A memory stick is a backup and file transfer device. It should be used to save copies of files on your computer or transfer files from one computer to another. The files on a memory stick should never be the only ones because guess what? these things die, get lost/stolen or get broken.

Why I’m writing this post today is that I was given one such memory stick yesterday. The stick was in 2 pieces, the USB connection had been broken away from the body of the stick. I figured this was a lost cause but I enjoy a challenge so I set about seeing what I could do. I removed the inner workings from the memory stick body to see that the USB connection had broken cleanly away and caused no damage to the circuitry. Now I thought there might be a chance of getting something off the stick if I could somehow connect the two parts together again. To do this I got a short strip of CAT5 cable and soldered it to each part to once again connect them. Plugging the new device in my PC I got nothing and thought that was that but just on the off chance I thought I’d try it in my MacBook. Plugging it into the MacBook suddenly it lit up and appeared on the desktop. I quickly copied everything I could from the drive in case it decided to disappear but no the device stayed and actually seems to be preforming normally.

Now ok I managed to save the data on this USB memory stick but please people only use these devices to backup or transfer your files, always have a copy of any work on a computer somewhere to avoid any future panic when something happens to your memory stick.

Thanks to everyone that emailed me lately wondering what I’m doing and looking forward to seeing this year’s creation so I really need to get started on something.

I’m still a bit pissed that I didn’t pull of my big plan last year and would love to try it again but here’s the question, should I put all my effort over the next few weeks in to something that might fall apart again or should I go for something that I can actually do and manage within the time?

Please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions leave them in the comments.

The design started by first thinking that these wings needed to be fitted to the person and needed to be light enough to wear all night. After a bit of thought it was decided to use black water piping and black cloth.

The pipes were bent into shape and left sitting for a few days so that the curve would hold.

The next step was to cut a piece of wood that would be used as a back plate to which the pipes would be attached. Two shoulder straps were also attached to the back plate and so this allowed the person to wear the wings comfortably all night.

The wings were made from black cloth. A hem was stitched on one end of the material and this slid over the pipe allowing the material to hang down and form the wings.

To finish of the wings and give them a better look two black feather boas were stitched along the top.

To finish the costume of the back plate was covered with left over material and the person was added to the wings. It’s up to the individual as to what they wear but I’d recommend something similar to what was done here as it gave a very good overall appearance.

The idea is simple, a large monster type creature holding a plate with my head on it. The monster is created by putting an old mask on a stick straight above my own head. Then create 2 arms which hold a plate that fits around my neck. The monster and I would then be covered in one long black cape/dress thing.

To start, a frame was made that sat on my shoulders and had a piece of wood attached that would hold the head. The frame was made using a back plate to which 2 lengths of black water piping was fixed to. The 2 pipes were bent over and tied to the back plate using some washing line rope. A piece of pipe insulation was put around the rope so it wouldn’t dig into my sides. The piece of wood was screwed to the back plate and newspaper was wrapped around the top to fill out the head.

Next a length of fencing wire was attached to the upright wood and this was bent into the shape of the arms. When the wire was the correct shape it was filled out using newspaper and a pair of rubber gloves was put on the end to save time on trying to make hands. The right arm wouldn’t stay in place so it had to be propped out plus a black bag was wrapped around the head as the newspaper was showing through the mask.

To dress the creature was easy. I used an old scream cape to cover the main body and an old mask for the head. To cover my own lower body I’d wear an old long black skirt. A hole was made in the chest area of the scream cape for my head to fit through.

The plate was simply just an old tray which was sprayed sliver and some padding put on the cut edge so I didn’t cut myself during the night. An addition to this was a piece of elastic to hold the plate tight to my neck as I found that the plate tended to slip out when I walked.

And that was the costume completed. All in all it only took a few hours, was simple, light and comfortable to wear and in the end it won 3rd place which just shows sometimes the simple things just work better.

The “Davey Jones” costume on the left was the overall winner and well deserved as all that was real seaweed!

Right at the start I’m not claiming this as my idea. I found this costume on cockeyed.com. That guy makes some unbelievable costumes.

When I seen his Dr. Octavius costume I knew I just had to try it!

First of I had to build a spiderman.

The frame of the spiderman was made from 1.5″ piping glued and taped together. The next step was to pad him out and cover in paper mache.

While the spiderman was drying out I started on the claws for the Dr. Octavius part of the costume. Two of the claws were going to be big and hold the spiderman in place, while the other two would be small and be attached to the spiderman. The claws were cut from a corrugated plastic sheet and placed together with some styrofoam in between. This “sandwich” was then taped using masking tape and spray painted.

To make the arms I again used 1.5″ piping and bent to using a blow torch. The outer shell of the arms is aluminum ducting which is very easily bent and looks great.

With the two main arms constructed I cut a board that would hang on my back under the coat and attached the arms.

Two holes were made in the coat so the arms could come through and also to hide how they were attached.

The painting of the spiderman was done rather crudely. A quick spray paint to generally match what his costume looked like would do as I figured the overall look of the completed costume would make up for any inaccuracies. The only place where I did go into detail was on the emblem. I printed of a stencil and cut it out so I could spray it on his back and front also 2 triangles of tinfoil were cut out and stuck on for his eyes.

In order to keep the spiderman above my head there needed to be a support as the already constructed arms wouldn’t be able to hold him up on their own. This was done by bending a metal tube that would normally be used for a clothes rail and placing it upright in the centre of the back board.

All that was left to do now was fix the claws to the arms. The larger claws were fixed to the arms and the smaller claw was fixed direct to the spiderman as I had run out of time I couldn’t fit in doing the forth arm.

With everything now in place it was just a matter of putting it on and enjoying the party.

This costume took 2 weeks to make costing €70 and it did win 1st place. It’s getting another run out this year as part of an advertisement for this year’s Halloween Ball so it was well worth doing.

All I can say now is bring on this year’s Halloween Ball for bigger and better, check back to see what will happen with this year’s costume.