When I signed up to go to a three-day letterboxing event last fall, I cringed when I saw there was going to be a masquerade ball. I’m not one of those people who can create amazing, award-winning costumes with things in my closet.

So I put it off and put it off until I only had a few weeks left and realized I had to figure out something.

Turning to Google for ideas, I found this website:
http://www.coolest-homemade-costumes.com/

As I poked around, I saw a variation on the theme of a jellyfish. The pictures looked really cool, it got me going. Some were stationary jellyfish that light up, some were ‘swimming’ jellyfish that didn’t. So I decided to do both.

Here is exactly how I made it.

Materials

1. I started with a clear dome umbrella. You can find them online; I got one at my local Target, but here’s a link to the same one on Amazon (it’s cheaper if you go to Target, but you pay for gas to get there):
   Dome Umbrella
   
2. I bought three strands of battery-powered LED lights. They have to be LED lights because they don’t get hot.
   You can find these on Amazon, but the cheapest place I found is a website called Christmas Central, about $6.99 per strand.
   These are the lights I got:
   LED Lights
   
3. To diffuse the light a little, you could use bubblewrap. I used a blue plastic wrap that a friend of mine had on a huge roll that she found in the trash.
4. I used a spray glue, called Headliner Adhesive, that I had from making letterboxing stamps. The one recommended to me, which I used, is this one:
   Permatex Heavy Duty Headliner Adhesive
   
   You can also find it at some auto parts stores like Advanced Auto Parts.
5. You’ll need three AA batteries for each strand. I bought a bunch of rechargeable ones that I could use for other things. After reading a bunch of Amazon reviews, I went with these:
   Eneloop Rechargeable AA Batteries.(While I was at it, I also bought a really good charger, according to reviews: La Crosse BC-700 Battery Charger.)
   

   

6. For the hanging strands, I used a plastic tablecloth, cut into strips. I got the idea from this, although they never really scrunched up exactly like the ones in the picture:
   How to make jellyfish lanterns

   I found that the brand of tablecloths sold by Party City worked a lot better than the brand sold by Walmart for some reason. Just don’t get it from a roll; use the ones that come in packages. And do not get ones that have any kind of liner; just the plastic tablecloths. I used two packages of blue, and one of purple (I had some left over when done). At the time, the brand they sold was Amscam.
   

7. Clear packing tape.
8. Scotch tape.
9. A tiny phillips screwdriver to place the batteries in the lights. (A normal size one is too big).

Making it

Make sure you start this project at least a week ahead so that the glue will be totally dry and won’t stick to your hair.

1. 1. Open the umbrella. Make sure the inside is free of dust. Then spray it on the inside with the headliner adhesive. It will be cloudy, but not totally transparent, which is what you want. Leave it for at least 15 minutes (I left it for over a day) in a place where it won’t collect bugs (I put it in our shed). It’ll still be tacky even after a day or two.
   2. Cut the table clothes into long strands two or three inches wide and a few feet long. You want it long enough to hang down nicely when glued to the edge of the umbrella, but not so long that you trip over them. Keep in mind they will be shorted once you pucker them up.The puckering worked much better when the strips were cut length-wise than width-wise. Grab the strip between your thumb and first finger on each hand and pull. You’re trying to get the plastic to buckle without breaking. Work your way down the strand. You can vary the lengths a little and use different colors. I used blue for most of the outside edge of the umbrella with a few purples, and then four longer purple ones for the inside.

      

   3. Glue the strands to the edge of the umbrella on the inside. They will stick right to the stuff you sprayed on; no need to use more glue. Tie some to the handle if you want so that they hang longer than the ones along the edge. Tip: I balanced the open umbrella on a tall lamp (turned off) to work on it.

1. Take your bubble wrap or other material (I used squished up pieces of the blue plastic wrap) and press them on the inside against the glue. Let the whole thing dry for a few days.

   

   NOTE: You’ll notice in this picture that the umbrella also has some iridescent gift bag shred in it. I started gluing that to the inside, but abandoned that approach. Since you always have some loose shred when you do that, I could quickly see that it would get stuck in my hair as soon as I turned it over and would make a big mess.

2. Put fully charged batteries in your LED lights. Then tape the battery packs of your LED lights to the pole of the umbrella. (I used clear packing tape). I had two resting against the handle itself and one resting on top of the two. Just make sure you do NOT tape over the on/off switch. (Sorry, can’t find the picture I took of this).
3. Tape the wires of the LED light strands directly to the plastic or bubble wrap (I used Scotch tape for this). Just make sure you leave enough play so that the umbrella can be fully open and that the wires don’t interfere with opening/closing the umbrella.

   

4. Cut one last strip of tablecloth about four inches wide, long enough to go around the circumference of the umbrella on the outside to cover up where you glued on the hanging strands. Use your fingers to pucker it. Tip: Don’t make the cut for the length until you’ve finished with the puckering to make sure it is long enough.
5. I attached this border strip using a hot glue gun, but you can use packaging tape again, folded up to make it double-sticky so that the tape is hidden. Sorry I don’t have a picture of the finished product with the border strip glued on. I used purple which was a nice complimentary color to the blue of the tentacles.

That’s it!

I brought some extra batteries and the screwdriver with me in a fanny pack, along with some extra tape and scissors. I didn’t need any of it.

I wore black (jeans, shoes, and a long-sleeved t-shirt). I walked to where the ball was being held and when I got close, I turned on the lights. Some people who saw me coming went “ooooo!” Then when I showed someone how it can swim by moving the handle up and down, a lot more people went “OOOOOOO!”

I ended up winning first prize!!

Then when the weekend was over, I couldn’t bring myself to just toss it. So I posted it on Craigslist for free, but mentioned in the description that they could buy the lights from me for what I paid for them, otherwise it comes without the lights (I removed the batteries, though).

A woman was very excited to get it and bought the lights too. She wore it to a Halloween party at the New England Aquarium and also won first prize!!

One thing to be aware of, though. It works best at an indoor event. My ball was outside and was a very muggy night. The lights attracted bugs! When the night was over, I left the umbrella open and inverted. Most of the bugs flew away by morning, but some had gotten stuck to the tape 🙁

Also I don’t recommend this costume for children because the umbrella can get heavy from holding it all night.

All-in-all, I was thrilled by how it came out.