Skeleton Costume Trophies

It’s only two days to Halloween!!  Which means we better be finishing up our Halloween party decorations and prizes.  This year I finally got around to making a set of those cute skeleton trophies that you can find in stores and on Pinterest.  They are so easy, cheap and most importantly, fun to make!  And fun to receive I hope! :)

Basically you buy these tiny skeleton garlands from the Dollar store and spray paint them gold and mount on a trophy base in a specific pose.  Add a title for the prize and you are done.  I decided to spray mine silver because I don’t think gold is a Halloween color and also because I didn’t have any gold spray paint.  :)  I bought little oval wood cutouts from Michael’s to stand my figures on.  Note:  these are 20 cents cheaper at Joann’s.  Coulda saved a dollar!! :)  Plus they have round ones in case that is more your jive.  Mine are all oval except the couple’s award because I thought they needed more room, but really they would fit on the oval, too. :)

I started by painting the bases black with gloss craft paint.  While those were drying, I sprayed the front and back of my skeletons with silver spray paint.  Then I had to decide what awards I was going to give.  This year I am awarding the Best Dressed, Cutest Couple, Scariest, Funniest, and Most Original costumes.  I could have gone on and on but everyone can’t get a prize! :)

There is a lot of inspiration for these trophy poses online, so I used those as my guide and picked poses and props and costume details that would be colorful and fun.  My favorites were the ones with lots of personality and colorful accessories.  You can easily break the plastic skeletons and repose them and glue them into place.  Most tutorials suggest you use a wooden dowel as a support to stand your skeleton.  I found all you had to do was hot glue the hip joints and he would stand right up.  That way there is no ugly stick in his back. :)

For Best Dressed (which is a superlative I regular award  in my party recaps) I posed my skeleton with a tiny black mask with a feather and a shiny purple and black boa.  The mask is cut from black velvet flocked scrapbook paper and glued to a toothpick.  The boa I made with a tiny strip of mesh gathered up and twisted around the skeleton neck and shoulder.  She is clearly rocking that boa!  I broke her elbow and glued her hand to her hip.  Just reinforce any joints you break with more glue.  Then I glued her hips in place and glued the feet to the base.  I printed a little banner with her superlative and glued it on the front.  Voila!

Cutest couple was the most fun to pose.  I found so many good ideas for this one.  But isn’t this just the sweetest?  They have their arms around each others backs and hands together in front.  Her leg is kicked up behind and their heads are just touching.  Awww!  To unify their look I accessorized them with a purple bow for her and a matching purple necktie for him.  So cute!

The Scariest Costume award has donned a witch costume complete with tiny pointed hat and cape and even a little wooden broom.  The hat is made from the velvet flocked paper and glued together.  The cape is just a piece of fabric with a ribbon glued to the top and tied around his neck.  The broom is a wooden skewer with some straw from an actual broom bundled and glued on the bottom.  Not the scariest pose, but this was my first one and I was afraid to break stuff.  I got over that! :)

The Funniest Costume guy is sporting a tiny black pointed hat and a matching pleated ruff.  He has hot pink buttons on his chest and one on his hat.  He is the master of silly walks.  :)  He’s funny and he knows it!

For the Most Original costume, I was at a loss for what to do.  It’s got to be original, right?  So I made him a sash and a top hat.  He’s shrugging nonchalantly about his original costume, but he’s clearly top of the pack because he’s propping up his foot with a fellow skeleton’s head.

I had so much fun with these, I’m already coming up with great ideas for next year.  And to ensure I don’t forget them:  Best Execution, which will be for the costume that is the most well-executed.  And the trophy will be getting the best execution.  Firing squad?  Guillotine?  Then, Cutest Costume with an adorable tutu and wings perhaps?  And luckily, I have 367 days to come up with some more! 

Stay tuned for more details from this weekend’s soiree.  Have a Happy Halloween!

For more Halloween inspiration check out our party recaps of yore: 2013, 2012, 2011, and 2010.