DIY Medusa Costume

So I'm celebrating Halloween twice this year, once in New Orleans and a second time in my favorite city, Manhattan. Since I went pretty cliche and simple for my NOLA look (I'm going to be a cat that weekend) I decided to go with something a bit more glamorous and a little more intense for my NY weekend since I'll be closer to home and can go a bit more complicated with the makeup and accessories.

I started off thinking that I wanted to be a vampire but I didn't want to have to stick those false teeth to my canines. Then, I got thinking that it would be easy to be a Grecian goddess since I just got a new pair of gladiator sandals but that wasn't creepy enough. So, I settled on Medusa. I can wear Grecian-looking garb but I have the added fun of gold accessories and snakes in my hair.

You'll need:
snake headband
wide headband
small plastic snakes (I used about a dozen)
gold spray paint
gold glitter spray paint
green glitter spray paint
hot glue

snake hair clips
hair pins
spray-painted small plastic snakes (I used about a dozen)

snake arm cuffs / choker
gold floral wire
spray-painted small plastic snakes (I used 2 per cuff and 1 for the choker)

costume
white flowy dress
gold belt
gladiator sandals
any other gold accessories

I found my little glow-in-the-dark snakes at the Dollar Tree. I love that they glow because they add a fun element and I like that they're a slightly see-through white color because that made them look creepier. Obviously, I spray painted them but I aimed the can all around and never directly at the snakes so that they'd just get a wash of color and have some bare spots. I like that because they look a little grosser and a bit more realistic.

Spray painting the snakes is the first step. You'll want to do this outside because paint fumes are no fun. Lay them out in a layer on a piece of newsprint and then gently spray the snakes with the gold spray paint. Then, go back over them here and there with the glittery spray paints. I like that this adds some dimension and of course, I love the sparkle of glitter. Let the snakes dry for 24 hours.

Oh, and while you're spraying the snakes, give the headband a quick once-over with the gold spray paint.

To assemble the headband, glue on several snakes in different orientations. I also chopped a few snakes in half and then glued them standing straight up to add some more dimension.

To make the cuffs, use some floral wire to make a squared off zigzag pattern in an arch and shape it to your wrist.

Then, glue on a couple of snakes.

For the choker, just round off the two ends of a piece of wire (so you don't end up poking yourself) and then glue a snake in the center.

For the snake pins, just add a bead of glue to the underside of the snake and then set a bobby pin right inside. I recommend gluing the pins to different parts of each snake so the placement in the hair can look more random and the snakes look more active.

Snake~ Snake~

For my makeup, I just slapped on some eyeliner and messily applied some dark shadow (I used Mac's club eyeshadow) and contoured somewhat aggressively with the dark shadow to give myself some nasty undereye bags.

For the hair, I made five braids and criss-crossed them across my head and pinned them into place. Then, I tucked the headband onto my head, in between a set of braids, and then clipped in a bunch of the bobby pin snakes.

I love the way the snake hair looks! The headband and random pin snakes make it look so wild and crazy and I definitely felt like Medusa.

I wish I had some white contacts but this photoshopped version will have to do for now.

I will turn you to stone!

xoxo.