the simple five: quick zombie makeup

For those who have been undecided on whether you'll participate with the candy hunt this evening (ughh, it's raining and cold!), here's a quick last minute costume idea, if the decision is to "go".  Although it's not the most "accurate" in terms of zombie creations, it will suffice for the mere 20 minutes that the kids will be walking around the neighbourhood.  Good enough for me.

Quick Zombie Makeup/Costume

Items you'll need:

(most items can be found in your kitchen, pantry, or at the local store)

• Red Food colouring 
• Corn syrup
• Makeup sponges
• Gauze bandage
• Black and white face makeup (inexpensively found, or you can use white/black cream eye pencil).

Directions:

• First, get dressed in old, dark clothing. (the red food colour can stain your clothes).

• Using a makeup sponge, cover the face with white makeup.
• Under the eyes and patches on the cheeks, smudge some black makeup/eyeliner, blending it into the skin.
• Mix 3 parts corn syrup to 1 part water (I used about 3 tbsp. corn syrup and 1 tbsp. water) in a bowl until the consistency is smooth but still thick (you can use cornstarch to thicken to make "blood clots", if you wish).
• Slowly add drops of red food colour until it is the colour you desire (sometimes adding a little green will make the red appear darker).
• Using the makeup sponges, dab the red colour mixture lightly on the skin (around the mouth and cheeks) and drop a little on the gauze bandage.
• Wrap the bandage around your head.

Done.  And since the weather is usually cold, any warm, old clothes would do (the older the better) to complete the zombie look.

Have fun...be safe.  

{For those who are interested in making the hippo costume in the above picture, please refer to my Hip Hippy Hooray post.  It is not a last minute costume...you'll need to give yourself a few days to complete it.}

playing with bugs

As a child, I remember spending summers with a neighbourhood friend, riding our bikes to the creek, looking for crayfish, catching grasshoppers and spiders and observing our “catches” under a magnifying glass.   I never gave it a second thought of holding those multi-legged creatures back then, carrying them around in the backyard like prized creatures from a safari excursion (okay, we had a big imagination!).  Now as an adult, the mere thought of holding a bug sends me running.

Looking back at those memories, I often wonder at what point in my life did my childhood enchantment turn into measured cautiousness?  Did experiencing life outside of my backyard and in the real world complicate my views of the very things that we were supposed appreciate in the first place?  In other words, can we ever enjoy the simple things in life or will we be distracted with all those shiny new virtual games and apps that bombard us daily.

As much as I love and totally embrace those amazing educational apps that have been able to teach and expose my children to the world beyond what I’ve EVER learned at their age, a part of me still wants them to just…get on a bike.  And to be honest, as a parent I struggle to maintain my own wide-eyed enthusiasm to go along with my kids to explore the outdoors.  However,  have we as adults, modelled this media obsessed behaviour…our noses buried in our phones (and I’m equally guilty of this, spending hours on Twitter or Pinterest) instead of getting dirty and enjoy what nature has given us?  

So, this past summer, I was determined spend more time outdoors and attempt more outdoor activities so we can be more active as a family.  With new helmets and bikes, we discovered more bike trails, climbed trees and discovered all kinds of bugs.

As the weather turns cold, I start to miss those hazy days of exploration in the dirt, and hope we will continue the momentum of playing outside…now exploring in the snow, skating, skiing or sledding down the hill.  And although I still haven’t built up the courage to hold a bug in my hand, I guess for now I’ll just have to settle for the costumed ones I make for Halloween. 

Spider Costume
(directions originally posted here)

For the eyes, we cut styrofoam balls
(found at the dollar store), and cut them in half

Paint and attach green sequins to the styrofoam balls.  

Add a headband with black pipe cleaners attached
(for the Pedipalp or “feelers” of the spider):

For the legs, sewed black stockings filled with batting cotton to a black shirt

For the tail/abdomen, cut a black garbage bag and filled it with
other plastic bags or newspaper.  Add details with black
construction paper. Attach with electric or hockey tape.
 (before we went out in the dark, for safety 
I added reflective tape to the tail too!).

Wear with black pants, socks and gloves.  

dress you up

Working on a film set in my previous life has given me the privilege of witnessing the magic of wardrobe geniuses create characters though either simple clothes or elaborate costume design.  One of my best wardrobe memories was working with a famous (gap-toothed) 70's model turned actress, who wanted her character to wear a high end designer suit for one particular scene.  Unfortunately the production budget didn't allow for such indulgence, so she made one phone call and two days later an outfit specifically designed (her sunglass-wearing-fan-waving designer friend had her measurements on file), was couriered to her from France, and it was worn for the scene. Oh the magic of movies!!!

