Tech Tuesday: High Tech LED And EL Wire Halloween Costumes That You Can Make At Home!

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Halloween is right around the corner. If you want to go high tech for your Halloween costume and need some ideas, we have two designers to show you how to create something illuminating!

Kirsten Bosio is a children's fashion designer, owner of tinybangs.com. For her Alien Go-Go Girl build, she used spandex tops and bottoms. You can purchase that material from any of your local fabric shops, or online. She sourced her materials from local fabric shops. The PVC plastic top and circle skirt were also sourced from local fabric shops. She purchased the raw material, cut and sewed the raw fabrics into a long vest and circle skirt. Last, she used LED strips and sewed them onto the PVC vest but you can use glue and, in some cases, the LED strips come with adhesive on the back.


Next up, Ray Borntrager. Ray is a Deputy Sheriff who also creates some really professional cosplays to wear to comic-cons and various conventions. Ray is a spokesperson for coolights.com. For Ray's Tron build, he begins with EVA foam. He then draws his patterns on the foam pieces for the various body parts for Tron. He then uses electroluminescent wire to light the costume. You can use various battery packs to power the lights, depending on what brand/type of lights you're using. To attach the el wire, you can use either zip ties, or heavy duty super glue.


One of the great aspects of utilizing LEDs and EL Wire for your children's Halloween costumes is that they're more visible at night. LEDs can run upwards of $20, while the more cost effective option, according to Kirsten is the EL Wire, which comes in around $7. The EVA foam will depend on how much material you buy, but you can find that online at various hobbyist and fabric stores. You'll be able to find heavy duty super glue, glue guns and glue sticks for the glue guns all under $10 at various hobbyist shops, or hardware stores.

Watch our Facebook Live with Kirsten, Mike, and Ray for more information about their costume builds!


Special thanks to the folks at nerdbot.com for helping us find Ray and Mike and their Tron and Transformers builds for the segment.