How do I make fake icicle wings for a costume?

April 10, 2007 10:18 AM

How do I make fake icicles like this for a winged costume representing Winter?

For my Winter costume I want to have little wings made of branches with fake icicles that look like this.

I don't want something that will break and be dangerous. I can't use anything that will shed itself all over the place, making a mess. I thought about making icicles out of some sort of glue but I don't think it would dry clear. Prop icicles for movie sets are prohibitively expensive.

Any ideas?

posted by nessahead to clothing, beauty, & fashion (13 comments total)

Get some clear acrylic rods from Home Depot and half melt them with a blowtorch.
posted by DU at 10:27 AM on April 10, 2007

Make some out of clear silicone sealer. It won't be completely translucent, but probably clear enough. Also, it will be very difficult for anyone to hurt themselves with it.

Is this for a stage costume (viewed from a distance), or for something that will be seen close up?
posted by yohko at 10:29 AM on April 10, 2007

It's for Burning Man, actually. Would the sun be too hard on the silicone sealer?
posted by nessahead at 10:33 AM on April 10, 2007

You could make them out of glue from a glue gun - I've made patterns with glue from glue guns before, and it does dry clear, and if you use enough glue they could be quite sturdy.
I think you would end up using quite a few glue sticks though, depending on how many icicles you want.
posted by schmoo at 10:37 AM on April 10, 2007

How about buying them? I have a bunch of these made from cheap plastic for Christmas tree ornaments. Is there a year-round Christmas store where you live? Look for them in touristy towns that specialize in antiquing. Or search eBay for "Christmas icicles."

Also, Oriental Trading sells them year-round.
posted by GaelFC at 11:21 AM on April 10, 2007

This is what I would look for.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 11:43 AM on April 10, 2007

Continuing along that line of thought, you might want to check out the 24-for-2.40 icicle ornaments available at this place. They seem to have a pretty decent selection of both plastic and glass icicles. Alternately, perhaps you could make something out of Friendly Plastic? They wouldn't be translucent, but it'd be easy to do.

(On preview, the ornaments AB links to are cheaper. Go with those!)
posted by Vervain at 11:51 AM on April 10, 2007

To answer a now-moot question - silicone sealer (RTV) will stand up to a lot more heat than the desert sun deals out. We used to use it to seal motorcycle exhausts at the cylinder head. The part that oozed into the exhaust port, where it was in the fire, got incinerated. The part that was not directly in the exhaust stream was unscathed.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 12:00 PM on April 10, 2007

Thanks for the ornament links but I want to make the branches look like they've been in an ice storm and that means clear stuff enveloping them.

Thanks for answering the silicone question, Kirth. If that's true then it sounds like silicone is the way to go.
posted by nessahead at 1:14 PM on April 10, 2007

Hold the silicone.
With the heat, the dust, the sun, the cold nights, you'll break out into something and have to ingest way more drugs than you had counted on. Running around nekkid with silicone against your skin....ack, you'll be greasy, the smell and fumes emanating off the silicone alone will make you pass out. It's ammonia. I'd do a dry run in a sauna, having someone throwing sand at you while you jog in place as a test run. I just don't think it would work. You'll die or ditch the piece.
I think the icicle christmas lights, with the wires and all would be a lot fresher. Maybe you can hook up some solar powered power supply and actually have them light up, those led lights are cool to the touch, so you won't get scorched.
Hey, it's burningman.
posted by alicesshoe at 4:33 PM on April 10, 2007

This silicone were talking about is not your greasy silicone spray, or breast implants, or whatever. It's room-temperature-vulcanizing elastomer (RTV). It's inert for all practical purposes once cured. You won't have any greasy, smelly fumes - the smell is only present while it's curing. After that, it's completely odorless in any environment that won't kill you. Or even burningman.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 5:54 PM on April 10, 2007

Hmmm, well my first thought would be resin of some kind, not that I've used it but have been reading more about it lately. But, if it's for a costume I'd imagine it would be too hard/sharp. Resin does sound like it would be viable even tho it wouldn't be crystal clear, but lets face it, with playa dust it's not gonna look crystal clear for long!

Dream situation - ask Camp Antartica to have a special icicle factory for you and then have a refreshing costume of melting icicles as you run around in the heat of the day. Homer moment...drooool! Ultimate in non moopiness :)
posted by floanna at 3:49 PM on April 12, 2007

Resin - meant silicon for the more viable option!

Got another burner on the case and she's saying resin dipped/dripped on straws. I think you would be able to extract the straws and that would leave a hole. Long process but think it may work.
posted by floanna at 3:54 PM on April 12, 2007