s garb and I’d say she was pretty excited with how her costume turned out.

Easy 80’s Rocker Costume with Cardboard Guitar

The second boxtume was just as simple to make. I traced the outline of an electric guitar onto an Amazon Prime box, then carefully cut it out with a utility knife. If you are worried about getting the shape right, print out a picture of a guitar (you may have to tape a few pieces of paper together to print it big enough), then trace the printed picture onto the cardboard.

I found that the best way to get a clean cut in the cardboard with the utility knife was to score through just the top layer first, then follow back along the score lines to cut through the full thickness of the cardboard.

Then it’s time to decorate the guitar. I used green spray paint, added a metallic silver lightning bolt, metallic gold details and lots of glitter paint. The strings are just strips of oversized paper glued on at both ends.

After letting my toddler hold the guitar for pictures, I would add a neck strap and probably double up the cardboard to make it sturdier. He could have mangled that thing in two seconds flat.

But I digress…

Are you ready for a chuckle? Baby 80’s Rocker was cracking me up with his cute expressions. That headband! Those high tops! The sparkly rocker pants! It’s just so funny.

So there you go… two fun, creative, inexpensive Halloween costumes made out of Amazon Prime boxes! I could stare at these photos all day long. I can’t wait for Halloween so I can show these cuties off.

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