DIY Rubik’s Cube Costume That Is More Than Just A Cube!

Purim is a Jewish holiday that involves costumes, at least for younger kids, and this year I had a great time making m youngest a rubik's cube costume that actually turns, as opposed to a static cube, as well as a fun piece of cake pinata costume for my daughter. On Purim afternoon as we headed to a friend's home for a huge and festive Purim meal I was blessed with amazing lighting which enabled me to take some nice photos of the costumes in a historic alley just above our home. My only regret is that the beard and mustache that my some wore with this costume the day before has disappeared…..so bit it, just do keep in mind that some fun facial hair looks great with this costume, as does round glasses and even a crazy Einstein-like wig. I also saw a clever rubik's cube costume in which the  girl was dressed in a traditional Hungarian style dress with a rubik's cube on her head……here in Israel it is a called a "Hungarian cube" so everyone gets the costume, and it was quite good! In the USA I highly doubt that people know where Mr. Rubik was from, so that would be an educational costume!

This rubik's cube costume was a six or seven hour endeavor, but the results speak for themselves, and afterwards the costume can become a giant rubik's cube to hang in a child's room (with the addition of a bottom panel, or not…..) If cutting a bunch of squares all the same size doesn't phase you, this might be up your alley! Lets get started.

Ah yes, this is a rubik's cube that can actually turn, well the middle section anyway, which makes the costume so much more interesting, not to mention easier to transport as it is made in three sections. An adult male sized version of this costume would be quite unwealdy if not made according my instructions, always an important consideration, even something as simple as getting out the door! (Which was a little difficuilt in some cases with my daughter's piece of cake costume!)

You'll Need:

• recycled cardboard boxes, mine were fruit crates
• plastic corrugated sheets in black, red, blue, green, yellow and orange. (White is the bottom color, so you may not need it, I'll possibly add it now to make the cube complete for hanging as decoration.)
• a ruler and craft knife, or a rotatary cutter and a gridded plastic ruler (I used a craft knife with a gridded quilters ruler, perfect for getting equally sized squares!)
• a hot glue gun and packing tape
• ribbon or chord

How To Make A Rubik's Cube Costume:

1. Conceptualize how the cube is constructed. This one is made of three pieces. The top piece has a hole that is the size necessary to fit over the head, and has holes on the sides for the arms. The bottom two pieces have top holes big enough to fit around the wearer's torso.
2. You may be able to come up with a better system than i did (maybe you'll be less rushed than i was!) for keeping the whole thing together. I basically just hot glued thick blue craft cord to the bottom piece on two sides, and those cords, when tied over the wearer's shoulders hold up the two layers above. Because the middle layer turns, one can't attach it to the other layers.
3. Decide the dimensions of your costume and calculate how much corrugated plastic you'll need. The dimensions of my cube is roughly 45cm x 45cm. So I needed enough black to cover three 45×45 cm squares (the top of each piece) and 12 15cmx45cm rectangles. i needed enough of each of the colors to cover roughly 45cmx45cm.
4. Make the three pieces of the cube using strong cardboard, and don't worry about being absolutely exact, mostly exact is good enough!
5. Cover the cardboard cube with your exactly cut pieces of plastic corrugated sheets. Cover with black first, and then glue on the colored squares. Hot glue works great for this.
6. If you are a stickler for accuracy, make sure you get the correct order of the colors! In a rubik's cube white is actually the top color, so our cube is upside down.
7. Pair this costume with a white shirt, black pants and a funny wig and facial hair, and you've got a winner!

If you're looking for another costume that looks great with the rubik's cube costume, give my piece of cake pinata costume a try, they look great together! And it kind of works, namely that solving the rubik's cube is a piece of cake? Happy costume making, and please let me know if you make either of these, I'd love to see the results! And now, I think I'll go get some sleep, ah whoops, not possible I've got to make a dent in my yearly Pesach organizing and cleaning!