Be a nerd, make your own Halloween costume

You know Halloween is close when you bump into a werewolf and two zombies while shopping at your local grocer. Yesterday, as I turned the corner in Kroger, that is exactly what happened as I ran into a shopping cart filled with monsters. I held back a scream but the shocked look of my face had everyone in the aisle -- including the walking dead riding in the shopping cart -- chuckling with Halloween glee.

This weekend ushers in some of the biggest Halloween parties of the season, including the Halloween Spooktacular and Zombie Walk in Mount Clemens. Zombie costumes are deadly and easy to create. Just add some zombie makeup to your face, ears, arms, tattered clothes and you’re good to go walking (tip: the dead don’t walk, but instead drag their feet).  

The trick to a good Halloween costume is not so much how you do it – because everyone has their own idea of what a dead person should look like – but what you do. Once you come up with an idea, the treat is putting it together. 

Victoria Martinuzzi and Anthony Gallina

For those of you lacking creativity, here is a costume idea courtesy of Anthony Gallina, an undergraduate admissions adviser for Oakland University, and his fiancée Victoria Martinuzzi, Oakland County youth and family case worker, a young couple with imagination on a budget for time and money:

Willy Wonka Nerds Candy Costume

Supplies include: two cardboard boxes (big enough to fit inside), string, purple and pink acrylic spray paint (additional cans optional), white acrylic paint, paint brush, pencil, scissors, T-shirts (either purple or pink). 

Step 1: Begin by poking two holes in the front and back of the box. They should be near the top but not so close that the hole will break through. This is where the string will go so you can hang the boxes over your shoulder. If the box has any flaps this would also be a good time to tape them down (inside the box) so they don’t show.

Step 2: Spray paint your two cardboard boxes: One pink and the other purple. Anthony and Victoria recommend purchasing two cans of spray paint as the cardboard soaks it up quickly. For a darker color add a second coat. Set the boxes aside to dry.

Step 3: It’s time to draw. If two people are going as one box of candy place the two boxes side-by-side (back side down) and draw a design on the front of the two boxes similar to what you might see on a package of Nerds candy. If you’re going as a single box just do your own design. Not everyone can draw bubble letters let alone a candy logo. If you need help, Victoria suggests blowing up a picture (Google Nerds candy box) big enough to use as a stencil. “You can add as much or as little detail as you want,” says Victoria. “I traced the images with a black Sharpie so that the words/pictures came out more.” Note: The more accurate you are with regard to colors, the more authentic your package will look. Set the boxes aside to dry.

Step 4: Climb into the box and pull it up so it’s just below your armpits. Now cut a piece of string long enough to go from the hole in the back of the box, over your shoulder and into the hole at the front – you may need a helper to hold the box or cut the string to fit.

Step 5: Accessorize the costume. Think nerdy, as in thick black glasses (taped at the nose) and slicked back hair (for a guy) and off-balanced pony tails (for a girl). Anthony wore his jeans rolled up to reveal nerdy white socks and black sandals. Victoria wore a pair of dark pants and nerdy socks.

Send your comments or home and garden tips to Gina Joseph gina.joseph@macombdaily.com; @gljoseph