Cardboard Boat Costume AKA the Chick Magnet

                                                                     Introduction

    One fine day our tech teacher Ms. Green assigned us a daunting task...construct a costume entirely from cardboard, but wait thats not all! Also this costume had to use slotted construction meaning that the cardboard cannot be held together by another median (glue,tape,or caulk). Some of the requirements for this costume were that it needed to be flat pack (a construction that allows all pieces to lay flat.) also this costume must be comfortable for a child in middle school to got out and go trick-or-treating.
    
                                                                 My Basic Solution

Due to the fact that this is already a hard assignment I thought it would be best to make the simplest yet cool looking costume. In the end my design is a very basic boat shape. This shape is great for drawing on and decorating.

                                                                      Materials List

-Card Board Double Ply 5'x3'     X2  (S1)
-Card Board Double Ply 2'x3'     X2  (S2)

                                                                           Tools List 

-UTILITY KNIFE  (T1)
-RULER  (T2)
-PENCIL  (T3)
-CIRCLE TEMPLATE OR COMPASS  (T4)
-SCISSORS  (T5)
-(Optional) CUTTING MAT  (T5)

Now before you can cruise around in your stylish boat you must get to work cutting out the basic parts for this bad boy.

First you must trace the ship onto the cardboard (S1) with the Pencil (T4). The basic shape you need to start with is 5 feet long by 3 feet tall. If the starting piece is not this size use the utility knife (T2) to cut the traced line out.

Now you must find the center of the 5-foot top of the cardboard. Do this by measuring the total distance (5ft) using the ruler (T3) and divide by 2. After finding the centerline measure using the ruler (T3) and trace a straight line with the pencil (T4) to the bottom of the piece of cardboard. Now that you know the center of the bottom you must measure 1.5 feet with the ruler (T3) on each side of the centerline. Trace these two lines with the pencil (T4) this should come to a total of 3 feet. Take your ruler (T3) and connect the end of the top line to the end of the bottom line. Now trace this line out with the pencil (T4). Repeat step that last step for the opposite end of the costume.

After tracing these two angles you must cut them out with the knife (T2).
Now you must repeat all of these steps again to create the other half of the costume.

You now have the sides of the ship!

Once you have both sides cut out you must find the center point again. (Previously Marked) Then go down 4 inches and make a circle with a diameter of 6 inches with the circle template (T5). Repeat this step for both sides.

Now to make the two slots needed during assembly.
Score the side lengthwise halfway with the utility knife (T2). This score should be about 2-3" away from the sides of the piece. It really depends on how thick your cardboard is. The thicker the cardboard the thicker the cut must be.

Now to make the front and back of your costume!

First you must measure your shoulder width with the ruler (T3) this is done by going from your collar bone to the other. Write down this measurement.
Now you must cut out two rectangles with the measurements 3 feet by whatever your width is. Cut this out with the scissors (T6).

Repeat those steps so you have two pieces

Now score a line 1 inch in from the sides with the utility knife (T2) halfway down the length. Do this on both sides, and on both pieces.

Finally after all that cutting your masterpiece is almost complete! You simply need to assemble it.
There is a basic two step assembly.

1. Slip both sides of the front and back pieces (P2) into the slots of both sides (P1).
2. Now just go under the costume and slip your arms through the holes on both sides.