Tutorial: SUIT OF ARMOR (no sew)

You will need: 

2   Reflective windshield shades                          $2 (dollar store)
Cardboard                                                             Free                
Empty gallon milk jug                                          Free
Tin foil                                                                  $1 (you probably have enough on hand)  
Duct/reflective tape                                               $1- $10 (I had a roll of reflective tape on hand but                                        dollar store duct tape is probably fine)
Black sharpie                                                        Free (had one)
Yarn for hat plume                                               Free  (had some)

 

1- Take the first reflective window shield and cut out a hole for the head. The hole you just cut out will then be cut in half and taped to the shoulders using reflective tape. We drew the black lines to make it look like a full oval on each side, but it was really just half. Clever eh?

Next, we cut out a zigzag along the bottom of the next reflective sun shade, and cut strips part way up, decorating with black sharpie designs. The triangles we cut out of the bottom were taped back on to make the sun design on the front of the suit.

The sun shades came with elastic and little suction cups, so we made a button-like closure tying the suction cup to the elastic, and cutting a button hole on the opposite end (reinforce with duck tape). If you look closely at the above picture, you can see the little black elastic with a suction cup tied to it on the righthand side. This is also how we closed the top, though we had to make a hole for the elastic and suction cup for the top of the suit. 

The shield and sword are cardboard covered in tinfoil and reflective tape. We ended up taping a stick to the sward to keep it firm, then covering again in tape.  My friend wrinkled up strips of brown paper bag, and wrapped the handle to look like leather.

And for the back of the shield, we made an arm loop with duck tape, and hand grip with a milk jug handle.

Here's the rest of that milk jug, top and handle cut off, and covered in reflective tape, with a plume of red yarn at the top for good measure. I cut a slit in the back so it would fit an adult head, but it would be just right for a kid without the slit. I wish I would have made the helmet front a thin rectangle to cover the nose, because it would have looked cooler, but overall it far exceeded my expectations!

I had great creative helpers and this only took us about an hour.  Good luck!!