BOO-Thousand Fifteen

Another Halloween, come and gone..

It's no secret that I love going all out and having a really awesome costume every year. But something about momming a 16-mo-old just really slows ya down. Shocker, right?
Back in July or August, Tucker came to me claiming he had the perfect family Halloween costume idea: Phantom of the Opera, Christine Daae, and the cymbal monkey music box! I thought it sounded like great plan so I kept the idea in the back of my mind.
In September, I started gathering supplies at Hobby Lobby and browsing D.I.'s racks for anything I thought I might be able to turn into something spectacular. Some plaster wrap and spray paint, roses, a solid brown onesie, etc. But as the supplies piled up, I still couldn't bring myself to actually do anything with it.
Before I knew it, I had a week before Halloween. I always hate myself for putting things off so late, but I guess that's just how I work. One last trip to D.I. for a loose blouse and tux pants, and a bolt of black, crushed velvet from Walmart, and I had everything I needed.
I think my main reason for putting off costumes til last minute had to do more with the fact that I knew I'd finally be forced to open my sewing machine for the first time, even though it had been sitting in my closet for almost two years. I'm ok with sewing. Like I've made pajamas and bags and can thread it and everything. But once I pulled that thing out, I had a mini freak-out. My sewing machine is way fancier than anything I've used before. So it definitely required some Instruction Manual perusing.
But then I got going, and with Nikki as a late-night buddy, supplying carmel apple suckers and fancy chocolate, I made it through.
I wish I took before pictures, but I was too rushed to think about it! So I'll just show the end result and tell you what I did.

The Phantom: So Tucker's costume was pretty easy. He had the shoes and the shirt. The tux pants were $8 at D.I. and in perfect condition. The cape was just one long piece of crushed velvet. I cut a thin strip off one of the ends, and then folded the edge down cutting small snips every few inches. I then threaded the thin piece through the holes, and there you go! A quick, no-sew cape! The mask was the most time-consuming. I made Tucker hold still for over an hour while I laid slimy strips of plaster (think papier-mâché) across his Vaselined face. Once it was dried and off his face, I added some details using a natural clay from Crayola. And one that was all dry, I used a white gloss spray paint. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out, especially since it's my first mask. Next time, I'll definitely go for a smoother finish and figure out a better way to stick it to his face. I was planning on using spirit gum, but when that didn't work, we had to make do with double-sided tape.

Christine Daae: My costume required more pieces but required no sewing and was fast to put together. I already had the black corset from my Queen Regina costume from 2012, and the white blouse was only a couple bucks at D.I. The wrapped skirt was a just a big, long piece of fabric (maybe a formal table-cloth?) I found at D.I. for a buck. And the darker, smaller piece was some sort of runner with tassels on it and only cost me $2. I cut the runner into a smaller triangular piece, and wrapped both gold fabrics around my waist and tied them. A couple small roses in the corset and a large one in the hair completed the look. The most time-consuming part of my costume was curling my hair.
The Monkey Music-box: For Annie's costume, I found some black velvet pants. gold shoes, and a solid, brown onesie at D.I. Actually, the onesie had "C.U.T.I.E." stitched into the front, but Nikki got that off with a seam ripper pretty easily. The hardest part of her costume was the vest. I found a little, renaissance-y shirt in D.I.'s costume section, but it was way too big and not what I was looking for. I loved the red and gold on it though, as well as the gold lining so I decided to make it work. I cut the two middle sections of the shirt out to be the front part of the vest and removed the poofy, silky sleeves. I cut a smaller version of the back and reattached the pieces to make a vest. I soon realized, however, that the red and gold fabric really loved to fray, even after sewing through it. It made things a little difficult so I finished the edged off with a small line of hot glue, and it did the trick perfectly. The little turban (which we forgot on Halloween night) was made of the same dark gold fabric from the table runner part of my skirt. I used the tassel part for a front decoration and wound part of the vest left-overs for some color. I wasn't sure how to sew it, so I just twisted pieces and hot-glued them. It seemed to work though! Credit for the cymbals goes to Nikki. She spray-painted some small paper-plates and looped hair-ties through them for handles. Genius!


Another successful Halloween for the books. And yes, we're already thinking about ideas for next year! Have any suggestions? :)

BOO-Thousand-Twelve: The Making of Regina

You ready for this? Now, if you know me or have been following long enough, you'll know that I love dressing up. I will probably never grow out of it, and I hate those Halloweens where I'm just not feeling creative. Luckily, the past two Halloweens have been rather brilliant, if I do say so myself. Last year, I found the perfect dress and went as Bellatrix Lestrange.  This year, I simply could not pass up the opportunity to go as Evil Queen Regina from Once Upon A Time. Being evil is just way too much fun. :)

She has the most elaborate, amazing costumes in the whole show.

The hard thing was, I didn't even know where to start. Since she rode horses when she was a girl, a lot of her outfits are some sort of twist on a riding habit with boots, leather pants, a corset/vest, and some sort of big flowing coat/riding habit/cloak thing. A little elaborate and not something you could just go pick up at a store or find something that would work at D.I. My roommate decided to go as Red Riding Hood from the show, so one Saturday back in September, we went on a thrift store adventure to see what we could find. Unfortunately, there wasn't much, but I did find a hideous, sleeveless dress for an obese woman. What got me excited though was the fabric it was made out of: black velvet with a red, sparkly, swirly pattern. All too perfect for some sort of evil, royal get-up. I bought it for $7, hoping there was enough fabric on that thing that I'd be able to make something out of it.

