- by-
Dustin Qualls
2008 - "Dwight Shrute"
The one that started it all! "The Office" was my favorite TV show at the time, so this was a natural fit for our first office Halloween costume contest at TEI. I won. Not many photos, and no videos exist unfortunately. I got the shirt, tie, calculator watch, and glasses all from second-hand thrift shops. Click the photo for an album.
The one that started it all! "The Office" was my favorite TV show at the time, so this was a natural fit for our first office Halloween costume contest at TEI. I won. Not many photos, and no videos exist unfortunately. I got the shirt, tie, calculator watch, and glasses all from second-hand thrift shops. Click the photo for an album.2009 - "Retro Racquetball"
One of my favorite sports is racquetball. So in 2009 when I was thinking of my next costume, I happened to find inspiration from one of my favorite t-shirts: "Racquetball: Where Blue Balls Are Fun" (you can still buy it here!). All the rest of the items I found were authentic from the era; the shorts were frighteningly short. The shoes were authentic Adidas from the 70s, as was the racquet and the socks. I won the office contest again. Click the photo for an album.
One of my favorite sports is racquetball. So in 2009 when I was thinking of my next costume, I happened to find inspiration from one of my favorite t-shirts: "Racquetball: Where Blue Balls Are Fun" (you can still buy it here!). All the rest of the items I found were authentic from the era; the shorts were frighteningly short. The shoes were authentic Adidas from the 70s, as was the racquet and the socks. I won the office contest again. Click the photo for an album.2010 - "Lloyd Dobler"
My first movie costume... after one of the best movies of the 80s, "Say Anything", featuring John Cusack as Lloyd Dobler. This was also my first custom built costume, with many more to come. I found the boombox, jacket, "The Clash" t-shirt, and shoes all on Ebay. I won my office costume contest again, and I recently just found this old Zapruder-like video from our Halloween office after-party back then. Click the photo for an album.
My first movie costume... after one of the best movies of the 80s, "Say Anything", featuring John Cusack as Lloyd Dobler. This was also my first custom built costume, with many more to come. I found the boombox, jacket, "The Clash" t-shirt, and shoes all on Ebay. I won my office costume contest again, and I recently just found this old Zapruder-like video from our Halloween office after-party back then. Click the photo for an album.2011 - "Kid Rock & Joe C"
So in the spring of 2011, I went with some buddies to see a Kid Rock concert at the Houston Rodeo. Little did I know that I would be attempting one of these piggyback-styled illusion costumes just a few months later. I picked Kid Rock and his buddy Joe C. Found all the stuff at a thrift store, and enjoyed getting the costume to work out just right for the illusion. Click the photo for an album.
So in the spring of 2011, I went with some buddies to see a Kid Rock concert at the Houston Rodeo. Little did I know that I would be attempting one of these piggyback-styled illusion costumes just a few months later. I picked Kid Rock and his buddy Joe C. Found all the stuff at a thrift store, and enjoyed getting the costume to work out just right for the illusion. Click the photo for an album.2012 - "Traffic Signal"
This may very well be my favorite costume of them all. I finally went with something related to my career, and included Carter in the fun. I found three 12" LED 12VDC traffic signals, and wired them up to a remote control that was battery powered. Carter was able to turn on and off each of the signals. Trick-or-treating was the best ever as I was stopping vehicles to allow for kids to cross the street safely. Hilarious. Click the photo for an album, and check out the Youtube video below as well.
This may very well be my favorite costume of them all. I finally went with something related to my career, and included Carter in the fun. I found three 12" LED 12VDC traffic signals, and wired them up to a remote control that was battery powered. Carter was able to turn on and off each of the signals. Trick-or-treating was the best ever as I was stopping vehicles to allow for kids to cross the street safely. Hilarious. Click the photo for an album, and check out the Youtube video below as well.2013 - "Big-Headed Politician"
In November of 2013, I ran for a position on the Klein ISD Board of Trustees. Leading up to that election, I had some fun with my costume for that year and found some software that could make a 3:1 isometric 3D model of my head using paper and super glue. I thought making fun of the political "big head" nature of politicians would be funny. Sarah was a nice complement in her Jackie-O costume. No videos unfortunately, although I know there are some hilarious ones ought there somewhere of a house party we went to on Halloween where my head ended up winning the dance contest. Here is the 17-page document I made and then printed to assemble the model. Click the photo for an album.
