DIY Brain Cap

I am always on the look for cheap and easy Halloween costumes and was thrilled to find the tutorial for this gory brain cap on Make Craft.  

Basically all you need is an old hat and 2 tubes of latex caulk.  I found some at Wal-Mart for $1.29 a piece. We had a hospital gown in the dress up box, so this entire look cost about $2.58.

In case you'd like to make your own, here are some tips:

1. Place the hat on a bowl before you use the caulk. I ignored this step, dropped my first attempt on the counter and had to throw it in the trash:(  Since I only had one old ball cap, I used a straw hat.  It was stiffer and easier to work with, but the brain goes a little further down than I'd like. However, since he is weeks past a hair cut, this worked to our advantage.  If I cut his hair, I plan on trimming an inch or 2 off the bottom before Halloween.

2. It takes forever to dry, so plan ahead and give yourself at least 48 hours drying time.  Mine is still squishy.

3.  It weighs a ton.  I don't think this would be a good a costume for a small kid. (Someone commented on the original post that they used insulation foam-maybe that would be better)

4.  Because the caulk is so heavy, it will look a little melted on the sides.  I had nice neat little brain squiggles, but after gravity took effect, they looked a little saggy.  Maybe I should have used more expensive caulk?

 My kids went to a Halloween party on Saturday night and by accident, they all had a medical theme going. 

 In the family tradition of being-some-obscure-character-so-you-have-to-explain-who-you-are-all-night (see the last 12 year's worth here), my daughter went as the nurse from Granite Flats.  My son's best friend threw on a pair of scrubs as a last minute costume. 

Voila, now they were ready to perform brain surgery in the cul-de-sac.

 In case you were wondering-Nurse from Granite Flats

I wanted to show you his complete look-he was very proud of his R2D2 socks.