I slowly started assembling the costume. I had the tall, leather boots. I found some hilariously awesome pleather leggings on Amazon, as well as a black corset for $20. My friend let me borrow her old Women's Chorus skirt and allowed me to pick open the back seam. But the coat part of the costume just seamed (punny) too daunting a task to even get started on. Although my mom used to make our Halloween costumes every year, and Granny works all sorts of magic with a sewing machine, I've never sewed anything more complicated than pajama pants, a skirt, or Jedi cloaks with Granny's help. I put it off making it, hoping that genius would just strike, and focused on other things. A weekend sale last Saturday at Hobby Lobby got me these little treasures. 

Fairy-tale charms: Skeleton key ring and an apple. So Regina!

Heart box: Regina collects the hearts that she rips out to control people.
If she crushes the heart, the person dies.
I stained it by marinating some rusted steel wool in vinegar and adding some ground Pero (you could use coffee).
I was so thrilled it turned out so great.

Black lace for a collar
I wanted a big, stiff, regal collar. I got a yard of this black lace that was perfect. Problem- it was pretty floppy. I mixed up some water and corn starch on medium-high heat until it thickened and took on a translucent quality. I laid the lace out flat and painted the boogery goop on it. I dried it with a hair-dryer, and voila! Stiff lace! I went over the pattern with sparkly red fabric paint to add some Regina-esque bling.

By this time, I was feeling pretty darn crafty, and so Sunday after church, I pulled out the fabric and set to work. I tried to follow some sort of pattern by referencing my black blazer, and I used chalk to draw out the shapes of the pieces of fabric before cutting. This whole time, though, I really had no idea if this was going to work. Who just wings a full-on royal jacket? Me, that's who. Luckily, the fabric was stretchy, so I knew I had some leeway. 

A bit after midnight, just as I started sewing, the bobbin cartridge jammed.

Not fun.

The culprit?

I finally cleared the jam after unscrewing some things and set to work with Once Upon A Time, Downton Abbey, and a First Presidency Christmas devotional to keep me company.

The sleeves were the scariest, especially since the only fabric I had left for them already had a big seam in it, but it turned out great! I just hand-stitched the sleeves to the vest part, and I was so happy with the way it looked.

At 4 AM Monday morning, with one sleeve left to hand-stitch on, I turned off the lights and zonked out on the couch (actually, I've been sleeping there for over a week now...). I went to my 9 AM class, and then it was back home to stitch that last sleeve on. I still can't believe I actually sewed it. As my mom said, the sewing fairies were definitely with me that night.

Monday night was the ward Halloween party, so as soon as I was home from school, I attached the lace around the collar and wrists with hot glue. Hot curlers, a curling iron, theatre make-up, and lots of hairspray later, the transformation was complete. Hooray for pre-Halloween practice runs, though, because I was able to make it even better for Halloween night. I added the glitter to the collar, and came up with a faster method for doing my hair that did not involve curlers. I give you, Regina.

I went to school as Mayor Regina Mills of Storybrook, her non-fairy-tale land character.

...and saved the good stuff for the night. :) Thank-you, Chelsea, for the photo-shoot. I kept busting up into giggle cuz I couldn't take her or myself seriously. :)

Yay, awesome friends. Chelsea made a fantastic Red Riding Hood. Other roommate, Chrissy, was the Chiquita Banana lady. Maureen was Hermione, and Maddy was a fantastic Lucy Ricardo. We walked through the town to my choir party where I won "Best Costume" and had a super fun night with super awesome people.

All in all, a successful Halloween, although I miss the pillowcases full of candy. This costume was much too time consuming and is much too awesome to only wear once, so I will most definitely be looking for other opportunities to bust it out. Can't wait to see what my inspiration for next Halloween will be. :)

BOO-thousand-eleven!

Sometimes, I crack myself up.


I've come to the conclusion that I might just be one of those obnoxious adults who never stops dressing up. I have WAY too much fun dressing up. Give me a good excuse, and I will.


Luckily, Halloween was NOT boring this year, and I had an awesome costume.


Remember how I spent way too much on that black dress for the last Harry Potter movie? Well, naturally, I had to resurrect it! I had to have my money's worth, duh! 


So I was Bellatrix Lestrange. Again. 


And the hair was bigger and better than ever, lemme tell ya. It's amazing what a quality crimper can do.

Girl party in the bathroom. Lots of heat and hairspray. We may have gotten a little loopy.

The Roomies: Maddy (an African snow-leopard spirit witch doctor thing) and Chelsea (Hermione as a cat). They let me paint their faces. :)

Obviously, we had the coolest trunk for our Trunk-or-Treat. 

Aaaaaaaaand.....

Me!

Bellatrix and leopard thing...

Roomies with Mario Kart Toad

Channeling Bellatrix.

Meeting up with my sister, Narcissa Malfoy, at the Singers Halloween party.

The Dark Mark. Crayola marker, baby. Also, please notice the nails. I was pretty proud.

And the glam shot. Hecka yeah.

*Also, if anyone noticed I was wearing the Pirates of the Caribbean medallion, you get bonus points. And if any of you noticed I was wearing the Cullen Crest ring, then you're just a creeper. Mixing movies. That's how I roll.

And just because I can't not post this picture.

How cute are they?! This is Devin and Rachel Anderton, members of Singers, aka Eugene and Rapunzel. Her mom MADE those costumes! And they are high-quality-have-little-girls (and Karli)-stand-in-line-to-take-pictures-with-you-at-Disneyland quality. So jealous. I might just have to force my husband to dress up with me someday. I can just chop my hair off and be the brunette Rapunzel and the end of the movie, right?
Mostly, I just thought they were adorable.

Hope you all had a fun Halloween too! Luckily, we didn't get too much candy, so the whole sugar-high-no-sleep thing won't be a problem...well more than is usual at least.


Happy November!