In November of 2013, I ran for a position on the Klein ISD Board of Trustees. Leading up to that election, I had some fun with my costume for that year and found some software that could make a 3:1 isometric 3D model of my head using paper and super glue. I thought making fun of the political "big head" nature of politicians would be funny. Sarah was a nice complement in her Jackie-O costume. No videos unfortunately, although I know there are some hilarious ones ought there somewhere of a house party we went to on Halloween where my head ended up winning the dance contest. Here is the 17-page document I made and then printed to assemble the model. Click the photo for an album.2014 - "Wacky Wavy Arms Guy"
So in early 2014, our office moved from our location along US 59 to downtown at Market Square Park. As with most new businesses in Houston, the first thing you'll see welcoming you are these ubiquitous wacky wavy arm things out front. This idea was an easy one... and was a winner in and around the downtown area. At lunch, I went out on a corner near the office and scared people that thought this was just one of the regular ole wavy arm things. Fun times! Click the photo for an album, and check out the Youtube videso below as well to see it in action at our house, and in the streets of downtown Houston.
So in early 2014, our office moved from our location along US 59 to downtown at Market Square Park. As with most new businesses in Houston, the first thing you'll see welcoming you are these ubiquitous wacky wavy arm things out front. This idea was an easy one... and was a winner in and around the downtown area. At lunch, I went out on a corner near the office and scared people that thought this was just one of the regular ole wavy arm things. Fun times! Click the photo for an album, and check out the Youtube videso below as well to see it in action at our house, and in the streets of downtown Houston.2015 - "Inspector Gadget"
One of my favorite cartoons of all time! For this costume, I had probably the most fun making it out of all of them. I used a battery powered shoe polisher as the engine for the helicopter blades out of the hat. I used a small umbrella and slinky for the effect of my go-go-gadget hand coming off in the video below. On the PVC arms, I had a button wired up to the shoe polisher in my hat to turn on and off the helicopter blades. Love this one! Click the photo for an album, and check out the Youtube video below as well.
One of my favorite cartoons of all time! For this costume, I had probably the most fun making it out of all of them. I used a battery powered shoe polisher as the engine for the helicopter blades out of the hat. I used a small umbrella and slinky for the effect of my go-go-gadget hand coming off in the video below. On the PVC arms, I had a button wired up to the shoe polisher in my hat to turn on and off the helicopter blades. Love this one! Click the photo for an album, and check out the Youtube video below as well.2016 - "Hannibal on a Hoverboard"
This was the year my costume hit the big time. So sitting around one day in early September of 2016, I saw my favorite movie on a random channel... Silence of the Lambs. Watching it, and combined with the fact that the kids hoverboards were all the rage at the time, I had the idea hit me... I could replicate the infamous Hannibal Lecter on a dolly scene with the use of my PVC contraption and a hoverboard. The rest was viral greatness! Upon posting the video to Youtube that you see below, I started getting offers to license the video. I still get monthly residual cash from the views of this video around the world. Several of the sites that the costume ended up on are linked to below. Click the photo for an album of how I built it, and check out the Youtube video below as well.
- Daily Motion
- Storyful
- iHeart Radio
- Yahoo! News
- EBaum's World
- Nicer Days Website
- Pinterest
This was the year my costume hit the big time. So sitting around one day in early September of 2016, I saw my favorite movie on a random channel... Silence of the Lambs. Watching it, and combined with the fact that the kids hoverboards were all the rage at the time, I had the idea hit me... I could replicate the infamous Hannibal Lecter on a dolly scene with the use of my PVC contraption and a hoverboard. The rest was viral greatness! Upon posting the video to Youtube that you see below, I started getting offers to license the video. I still get monthly residual cash from the views of this video around the world. Several of the sites that the costume ended up on are linked to below. Click the photo for an album of how I built it, and check out the Youtube video below as well.- Daily Motion
- Storyful
- iHeart Radio
- Yahoo! News
- EBaum's World
- Nicer Days Website
2017 - "Pop-a-Shot with the POTUS"
So it's September of 2017, and Hurricane Maria had just devastated Puerto Rico. POTUS decided to make an appearance and literally shoot paper towels into the crowd like he was playing a pop-a-shot basketball game. Bingo. A political cartoon Halloween costume was born! This was probably the most impressive thing I've ever built from scratch. We had a great time rolling this around downtown and watching people's reactions. One lady thought it was just a promotion to give away paper towels. Hilarious. Click the photo for an album, and check out the Youtube video below as well.
