After seven-year-old Chris had seen Guardians of the Galaxy  twice, he knew he wanted to be Star-Lord for Halloween. So his dad, David, ordered a premade costume. But when the delivery was delayed more than once, he feared his son wouldn’t receive it in time. Armed with just a glue gun and a dream, he took matters into his own hands.

From August to October he worked weekends on the project, putting in about 24 hours of time, spending around $100 and sustaining just one X-Acto blade injury in the process. But the results were well worth it for both father and son, says David. "It's just something I really wanted to do for him."

Here’s how he got the look, step by step.

He started off with a store-bought Marvel Guardians of the Galaxy Star-Lord Battle Gear Set ($13.71), which included a mask and a blaster. He added embellishments to build out the mask, working first with paper templates he found online and then converting those to foam (materials: $8).  Getting the shape just right required plenty of patience and practice, not to mention hot glue. There were countless test fittings. Luckily, David has three kids, so they all took turns. 

Once he achieved the proper shape, he spray-painted the mask and then used Rub ‘n Buff, a metallic paste, to give it the proper sheen.

A pair of John Lennon-style glasses with red lenses purchased on Amazon for $6 were used to create the red-tinted eyes. The mask is also lit from inside using glued LED strips and a 12-Volt battery.

No Star-Lord costume is complete without the accessories, especially his trademark Walkman (Awesome MIx Vol. 1 included). He found a resin cast of a Walkman on Etsy ($30), which he painted. Head phones with orange foam were $16 on Amazon.

The orb is a Styrofoam ball drizzled with hot glue and then sprayed with metallic paint.

A red leather jacket purchased at an outlet mall ($27) and black cargo pants and hi-tops that he already had completed the outfit. Watch out, Halloween universe, here he comes! Get those treats ready or prepare to suffer the wrath of his intergalactic tricks.