Instructables user spacemonki didn’t settle on any ol’ outfit for her spacesuit; she custom designed one and made it glow with LEDs. Her bright, creative costume has humble origins: it started with cardboard. She used a box larger than her torso, measured her body, and drew a pattern for the bodice onto the cardboard. She says:

I overshot the measurements a couple inches on width and height to allow for the design. I drew out the picture of how I wanted it to look, but I know that I like to be creative as I go. This gave me more freedom to allow different elements. With paper mache, you can always add if there’s a mistake, but easier to get it right the first time.

She admits the paper mache process for the bodice got messy, but her half glue and half water combo did the trick. Once it was dry, she added the LEDs into the rubber balls she inserted into the bodice. She explains:

I had bound two, thirty strand battery operated LED lights (in BLUE) in each globe. Each ball was filled with crumpled up plastic wrap to diffuse the light better. The switch box was placed on top, easily accessible.

Two sets of icicle LED lights (in blue), twelve tubes each, were bound with clear tape. It gave a mesmerizing, wave-like effect when operating. I had threaded the wires underneath, through the cavity I had made prior. The lights were coated in plastic wrap, then I had paper mached a housing unit for them to keep them in place (the plastic stayed on until after the piece was painted).

See more photos and get all the details at Instructables.