So it's September of 2017, and Hurricane Maria had just devastated Puerto Rico. POTUS decided to make an appearance and literally shoot paper towels into the crowd like he was playing a pop-a-shot basketball game. Bingo. A political cartoon Halloween costume was born! This was probably the most impressive thing I've ever built from scratch. We had a great time rolling this around downtown and watching people's reactions. One lady thought it was just a promotion to give away paper towels. Hilarious. Click the photo for an album, and check out the Youtube video below as well.2018 - "School Speed Zone Flasher & Sign"
In late 2017, I spearheaded a neighborhood effort (as a citizen, not consultant) to get a school speed zone installed for a major thoroughfare through our neighborhood. Many students walked and biked to Frank Elementary School, and crossed Champion Forest Drive to do so. The study I performed is here, and it was ultimately accepted by Harris County. Win-win for everyone. I decided to make this my costume for the year, and here's the crazy thing... the actual school speed zone flashers and signs were installed on Halloween day! I am standing at the exact site in the photo where the signs would be installed the next day. We had some fun with the sign downtown, as shown in the video below. I also grabbed a video of me in costume near the real site of the school speed zone. Click the photo for an album. Enjoy!
In late 2017, I spearheaded a neighborhood effort (as a citizen, not consultant) to get a school speed zone installed for a major thoroughfare through our neighborhood. Many students walked and biked to Frank Elementary School, and crossed Champion Forest Drive to do so. The study I performed is here, and it was ultimately accepted by Harris County. Win-win for everyone. I decided to make this my costume for the year, and here's the crazy thing... the actual school speed zone flashers and signs were installed on Halloween day! I am standing at the exact site in the photo where the signs would be installed the next day. We had some fun with the sign downtown, as shown in the video below. I also grabbed a video of me in costume near the real site of the school speed zone. Click the photo for an album. Enjoy!2019 - "L2V Robot Chef"
It's getting close to October of 2019, and all year the Astros had been crushing MLB. Headed towards a deep post-season run, I had the idea to build the L2V Robot Chef that had been on the HEB Astros commercials all year. This one took me the most time and money to get as many of the details as exactly as I could. The end result, I think, was amazing. If the Astros would have won the World Series, I was going to wear this in the Championship Parade! Oh well. The original HEB commerical can be seen towards the end of this video on Youtube. Enjoy the album of the making of it by clicking on the photo, and also enjoy the video of it in action below.
It's getting close to October of 2019, and all year the Astros had been crushing MLB. Headed towards a deep post-season run, I had the idea to build the L2V Robot Chef that had been on the HEB Astros commercials all year. This one took me the most time and money to get as many of the details as exactly as I could. The end result, I think, was amazing. If the Astros would have won the World Series, I was going to wear this in the Championship Parade! Oh well. The original HEB commerical can be seen towards the end of this video on Youtube. Enjoy the album of the making of it by clicking on the photo, and also enjoy the video of it in action below.2020 - "Microsoft TEAMS Call"
So COVID certainly played havoc with our year. One thing that has certainly come out of this is either a love or hate relationship with Teams / Zoom / Webex calls. The idea hit me to take a sceen capture of one of our full company Teams calls at TEI, placing myself right in the center of it, and then building a full-scale version that I could poke my head through and match my hair, ears, etc, from the screen photo. It worked like a champ! And then, after posting this in a few places, it took off virally. See below for a few links where it has popped up. Click the photo to the right for how I built it, and enjoy the video below. Thanks!
- Darren Rovell's tweet to 2 million+ followers
- Outkick the Coverage article with my costume as top billing
So COVID certainly played havoc with our year. One thing that has certainly come out of this is either a love or hate relationship with Teams / Zoom / Webex calls. The idea hit me to take a sceen capture of one of our full company Teams calls at TEI, placing myself right in the center of it, and then building a full-scale version that I could poke my head through and match my hair, ears, etc, from the screen photo. It worked like a champ! And then, after posting this in a few places, it took off virally. See below for a few links where it has popped up. Click the photo to the right for how I built it, and enjoy the video below. Thanks!- Darren Rovell's tweet to 2 million+ followers
- Outkick the Coverage article with my costume as top billing
2021 - "Young Forrest Gump"
Over the past two years now, I have enjoyed running and trying to get healthy. When I was thinking of ideas for this year's costume, a running theme popped into my head and of course the first idea was Forrest Gump. I thought a costume of him running across the USA would be fun, but quickly realized that was a costume available off-the-rack for purchase. No bueno. But, I then thought about the Young Forrest Gump scene, complete with the leg braces coming off on demand. Got quickly to work making the outfit and leg braces that attached with magnets that could come flying off easily. Kate helped me with the video... we think it's Oscar-worthy! Click the photo to the right for how I built it, and enjoy the video below. Thanks!
