Art the Clown Photo Strip

My husband and I are big into DIY costume making. Every year, we try to make something creative that no one has seen before, which becomes more and more challenging to come up with a concept. I had a Photo Strip in mind for a while, but I didn’t want to make it without having a costume within the costume. Right now, the Terrifier franchise is very popular since the 3rd movie just came out so I wanted to do my own version of Art the Clown, in a Photo Strip.

Materials/Tools Used:

1. Qty (3) 8’ x 2” x 1” Furring Strips
2. Qty (1) Box of 2-1/2” #2 Phillips Exterior Screws
3. Qty (2) Cans of Black Spray Paint, Satin Enamel Finish
4. Qty (1) Backdrop – Striped Shirt & Black Mesh Webbing
5. Cardboard
6. Qty (2) Utility/Cabinet Pulls
7. Qty (2) Robe Hooks
8. Qty (1) Belt
9. Qty (2) 3-1/2" L-Brackets (3D Printed)
10. Fake Blood
11. White & Black Makeup
12. Eyeliner
13. Black Lipstick
14. Activated Charcoal Powder
15. Glue Stick
16. QTY (3) Printed Photo Boards
17. 20” x 20” Black Poster Board
18. Black Electrical Tape
19. Black & White Shirt
20. White Cut-Off Gloves
21. Black Mini Hat (3D Printed)
22. Head Band
23. Countersink Bit
24. Cordless Drill
25. Heat Gun
26. 9/64” Wood Drill Bit
27. Phillips Screwdriver Bits
28. Utility Knife
29. Hand Stapler Gun/Staples
30. Hand Clamps
31. 3D Printer & Black Filament
32. Epoxy Glue
33. Glue Gun
34. Pencil
35. Ruler/Tape Measure
36. Clothes Pins
37. Table Saw & Circular Saw
38. Photo Shop/Computer

First, I drew a rough sketch concept on paper to understand what dimensions I was working with. My biggest concern was the height of the costume. I live in New England, so a lot of homes have shorter ceilings, so I had to make sure it would be low enough. I am 5’6” tall, so having my real-person photo cut-out be the 2nd one to the top was challenging when it came to height. I determined that the maximum height it can be is 86” (with my legs included). It didn’t allow for much room between the top of the costume to the ceiling. The height of the photo strip frame later had to be modified slightly because the furring strips used to build the frame were actually 1-1/2" instead of truly 2", so the length of the photo strip went from 74" to 71-1/2". The width went from 20" to 19". The openings would remain 16" x 16".

Once I decided on final dimensions, I went to the store to get supplies for the main frame of the photo strip. I grabbed three 8’ x 2” x 1” Furring Strips, a box of 2-1/2” #2 exterior phillips-head screws, and 2 cans of black spray paint. I used a table saw to cut 5 pieces of 16” long furring strips for the tops/bottoms of the photo strip. The sides of the photo strip would be a total of 71-1/2” long since the furring strips weren't truly "to size", so it left me with some extra which was used later in the project. I laid one side of the photo strip down on a table and used 2-1/2” screws to secure each of the 16” sections in place before adding on the other 71-1/2” furring strip for the other side. I used hand clamps to hold everything in place so it wouldn’t shift during installation. Each hole was pre-drilled using a cordless drill with a 9/64” wood drill bit. Then I used a countersink bit to make the top of the hole wider, so the screw would be flush with the wood once screwed in. After the second side was drilled/screwed in, I laid the wood flat on a table outside on a piece of plastic and spray painted it black.

I was very pressed for time, so I made a trip to the local Goodwill to see if I could find an inexpensive shirt and backdrop for the photos as I don’t like buying costumes from Halloween stores. I found a black and white striped shirt that was perfect for the backdrop, as well as a black mesh webbing to put over it. I also found a zip up white & black shirt that I used for Art’s shirt. After numerous attempts to find a tiny black hat and not being able to find one in any store, I returned home where my husband was able to 3D print a hat. I epoxied it to an existing black headband and then used a heat gun to form the sides of the hat to make it look curved. I also forgot in my shopping adventures to find gloves. Thankfully I had gloves from a past Halloween costume, so I was able to cut those to shape and “dirty them up” with fake blood. I used white and black face paint, eyeliner and lipstick to create the Art the Clown look. To cover up my eyebrows, I used a nontoxic glue stick and added the white face paint over them. I then used fake blood to splatter on my face and activated charcoal powder on my teeth to make them look dirty.

This was more challenging than I thought. I had to make sure that when the photos were printed as a 20” x 20” photo that my head size would be the same as it is in real life. I used a poster board cut into a frame with 2” borders so the opening was 16” x 16”, but the frame total size was 20” x 20” to give me an idea what I’d look like inside the photo strip. My husband used our Canon DSLR camera to take photos and then took the CR2 raw files and imported into Photoshop to save them as a high-resolution JPG for printing. Then I was able to measure the size of my head in real life and compare it to the photo in photoshop to make sure everything was to scale. I chose the 3 best poses for the photo strip and sent the images off to a professional printer since I didn’t have the ability to print myself on a home printer.

Once the paint dried on the frame, my husband and I took each photo board and removed some of the edges with a utility knife to allow for some of the wood to be exposed so it didn’t go over the edge. Originally, I attempted affixing the photos to the frame with a hot glue gun, but the material of the poster board didn’t provide much adhesion, so switched to a hand staple gun to affix them. This worked perfectly. We tacked the corners and in between the corners to secure it firmly.

I really didn’t want to hold the photo strip all night, so I found a way to hold it, without holding it. I mounted utility pulls on each side, so it was easy to take my costume on/off. I also wanted to be able to use my hands in some of the real-life photo poses so being able to mount it to myself was key. I grabbed some robe hooks and mounted them upside down to a 19” furring strip that I painted black. Once I determined the perfect height for it (by temporarily mounting them with hand clamps), I screwed into the sides of the display behind one of the photos. I wore a belt that the robe hooks could easily hook onto. Voila, I had my photo strip hanging from my hips without me having to hold it.

At this point in the photo strip build, I was regretting using a shirt with a design instead of going to the fabric store and buying enough plain fabric to cover me fully. I realized it would be challenging to cover the entire back without it resting on my head. I hot glued the fabric to the top of the opening and realized it was not going to work just sitting on my head. I cut a piece of cardboard that was about 18” long x 4-1/2" wide and hot glued the shirt and webbing to the cardboard at the top. I affixed the cardboard to the photo strip using 2 3D printed 3-1/2" L-shaped brackets that were screwed to the frame. Then I hot glued the cardboard to the bracket and used black electrical tape to cover the sides. It became more secure once this was done. My husband hot glued the sides of the shirt to the frame while I was in the costume because I had to make sure it looked ok while it was attached to my belt.

We finished the costume with a few hours to spare. It gave me enough time to do my makeup (again) for Art the Clown and try to match it as best as I could to the original face paint/blood splatter. All in all, I think it came out great. We went to a Halloween party one night, and got dressed up again on Halloween night. Most of my friends were “terrified” of me and I made several of the local trick or treaters cry (unintentionally of course!).