Gregory House Costume

Kevin and I hosted a Halloween party this year, which gave me an excuse to wear a costume!  I went as Captain Jack Aubrey (Russell Crowe in the movie Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World).  Kevin went as Dr. Gregory House from House MD. 

The Gregory House costume was pretty simple since Kevin already had the jacket, shirt, jeans, and sneakers.  For House's Vicodin, I got an old pill bottle and put Tic-Tacs in it.  The only part of the costume I actually made was his flame cane (see project description below).  I searched all the area thrift stores trying to find a wooden cane but no luck.  The drug stores had metal canes but they were expensive.  They actually sell the real flame cane online at several cane stores (only about $25) so if I had the time I guess I could've ordered one.  But since Kevin was only going to use it for one evening it wasn't really worth it!

Project Name: Gregory House's flame cane
Time Taken to Finish: 5 hours (not including drying time)
Materials Used: A 7/8 inch wooden dowel (cut to the correct length for Kevin), a ping pong ball, a black 7/8 inch rubber chair tip/foot, black spray paint, clear coat gloss spray paint, acrylic gesso, red, orange, and yellow acrylic paints, white glue
Special Tools Used: drill, paint brushes
What I Did: To make the knob on the top of the cane, I cut a 7/8 inch hole in the ping pong ball with the drill.  It was hard to do and the hole was a little ragged but it was adequate.  I put a generous amount of white glue on one end of the dowel and stuck the ping pong ball over that end.  I then spray painted the whole thing black.  Once the spray paint dried, I used chalk to draw the flame decal on the lower end of the dowel.  I then painted in the chalk outline with gesso (basically a white primer).  Without the gesso, the black would've shown through the yellow on the flames.  Then I painted the flames over the gesso.  I let that dry and then gently wiped it down with a wet paper towel to remove the chalk and other debris.  Next I spray painted the whole thing again with several coats of the clear gloss.  I let it dry overnight, then added the rubber chair foot.
What I Liked About the Project: I think the flames turned out alright, considering I painted them at about 11 p.m.
What I Didn't Like About the Project: I really would've preferred a "crook" cane (hooked top like a candy cane) for accuracy, but they were too hard to come by and, with my experience, would've been impossible to make!

Since the Jack Aubrey costume was so complicated, I think I'll give it it's own post.

P.S. - If anyone noticed our blooper, Kevin has the cane in his left hand but House actually holds his cane on his right.  But since I have never seen Kevin wear so much as a funny hat, his wearing a full costume was a unusual event and I wasn't going to push it by telling him to switch hands!