Home » Theme Costumes » Forces of Nature Costumes » Sky Clouds and Rain Costumes » Coolest Homemade Costume Idea: Rain Cloud with Heat Lightning and Sounds of Thunder

Coolest Homemade Costume Idea: Rain Cloud with Heat Lightning and Sounds of Thunder

Financially, things have not been going well for me or my family and I have been feeling like there is a cloud over my head.  So, I decided to make fun of that with the hope of helping me out of my funk.

I found an silver choir or graduation gown in at my local Salvation Army for $1.99.  I used an old straw hat with a big brim and glued two pieces of foam board above and below the brim.  Be sure to cut the foam board so the holes for the top of the hat fit above and below the brim.  The clouds were made out of cotton (used in Christmas decorating) and covered with glittery material I was able to buy cheap from the fabric store.  Five different colors were used:  gray, orange, blue, black and white.

My boyfriend bought me a short set of battery powered Christmas lights, which I spread though the clouds to look like heat lightning. I used a bead curtain that had 45 6-foot strands of iridescent beads that looked like raindrops and added them to the headpiece.  In addition, I took a piece of plastic from the curtain rod and wrapped several strands of the beads around it to cover the plastic and made a necklace so that the gown was covered in  “rain”.  Sounds were made with a small speaker placed in the clouds.

Since we were not in a financial position to go out with friends, my boyfriend and I spent an entire weekend putting it together. We laughed so much and kept coming up with more outrageous ideas to make it better (light and sound).  Making it brought us closer together and we realized that sometimes blessings do not come in the form of money or things.  When the costume was finished, I wondered:  “Could I really wear this?”  The fun wasn’t in wearing it, but in making it and laughing at my situation. It was a such a special weekend.

Decided to enter a contest at a club near my house this past Saturday night and I WON!! It was just so much fun because our friends were all blown away by my costume and all night strangers were coming up and asking me if they could take my photo. My winnings bought a week’s worth of groceries after my expenses in materials for the costume was completed.

It was a fun experience and it got me out of my funk, which was my goal.

Coolest Homemade Costume Idea: Rain Cloud with Heat Lightning and Sounds of Thunder



Coolest Homemade Costume Contest 2023

Leave a Comment