Alien Party

Before we jump into another dress-up party description, let's get one thing straight: you do not have to spend thousands in order to look cool for a dress-up or cosplay. All it takes is some creativity, effort and commitment. Of course, it helps to buy a few things, but you don't have to order a R5000 costume online if you can make it work with some household items!

Last year, we were invited to an Alien-themed birthday party (based on the Alien movies, not just any old alien you felt like). We rewatched all the movies in preparation, and since we usually go big, decided to go for some of the more challenging characters: Annalene would be a xenomorph, and Marius would be a chestburster victim.

We seriously considered making the chestburster using a stuffed sock and some googly eyes from a craft shop, but we came across these in Red Claw Comix and just couldn't resist bringing them home:

Aren't they adorable?

We spent at least an hour playing with them and taking pictures when we got them.

After buying the facehugger and chestburster, we decided to use what we had at home for the rest of the outfits. Marius found an old shirt and cut a chestburster-sized hole in it, splattering the area with some red fabric paint for added gore. The result looked quite painful:

Luckily, the chestburster toy has quite a long tail which could wrap around Marius' body and tuck into his belt, keeping the creature in place. 

For Annalene's xenomorph, we had to take some creative liberties - a true-to-life one is very tricky to pull off!

We used an old Alien bandana and the facehugger soft toy around the face area, and then added to Annalene's black outfit by using Halloween skeletal rubber gloves that were lying around in the props chest. She finished off her look with black eyeliner on her lips and an alien 'tail' made from cardboard in her hair. It looked pretty scary, and we think people got the idea that she was a xenomorph.

At the end of the day, it was a pretty decent party dress-up. It helps to have a collection of odds and ends from previous dress-ups lying around, but if you think and plan ahead, you really don't need to spend all that much in order to look awesome. We could have found a way around buying the plush facehugger and chestburster, but we kind of wanted them around. 

Here are a few more action photos from that night:

Ripley and a xenomorph facing off

The chestburster finds a new victim

Marius has finally succumbed to his wounds