- Outkick article with my costume linked.
Over the past two years now, I have enjoyed running and trying to get healthy. When I was thinking of ideas for this year's costume, a running theme popped into my head and of course the first idea was Forrest Gump. I thought a costume of him running across the USA would be fun, but quickly realized that was a costume available off-the-rack for purchase. No bueno. But, I then thought about the Young Forrest Gump scene, complete with the leg braces coming off on demand. Got quickly to work making the outfit and leg braces that attached with magnets that could come flying off easily. Kate helped me with the video... we think it's Oscar-worthy! Click the photo to the right for how I built it, and enjoy the video below. Thanks!- Outkick article with my costume linked.
2022 - "WORDLE"
One of my favorite things lately has been playing WORDLE when waking up and first getting on my phone. So I got to thinking... what would be a good way to incorporate WORDLE into a costume? With a little thinking, and CAD software, I was able to get the dimensions right for a life-size costume that can manually be played! Since making the costume, it has been a hit to take and present to local elementary schools as a part of their Engineering and STEM lesson plans. We have had some fun Halloween and Thanksgiving-themed words and games. The students have loved it! Click the photo to the right for how I built it. Thanks!
One of my favorite things lately has been playing WORDLE when waking up and first getting on my phone. So I got to thinking... what would be a good way to incorporate WORDLE into a costume? With a little thinking, and CAD software, I was able to get the dimensions right for a life-size costume that can manually be played! Since making the costume, it has been a hit to take and present to local elementary schools as a part of their Engineering and STEM lesson plans. We have had some fun Halloween and Thanksgiving-themed words and games. The students have loved it! Click the photo to the right for how I built it. Thanks!2023 - "Walking School Bus"
As a traffic engineer that enjoys presenting engineering-related topics to classrooms, the inspiration this year hit me to make a walkking school bus, complete with a working stop-sign with a Lego mechanism to operate it. This was a hit in classrooms, and for STEM presentations to go alongside it! We were able to discuss school bus safety, pedestrian crosswalks, etc. Students really loved this one! Click the photo to the right for how I built it. Thanks!
As a traffic engineer that enjoys presenting engineering-related topics to classrooms, the inspiration this year hit me to make a walkking school bus, complete with a working stop-sign with a Lego mechanism to operate it. This was a hit in classrooms, and for STEM presentations to go alongside it! We were able to discuss school bus safety, pedestrian crosswalks, etc. Students really loved this one! Click the photo to the right for how I built it. Thanks!2024 - "Centerpoint Service Outage Map"
This year's inspiration came from back in July of 2024, when all of Houston was held captive after Hurricane Beryl knocked out power to most of us for upwards of a week. The only comedy we had at the time was the absurd service outage map that was being hand-colored (not a joke) and uploaded to the Centerpoint website. It utilized a legend of colors and categories that made zero sense to anyone, and was mostly inaccurate. ("Partially Energized" anyone?!) So I figured for Halloween, let's make a wearable, interactive "Color-Your-Own" Centerpoint Service Outage Map that all can have a little fun with. Click the photo to the right for how I built it. Thanks!
This year's inspiration came from back in July of 2024, when all of Houston was held captive after Hurricane Beryl knocked out power to most of us for upwards of a week. The only comedy we had at the time was the absurd service outage map that was being hand-colored (not a joke) and uploaded to the Centerpoint website. It utilized a legend of colors and categories that made zero sense to anyone, and was mostly inaccurate. ("Partially Energized" anyone?!) So I figured for Halloween, let's make a wearable, interactive "Color-Your-Own" Centerpoint Service Outage Map that all can have a little fun with. Click the photo to the right for how I built it. Thanks!2025 - "Walking Pedestrian Crossing"
So I've had a good amount of traffic signal hardware in my collection for quite some time now. I wanted to design and construct a pedestrian crossing costume to help with many of the Career Days that I enjoy presenting to Klein ISD elementary schools. This one ended up being a home run! I used a concrete foundation form as the backbone of the costume, attached the ped signal hardware I had to it, and used my iPad to display the countdown pedestrian signal animations. Click the photo to the right for how I built it. Thanks!
So I've had a good amount of traffic signal hardware in my collection for quite some time now. I wanted to design and construct a pedestrian crossing costume to help with many of the Career Days that I enjoy presenting to Klein ISD elementary schools. This one ended up being a home run! I used a concrete foundation form as the backbone of the costume, attached the ped signal hardware I had to it, and used my iPad to display the countdown pedestrian signal animations. Click the photo to the right for how I built it. Thanks!