Now that my "film set" is now a school gymnasium stage, I must admit that I still enjoy watching the creativity that's put into the costumes for school plays.  Although I rarely sew, since my daughter loves of all things hippopotamus, last year we created a simple costume for one of her school assignments that didn't require much sewing (as originally posted here)

What I loved most though, was working on this project together.  We worked on it much like a collaborative arts and crafts activity, and what was incredible to me, was watching her imagination soar as she was painting, tying and trying new things to make her costume work.    

When she put on her costume for school, she saw her handy work come to life.  She got into "character" and became a hippo.  She was happiest as can be...and to be honest, the world was her stage.  And to me, that was more magical than any movie set.

Hippopotamus Costume

Here's the directions of making this hippopotamus costume again.  The magic of this, is that it can be adapted to any animal you wish. The mask is a paper mache project and the "body" is a no-sew drawstring bag with armholes...easily done if you have kids who know how to tie knots.

Materials:

For the mask

• Newspaper strips
• Equal parts of glue, flour, water (approx. 1 cup each)
• Grey paint
• Balloons (approx. 9" or the size of child's head)
• Elastic

For the body

• Approximately 2- 4 yards of felt material, depending on the size of your child. (check out your local thrift store for remnants...I found my felt fabric for $4 for 4 yards!  Just wash first.)
• Scissors

Directions:

For the Mask:

1. Cut strips of newspaper, approximately 1 inch in width.
2. Blow up the balloon. Gather all the materials.
3. Create the "glue" by mixing equal parts of glue, flour and water.  I used approximately 3/4 cups of each.
4. Wet the strips of newspaper with the glue and attach in layers on the balloon.  I only ended up using one balloon...for the snout, I attached scrunched up newspaper using the glued newspaper strips.
5. Ensure that there are holes for the eyes, the side for the elastic bands to go through (to hold the mask onto the head).
6. Creating mini cones with newspaper, attach as ears.  Scrunch up newspaper for the snout and attach.  Let dry overnight.
7. When dry, paint with craft p.
8. Attach the elastic bands to the holes.
9. When the paint is semi-dry, paint the details
10. Using a market, draw the snout.

For the no sew costume:

1. Using a large piece of felt fabric, fold in half so it's approximately the size of the child. Cut one inch slits all the way down the open side.  
2. Tie all the slits together, into double knots.
3. Turn inside out, so the the "fringe" is on the inside (revealing the braid)
4. Turn the fabric so the braid is on the back, and cut out the arm holes approximately 1 inch from the top.
5. Cut the slits at the top, and then knot the two strips together.
6. Fold the top and bottom approximately 2 inches, and cut slits approximately 1inch apart, all along the bottom and top.
7. Taking a strip of 1 inch width ribbon (I used remnants of the fabric and cut strips), attach a safety pin to one end and weave through the slits along the top and bottom, creating a drawstring effect on the top and bottom of the costume.
8. Pull the top drawstring and tie a bow on the front.
9. Pull the bottom drawstring and tie a bow on the back (so it would look like at tail).

Lights, Camera...Action!

hip hippy hooray

As I created a hippopotamus costume (or as my daughter calls them, "hippies") for our daughter's school assignment, I was amazed at the talent of the previous generations of Moms...how they had to create a costume with craftiness and ingenuity.  Before being able to just "look it up online" to get ideas.  Before Martha.  Before every single corner store on every block sold Halloween costumes in every shape, size, colour and level of cuteness (or grotesque).

This past weekend, I thought of my Mom and now fully appreciate all the fantastic costumes she had sewn for me. The Strawberry Shortcake costume.  The Princess Leia costume.  How this time of year must have felt daunting to create yet another "bright idea" from her children.  Yet, she did it every year with a smile, without complaints.  And I realize now, that before she ever had children, she came from a country where Halloween was absolutely foreign, and had to adapt to this strange North American tradition once she had kids.  She didn't know what it meant.  All she knew was that it made her kids happy to dress up in something fun (we had a rule in our house...nothing scary).  To make believe for one night, visiting neighbours, to be able to say hello in our new found "personality".

I know today, Halloween is quite sacrilegious to some people...and in my humble opinion, I  think they're missing the point.  I don't think it's a gateway to becoming a witch.  It's no different of a ritual than putting cookies out for Santa at Christmas.  We know it's not the reason...it's just an embellishment.  An imaginative folklore.  Although Halloween has evolved into something more commercial today, it is still all about the make believe (and arguably, the candy).  Nothing more.  I don't think I turned into a witch (although my husband may sometimes argue that one!)

As long as I continue the tradition of what my Mom started in our family...to make the meaning of these festivities more about the people.  The intention.  Greeting neighbours, neighbourhood kids getting together as friends, and of course, the thrill of the loot...as long as I keep that intention, I think our kids will turn out okay.

