Starfish Clutch Bag

When planning a costume or outfit one should be aware of the the details and the needs they may have while wearing the outfit or costume. This, of course, means that you need to take into account more than just hair things and gloves - this means a handbag or purse. This also, of course, means I came up with something fun from scraps of my costume that would match perfectly. (Happy Halloween! And enjoy!)

I decided I needed a starfish hand bag with a wrist strap that would be big enough to hold my cell phone, ID, and a little cash. (Plus, it needed to be fun.)


It's a lined, quilted little starfish clutch made from green fabric, black lace, with an elastic wrist strap, and a button/elastic closure. To make it pliable, yet keep it's shape I using felt in between the exterior and lining. (Yes, I needed another handbag. Don't judge me.)

Using a paper starfish template, I cut all my fabric (all eight layers), paying attention to the direction they would be in the end result.

I made a couple stitches on the corners to keep things in place before securing with a few stitched lined on the one side to "quilt" the pieces together securely.

On the other side I cut a slit through all four layers as an opening that would be big enough for my hand and my cell phone. I used a simple blanket stitch to finish the edge of the opening and to secure the four layers together. I added a short piece of elastic and a silver button as a closure. Then I added a few "quilted" lines to that side as well.

Using my wrist as a guide I secured the elastic strap to the top inside of one of the starfish with a needle and thread. I pinned the two side together, with the outside facing out, pinning the tassels as I went to be caught in the machine when I sewed it shut. I then sewed the outside edges of the entire starfish with a zigzag stitch to secure the entire thing as a finishing stitch.

It really didn;t take that long to make and it is just the right size to hang off my wrist.

Bobby Pin Pom Poms

It is all about accessories sometimes especially when it comes to an outfit I am putting together and a costume is no exception. (Is there ever really an exception?!)

Using to large bobby pins and a some lace scraps leftover from the lace leggings I made two little pom poms for my hair to add to the green veils I made.

I cut the piece of lace into little strips and put them in a bundle that I tied together at the center then attached to the bobby pin ends, securing with a few dabs with the hot glue gun.

More accessories at a nothing cost and I can use for this project and other outfits to come.

Total supplies used: two bobby pins, lace fabric scraps, hot glue gun.

Green Veil Combs

As I continue to to work on this year's Halloween costume I needed something fun for my hair and came up with this idea using a couple plastic hair combs, some green tulle I had laying around, a few seashells, and some glitter.

The whole project was super easy and went together in no time. They look perfect with the costume! (And don't we just love accessories like that?)

Supplies:
Two plastic hair combs
Tulle (I used green) - to desired length
Small Seashells
Black spray paint
(Opt.) Needle/Thread
Craft Glue (that will dry clear)
Green and silver glitter

Using my handy dandy hot glue gun (my dear friend) I placed a strip of hot glue across the top of the plastic hair comb then gently placed the crumpled green tulle and secured. It only took a bit to set the glue. Just to make sure everything was secured, I also to a needle and thread to lightly stitch around the top edge of the tulle to the plastic comb.

I then took a selections of small seashells I had in my craft stuff and painted them with black spray paint and let them dry. (I prefer to put things I am spraying with spray paint inside a box or other container to keep the overflow contained.)


I secured the black painted seashells to the tulle covered plastic comb with more hot glue. Be careful not to burn your fingers when doing this.

Once the the shells were secured to the plastic combs, I dabbed bits of craft glue on them then sprinkled with green glitter. Then dabbed a few more bits of craft glue and repeated with silver glitter. (Make sure after glittering to shake the excess off.)

Then I let everything dry before wearing.

Black Lace Leggings

While working on piecing together a costume without a pattern, I realized that I needed a little extra flush underneath, but did not want to add a lining or under traditional under skirt. They say necessity is the mother of all invention - this was true as I came up with an idea for something a little different - I took a different twist on leggings with some black lace I happened to have on hand. I am sure to find other uses for these unique leggings.

From Stockings to Gloves

For the perfect Halloween costume a girl needs just the right accessories and the one accessory that makes any a girl happy is a pair of gloves (well, at least they make this girl happy). As a great lover of accessories and gloves I made a super easy pair out of an old pair of a fine mesh fish net to go with the new Halloween costume I am working on. (Recycling with having fun with fashion - what could be better?)

The whole project took about 5 minutes to make with just a few snips and no sewing.

I started with one old pair of stockings I had on hand (black fish net in this case). I just cannot throw something like this out because I know there will be some project they can/will be used for.

Taking a pair of scissors, I snipped off the end of the stockings to the desire length. I wanted short gloves, so kept them shorter.

Laying one on top of the other, I made sure they were the same length (trim off the excess as needed).

I then snipped off the toe end of the pieces - I laid them on top of each other to keep them the same length. This opening will be where the four fingers go (but not the thumb as that comes next).

Carefully I snipped a bit on the side of each glove where the thumb would go. Unstretched the snip was about half (1/2) inch, but plenty of room for my thumb. And with that - I have a new pair of gloves.

