I've been reaped!

Remember when I made that harlequin pattern Halloween mosaic mirror, and sent it off to my secret reaper "victim"? Well today it was my turn to unwrap a mystery package, and look at all the fun I received!



My reaper did a great job taking my tiny "about me" paragraph and choosing wonderful items - the Cheshire Cat mug is adorable and so fitting for my party, I LOVE it! It will join my Alice tea set after the party and be displayed year round. Then there's a beaker of creepy candies, a crowned skull taper candle holder and two coordinating votive holders (they're already on the mantle, and perfect for that "scene" in my party, GORGEOUS), glass skull and bones beads, and a hand painted clock. They all arrived safe and sound, and could not have come on a better day, I really needed a pick me up!

This was a super fun exchange to participate in, I can't decide if I liked giving or receiving more - but I'm so glad I got to do both :) I just love receiving packages in the mail, and knowing one is coming full of Halloween goodies is just fantastic. Thanks to my reaper (Si-cotik) and the organizer (Gothikren).

Craft Therapy

I had a rough day at work (it's taking all I can muster to invoke the Dooce rule and not air all here) but I found a decent coping mechanism - MAKING HALLOWEEN! I spent the last 6+ hours creating all sorts of magic & mess, and I really do feel better. My craft room might have seen better days, it's getting a bit hard to function in there right now, but it sure looks festive:



I even re-arranged the furniture in the living room and found a party layout that will accommodate all my ideas! I'm pretty tired, but I'll have plenty of posts in the next few days to explain it all - October, I'm ready for you!

Royal beginnings...

I'm always torn between keeping surprises and sharing every little detail of what I'm working on here...I waffle some, but in general, I'm finding that sharing helps build the excitement and people will still be excited to see everything come together in the end anyways.

So here's the start of pretty big project - my costume! As you'll recall, I'm planning to host as The Queen of Hearts, perpetually pissed off and blood thirsty as she is - I thought it was a fitting and fun character to create. My best bud and professional costumer Ryan (the mastermind of our amazing mermaid parade costumes) will be heading into town in a few weeks and has vowed to help me out, so I want to be as prepared as possible to take advantage of his skills!

I picked up Butterick pattern 4732 because of the long formal coat. It looks fairly simple to make, and my plan is to alter it slightly to include a huge heart shaped stand up collar, like something Queen Elizabeth would wear - something that feels like this:

How amazing would that be?!?!? It's dramatic and a little scary, and definitely makes a statement.

I'll share my fabric choices once I get a picture of them - sticking in a red & black dark & twisted theme, and I'm currently planning to wear a black overbust corset and long black mermaid style skirt under neath. I'm also working on a crown to complete the outfit. What do you think? Fit for a queen?

To accessorize, or not to accessorize?

What do you think, can I pull off this flower headband? I scooped it up on a whim at Target ($7.99) and wore it to the wedding we attended this weekend. I thought it was a nice splash of sparkle in contrast to my black wrap-style dress, and it was pretty comfortable. I'm still struggling with my hair cut (there's a lot of swearing and tears when I try to figure out how to style it) and I'm afraid the headband makes me look even YOUNGER (*shudder*) but it's kinda fun too. I'm torn.

Painting the Roses Red...

I'm back, and though I'm not nearly recovered or fully functional, I notice that we're a mere 33 days from Halloween, so I'd better keep up/kick up the pace! So here's another Alice project that is in the works right now:



I couldn't resist working this in somewhere. Rather than white roses I went with black to cast a creepier/more wicked tone, and I splattered & dripped red craft paint on them in a sort of blood spatter pattern. Does it look sufficiently scary? I think these will be part of the garland I'm putting together for the fire place.

The roses are from Michael's but NOT the Halloween section - I think they were $2 a stem or something crazy, but I should be able to use them for a few years - bloody black roses will apply to many themes, don't you think? :)

Wonderland Costume Round Up: The Tweedles!

Couple costumes are always a good time, and especially helpful if your other half (generally husband) doesn't give a fig about dressing up and just wants you to handle it. Not that I know anyone (ahem) like that, but in case you do, here are some great Dum & Dee Duo ideas!

First, here's how they are illustrated in the original books - pretty freaky, right?


And I think Disney made them look less mean, but possibly more devious - they have sort of a pedophile clown feel to them, don't they?


Here's how Burton is doing them - reminds me of an Adam's family mash up of Fester and whatever the little boy's name was:


The national costume stores sells this pair:


Here's a stage version very similar to Disney's take:


And speaking of stage, Broadway Bares, a huge burlesque edgy annual performance to benefit AIDS research did a Wonderland theme a few years back, and here's how they decked out their hot male dancers as Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee:

Their little butt cheeks had "Dee" or "Dum" stenciled on them. No photo of that, but how about another ab shot? Okay, I'll indulge you:

My good friend Ryan worked wardrobe on that performance, and got to manhandle all those sweaty guys. He had some great videos and backstage shots that were very "inspirational."

To be fair, Tweedle Dum & Dee seem to be a very popular schtick for female burlesque performers as well:


If you come in one of these, I'll expect choreographed dance routines:


If you prefer a little more "coverage," here's how a dress or skirt & top can give the same feeling:


The main impact of these costumes is the doubling, so you can get away with less effort if you need to - like these guys who went uber simple - beanie hats and suspenders:


This duo had a whole photo shoot they said was inspired by the Tweedles - I'm on the fence if this really does it for me, but it's another idea:


Thanks for bearing with my weekend of costume round ups, after another weekend of wedding maddness, I should be back to projects and my own crafting tomorrow.

Wonderland Costume Round Up: Cheshire Cat!

This is one Wonderland character that DEFINITELY lends itself towards the easily "creepified," the snarky-trouble-making-partially-disappearing Cheshire Cat.

You'll remember I got a virtual Cheshire makeover into this guy for my invitations:


But if you'd like to become the Cheshire Cat in ACTUAL reality, this one's for you! First, here's the Disney version, since that is the idea that sticks in most people's minds. In the book there's no mention of the pink & purple color scheme, but that really has come to symbolize the character in most people's minds:


Here's a stage production that used the same sort of costuming as CATS the musical:


Something about this next one throws me off, but it's a good example of a home made costume - find striped items, or create them yourself:


Or forget the stripes and just layer pink and purple items, throw on some ears, and here you are:
Copyright 2007 Hilde Heyvaert. All rights reserved. No unauthorized use or distribution.

This person seems to have DIY-d a few easy pieces out of striped fabric - shorts, tail, boot covers & ears. Even if you have very remedial sewing skills, you could do this:


A slightly more anime/comic book convention take on CC:


And a high fashion/coture version-love this! I always love costumes that are imagined as ball gowns.


I think the costume shops missed the mark on their version of the Cheshire Cat, he looks more like Tigger with a rash and a bad rug:


And of course, their skanky version (to each their own! If I could pull off costumes like this, I'd probably have a different opinion of them. But I wouldn't subject you to that).


LOVE this Cheshire cat wig - from a higher end cosplay site:


Since the cheshire cat appears and disappears, you could also do a costume where you were in all black and just had the striped tail or ears or nose & grin.

A little face paint & fake eyelashes also go a long way - check out this creepy child:


This guy is my favorite, though he's animated I think it would be easy enough to realize. I love the emo/punk feel, it's a whole different attitude than the others:


This is actually just a fraction of what Google Search has out there for "cheshire cat costume," but hopefully you feel inspired...