Hippopotamus Costume

This is a fairly easy costume that can be done with the kids as an arts and crafts activity.  The mask is a paper mache project and the costume is really a no-sew drawstring bag with armholes...easily done if you have kids who know how to tie knots.


Materials:

For the mask

• Newspaper strips
• Equal parts of glue, flour, water (approx. 1 cup each)
• Grey paint
• Balloons (approx. 9" or the size of child's head)
• Elastic

For the body

• Approximately 2- 4 yards of felt material, depending on the size of your child. (check out your local thrift store for remnants...I found my felt fabric for $4 for 4 yards!  Just wash first.)
• Scissors

Directions:

For the Mask:

1. Cut strips of newspaper, approximately 1 inch in width.
2. Blow up the balloon. Gather all the materials.
3. Create the "glue" by mixing equal parts of glue, flour and water.  I used approximately 3/4 cups of each.
4. Wet the strips of newspaper with the glue and attach in layers on the balloon.  I only ended up using one balloon...for the snout, I attached scrunched up newspaper using the glued newspaper strips.
5. Ensure that there are holes for the eyes, the side for the elastic bands to go through (to hold the mask onto the head).
6. Creating mini cones with newspaper, attach as ears.  Scrunch up newspaper for the snout and attach.  Let dry overnight.
7. When dry, paint with craft p.
8. Attach the elastic bands to the holes.
9. When the paint is semi-dry, paint the details
10. Using a market, draw the snout.

For the no sew costume:

1. Using a large piece of felt fabric, fold in half so it's approximately the size of the child. Cut one inch slits all the way down the open side.  
2. Tie all the slits together, into double knots.
3. Turn inside out, so the the "fringe" is on the inside (revealing the braid)
4. Turn the fabric so the braid is on the back, and cut out the arm holes approximately 1 inch from the top.
5. Cut the slits at the top, and then knot the two strips together.
6. Fold the top and bottom approximately 2 inches, and cut slits approximately 1inch apart, all along the bottom and top.
7. Taking a strip of 1 inch width ribbon (I used remnants of the fabric and cut strips), attach a safety pin to one end and weave through the slits along the top and bottom, creating a drawstring effect on the top and bottom of the costume.
8. Pull the top drawstring and tie a bow on the front.
9. Pull the bottom drawstring and tie a bow on the back (so it would look like at tail).

Hip Hippy Hooray...now this is done!

 {Attending these beautiful  parties... Homemaker on a Dime, Coastal Charm, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia and Tatertots & Jello, Nifty Thrifty Things, Fireflies and Jellybeans}

Now...Along came a Spider (Costumes, Part 2)

My son originally wanted to be a scorpion for the school musical, but for fear of looking like a large lobster, he decided to be a spider instead.  However, with so many boys wanting to be a spider, he had a specific design in mind..so he can be less "ordinary".  So he looked up on the internet, the anatomy of a spider to get costume ideas.  

Here’s what we did, which is a combination of many other types of costumes of other bugs, combined to be this.

For the eyes, we cut styrofoam balls (found at the dollar store), 
and cut them in half:

My son painted the styrofoam balls,  then attached green sequins to make it appear more 3D.  

We the attached the chelicera (kind of like fangs) which were cut and painted out of cardboard.  We attached the eyes and fangs to an old black hat. We then added the headband with the black pipe cleaners (for the Pedipalp or “feelers” of the spider):

For the legs, sewed black stockings filled with batting cotton to a black shirt:

For the tail/abdomen, cut a black garbage bag and filled it with other plastic bags.  My son created the "spinner"detailing with black construction paper.  We attached the whole thing with electric tape (I ran out of black electric tape, so I used black hockey tape):

Now...we have a Spider!

Simply fun!

For more information on the anatomy of spiders, we referenced this diagram when making the costume:  Link 

Beautiful Butterfly (Costumes, Part 1)

My kids are in the school musical, and they are assigned to be a bug/insect of their choosing.  

I turned this into a project for a rainy day (which we’ve had quite a few lately), and this was a great opportunity to do an easy arts and crafts project that got the kids involved with their own costumes, made their costumes unique, and inspired them to be creative and take pride in their work and participation with the school musical.

Since my daughter loves all things fairy,  the butterfly was the natural choice.  This is how we made the butterfly costume:

Using one of her fairy dolls as a model, 

I outlined and cut the wings on foam core 
(found at the local dollar store):

I provided paint, glue, glitter, sequins etc., and let her go all out:

We glued some fuzzy yarn along the edges
 to make the wings appear soft:

Cut a few holes in the center (positioned so she can sit easily).

Put elastic bands in the holes and made 
shoulder/arm bands so her arms can go through:

Added pipe cleaners and ribbon to a pretty black headband and 
ended up with...a Beautiful Butterfly:

Simply creative.