Black and Green Mermaid Necklace

It's a special time of year - a time of year were it is not only acceptable to play dress up in public, it is rather expected and celebrated. For me - I love playing dress up and embrace pretty much any reason to do so. It also means this girl needs a new costume and all the trimmings (yes, any reason for a new outfit is a good one) and I have been working on the pieces that will make my whole costume complete and will be sharing the process.

I needed a new necklace for to go with my new outfit and decided to use a mermaid charm that I had gotten a few years ago at the Renaissance Faire a few years ago, some green seed beads (yes, the beads from  that package I picked up at the dollar store just keep showing up), and black wire and jewelery making bits.

Clowning Around

Ever thought about clowning around? Laughter is important to life and how we deal with. What better way then to clown around?

Years ago, I attended a weekend workshop on clowning and got hooked. I ended up doing a 4-H project on clowning and the importance of humor, which led to more clowning opportunities at camps, pre-schools, a couple church events, and even at the Ohio State Fair as a 4-H representative. The costume I have used through most of this was one I got to design and build as I continue to get use out of it with volunteering and working with kids of all ages.

The original costume pattern was for a "Hippy" costume that I adapted. I added green triangles to bottom of the pant's original pattern as well patches of green. The pants are purple with flowers with green accented fabric with little bees The vest is made from matching purple flowered fabric. The shirt has a small opening on on the top back made from white fabric with images of smiley faces, word "love," and swirls. The accenting scarf (originally used to cover my hair before I found the right wigs) is from the green with bees.

The hat was a plain black rimmed hat I found and added silk flowers and a bird nest with hot glue. At one time there was a little yellow bird perched on the nest and plain black shoes I added silk flowers to as well. (The shoes and bird have disappeared over the years.)

In later years purple and black stripped tights were added underneath in place of socks (Love post-Halloween sales!) with a bright pink straw bag to hold my toys and twisty balloon supplies and a green and white wig.

Camp Tales - A Clown in Camp

It's not easy been a clown... but it an be a lot of fun.

My first summer at camp my roommates learned that I did a little clowning on the side, not the typical side hobby, but since do I go for typical. One of my roommates had her own county coming into camp and asked me if I would be willing to clown for her county for their carnival night. I agreed and we let their staff know, making the necessary arrangements.

My roommates had never seen me in clown costume and make up, let alone watch me get ready The guys were watching TV when I started getting ready but putting on my top and tights then laid out the colorful make up. I started with my layer of white make up, covering up my skin thoroughly then sat for a few moments in front of the fan, letting it dry completely. The guys soon seemed more fascinated with watching me put on clown make up than whatever they were watching on TV (probably a movie they had already seen, since we had no cable and only got about 1 1/2 channels depending on the day and the wind being just right). Before long they had watched me transform from me to a face painted, costume wearing, wig wearing clown. Then I headed down to the recreation hall for the carnival.

I am a silent clown, often prone to bouts of shyness in response to shy kids. (It also helps keep my identity from kids who might know from the Craft Hall.) I spend the time making balloon animals for kids and having visiting adult staff trying to catch me up and get me to talk (which I did not let them succeed).

After the carnival, the kids headed to the next event on their evening agenda while the staff got to play on the bouncy thing without them.... even the clown. (And there she did talk.... or scream as she played with the rest jumping, pushing, and being pushed.)

Camp Tales - Underground Railroad

Many camps offer a variety of activities that not only get the kids outside and having some sort of adventure, but also teach. At the camp I spent the most time working, we offered an Underground Railroad program. It was a combination project that gave the kids a background in the Underground Railroad, then divided them up into groups, and sent them through the woods to go through a number of "Railroad Stops", while not being caught or shot (water gun) by slave chasers (often their counselors). Each stop had different things they had to successfully maneuver, while getting their entire "family" group safe into the North. It was a combination of adventure mixed with history. One summer one of the staff decided he wanted to bring an new element to the project and offered to dress like a runaway slave and give an mini scene as part of the presentation. He came to me about creating a costume for him.

Using an old white shirt from the paint shirts in the Craft Hall I went to work dying it in multiple couples from my tie dye buckets to give it a dingy appearance, let it dry. I even rolled it in the dirt, stomping on it as I went. (Receiving a few interesting looks from passing campers and staff that didn't know what I was working on) I placed it on his body then armed with a pair of scissors I went to work shredding the sleeves and edges, then made slips across his back like whip marks.

Using what I had on hand, which happened to be make up, I bloodied up the edges of the whip marks with red lipstick mixed with mascara and blush.

We completed the costume with an old pair of jeans he had, a beat up pair of unlaced boots, a chain we borrowed from something on camp, and a walking stick he found on camp. Using more of my make up, I made marks on his skin underneath the slits on his shirt with my light colored concealer (it looked great on his dark skin for this effect), red lipstick, black mascara and eye liner, with a mixture of eye shadow and blush.

He prepared his own scene to introduce himself as a runaway a slave before the kids were sent off on the journey and was waiting for the in the "North" when they got there. The reaction of the kids to his character and the whip marks we created was amazing to us both. A couple of the kids forget we were playing and were afraid that touching his painted arks would cause him pain. It had a definite impact on a number of us and brought a new depth to the project that any of them had participated multiple summers.

