When my son said he wanted to dress up as a hobbit for Halloween, I knew he needed big, hairy feet to really sell the costume. Of course, being the maker that I am, I took on the challenge of creating custom oversized hobbit feet for him. The process involved molding, casting, painting and plenty of trial and error, but the final disgustingly realistic results were worth it.
Making the Foot Molds
The first step was molding my own feet to use as the base shape. I built a box and mixed up some alginate mold material. After coating my foot in the alginate, I stood in the box mold while the material set up.
The tricky part was keeping my foot still for several minutes while it cured. I’ll admit it felt super gross but the molds captured all the details perfectly. Pro tip: don’t forget the mold release for easy lifting out of the mold, and don’t forget a small plastic knife to cut the mold once it’s all set up.
Casting the Hobbit Feet
With the molds done, it was time to cast my son’s feet in silicone to create the actual costume feet. I mixed up some pigmented silicone, had my son stand in the molds, then poured it around his feet.
The first attempt failed because his feet were too close to the top. By adding a cutout block under my feet when remaking the mold, it allowed more space for his feet and the second pour was a success. The silicone formed a flexible skin around his feet in the shape of mine. It was…pretty gross. And awesome.
Painting and Weathering
To take the feet from creepy chicken skin to hairy hobbit feet, they needed color and texture. I experimented with silicone paints, using WD-40 to thin them for airbrushing.
But I found just smearing the paint on with a glove worked well to get into all the nooks and crannies. I focused on making them look realistically dirty, adding different skin tones and colors of grime. The weathering really made them look gross and realistic.
Adding the Hair
No hobbit foot is complete without hair! I wasn’t sure how to attach fake fur to the silicone but found brushing on some extra silicone then sprinkling the hair over worked great.
The hair stuck as the silicone cured. I kept layering until the tops were fully covered. The silicone feet already looked insanely real but the hair took them to a whole new level of unsettling lifelikeness.
There And Back Again
This was one of my weirdest projects yet, but seeing my son’s excitement wearing the finished feet made it so rewarding. The alginate molds, silicone casting, painting techniques and hair application all came together better than I expected.
Now we just have to see peoples’ reactions when a hairy-footed hobbit goes trick or treating! Making odd items like this for costumes is a blast. Let me know if you try a project like this yourself!