Adventure Time Costumes - Princess Bubblegum and The Ice King

Princess Bubblegum

Princess Bubblegum worried me the most as her dress is very plain and I was concerned with being able to find something in the stores that would work, or if I would have to resort to *gulp* making a dress.

Luckily, I happened upon a very inexpensive costume dress at a Halloween shop that would do the trick with just a little bit of help.

Before

After

With an enormous amount of help from my good friend Jana (who has dress and costume making experience!), we just had to remove the netting from the neckline and waist and add a purple yolk and scallop neck, poofy sleeves, and sash,  and it had to be hemmed.  I don't know what I would have done without her help as this was all well beyond my capabilities.

Wearing a pink shirt and pink leggings took care of the pink skin issue, for the most part, and that left her crown and long pink hair.

The hair was another large hurdle as I needed it straight, parted down the middle or short bangs, super long and pink.  I found a great white wig that would do the trick for little cost and eventually found a tutorial on dyeing synthetic hair.

I figured out the best white:red ratio for the ink and went to town over the next two days to dye the wig:

The gear

Day 2, trying out soaking

Out for spraying and drying

Unfortunately, after all that work, the color was pretty great but the fibers couldn't stand up to the effort.  Despite washing it and using detanglers and other conditioning agents, it looked like this:

A pretty in pink rat's nest

Soooo I looked around online for more wigs and decided to invest in a cosplay quality wig from a Chicago supplier, Arda Wigs.  I received it in two days, the quality was incredible, and it will be used and enjoyed for years to come.  Plus, it looked perfect.

Lastly, I had her crown.  I really wasn't sure how to do this item as well but in the end found some gold-ish colored felt, covered posterboard with the felt and added a blue gem at the top.  I also reinforced it with a popsicle stick.

Here's my PB

Ice King was by far the easiest costume, partly because my husband didn't want to wear any blue makeup and in the end didn't want a fake nose or anything similar.

Ice King

I found a graduation gown in a thrift shop that was just the right shade of blue.  That left his beard and wig, which I found online for pretty cheap.  I made the crown much like I did Princess Bubblegum's, but added red sparkly foam "gems".  Easy peasy lemon greasy.

This experience has gotten me past the fear of making costumes and now I can't wait for next year!