"Golden" Bracelet

Props and costumes in theater often have to be done on the cheap, and when I say cheap I mean really, REALLY cheap. And often that cheap means for as little as possible. For a production of "The King and I" there were a number of actors portraying wives and royal children all needing to be well dressed this included gold bands for both children and adults The costume designer (which I helped) was able to create a number of gold bands by cutting thick cardboard tubes from rugs into bands Each band was then deorated with glue to give a textural design then sprayed with gold spray paint and let dry. Viola!

 

Fiery Top Hat

Sometimes we all need a little fire in our life. This hat was a plastic top hat that I painted with a combination of red, yellow, and orange paint to give a fire appearance. I'm sure I'll fine the perfect costume for it. (I always do.)

A Bunny Costume From Long Ago

Growing up we always had some of the coolest Halloween costumes, much of that having to do with having a mother who could sew.

A certain bunny costume was made for me when I was maybe 2 or 3, one of my earliest memories with the floppy ears and bunny tail. I remember a plastic bunny nose at least one year This costume ended up getting a lot of use, but not just for me as it was passed down through my younger siblings as one kid grew out of it and another fit into it. A lot of costumes worked that way and for years we went to the costume collection (all hand made of course) to figure out what would fit who.

Camp Tales - Fashion

Living at camp and need something nice to wear to dinner? Why not make something out of what you have on hand... like black and white garbage bags.

One warm afternoon, while our quarters were being bug bombed, we were trying to come up with something to wear to a "nice" dinner. Lucky for us, I had a stash of plastic garbage bags in the Craft Hall. We fashioned dresses fro large black trash bags accenting them with strips of white garbage bags for bows, belts, and even hair ties. Once we were all 'gussied' up we needed needed dates to escort us with we made from balloons with drawn on faces. They were a huge hit with the campers, counselors, and other staff. You use what you have, and we had garbage bags.

Colonel Crawford En-Campment

Over the weekend I attended a re-enactment and encampment of  Colonel Crawford's capture. (For those who do not know much about Ohio history his capture and torture was the response for another man's brutal massacre of approx. 100 Christian Moravian men, women and children. Because of their deeply rooted religious beliefs they did not fight back against their captors and instead prayed and sang until their time to meet their death by hammer.) Many believe that Crawford was in the wrong place at the wrong time and suffered horribly as an example to others. (Find more about Crawford here.)

The re-enactment was good and the costumes had so much thoughtful detail. As a part of it there was an encampment, various displays and artisans, and demonstrations.I pleased to find all sorts of artisan showing off their wares or demonstrating skills. This included various handmade jewelry (beaded and metal work), carved wooden flutes in the style of the Plains Indians, a type of hand weaving for belts and scarves that I had not seen before, pottery in process, a man working on braided rugs (from a local historic society), hand dipping tallow candles (I can not imagine lighting might house with animal fats, but it happened), an assortment of weapon reproductions, as well cooking. It was so nice to not only see examples of  some of these nearly forgotten crafts that were one a part of everyday life but to also see that the skills to do them were being presented.

It turned out to be a lovely afternoon.

For more information about the massacre and the history check out these links:
http://www.graveaddiction.com/gnadenhu.html
http://gnadenhutten.tripod.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnadenhutten,_Ohio
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/colonel-william-crawford-proceeds-toward-the-ohio
http://www.touring-ohio.com/history/crawford.html

Medievel Dress

I believe that we are never too old to play dress up. (That does help explain the love of theater and the amount of time I have spent costuming myself and others.)

While still in my 4-H days I made this burgundy and ivory medieval dress as a sewing project one year. It's all one piece with a zipper down the back, made of an under skirt and under skirt, puffing sleeves, and fitted bodice. The burgundy over skirt is made from four panels, each panel big enough to wrap around my waist. The bodice was fitted to my body, but fits a little differently than it did ten years ago.

Over ten years later and it still gets a lot of use, I wore it for a camp skit one summer (with a piece of lace underneath as a kind of modesty piece), and have worn it more than once at for the Ren Faire, and a couple Halloweens.

Embellished Pirate Patch

Who wants to wear a boring, plain, plastic eye patch when dressing up like a pirate? There might be someone out there, but there is an easy fix.With some glue, scraps of fabric or jewelry, and a little inspiration you can turn blah into something fun.

I took a plain plastic eye patch (the cheap ones you can usually find pretty easily) and gave it new life by cutting a scrap of burgundy velvet-like fabric to cover the entire front of the eye patch. (You can trim the edges for a cleaner look after the glue is dry.) I then glued it securely across the front, making sure not to leave any air bubbles. Using my trusty hot glue gun, I embellished the front with a simple cross using a decorative pearl wire.

It only took a few minutes to fix the boring blah patch into something fit for a Pirate King or Queen. A nice addition to my costume collection and sure to be used soon.


Go! Play dress up. You're never too old. Arg!