"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!

 

Crash Box - Make Some Noise

Crash. Bam. There is an often used theatrical prop that the audience doesn't see, but is more likely to hear. For those who have ever sat in the theater and wondered about the crash heard offstage. More than likely its a Crash Box, an easy to create box that contains objects to make the crash sounds without shards of glass going everywhere.

Collect discarded or broken dishes and/or knick knack type things. (I had a couple broken dishes and a few broken Christmas ornaments to use.) Whatever it is make sure it IS NOT something that is good beause it will get broken and beat up. I added the broken dishes and ornaments with a couple empty and cleans cans from my recycling bin.

Place the broken dishes and whatever else you have to make noise inside a sturdy cardboard box. (Easy, right?) You want enough to make noise inside, more or less can be used depending on what you are doing.

Secure the ends of the box and sides with a sturdy tape like duct tape. Don't be stingy as you don;t want little shards of glass to escape. Secure and wrap to make sure all the seams and openings are taped well. (Then tape again to make sure.)

Once everything is secured drop. (I always writer "Crash Box" on the side to make it clear what it is) Eventually after enough dropping and crashing the bits will get so broken up that it will be tie to discard and start all over as needed  Usually you can get at least a show run or so out of the without any problems.

Make some noise.

Embellished Compact

I love all sorts of forms of creativity and arts, including theater. I have been active in theater, on and off stage, for years. For a recent show, I needed a personal prop that was fitting for my character. One option was a plastic compact that was difficult to use with my gloves and not very cute. So, what's a theater bug to do? Embellish a plain one herself, of course.

The glue didn't have quite the lay I wanted, but it shouldn't read from stage and I might try another to give a different appearance.

I started with an old, empty compact that would otherwise have been thrown out. I washed the remnants of  face powder from the compact and let it thoroughly.

Using my beloved low temp hot glue, I made a raised design on the top of the compact and let cool completely. (Don't worry about the colors, just the raised design.)

With a can of gold metallic spray paint I thoroughly painted both the top and bottom outside of the compact, using more than one coat. Make sure to get the edges, hinges, and clasp. You don't want the under color to show through when it's closed. Let paint dry COMPLETELY.

I decorated the inside for my own benefit, because it won't show onstage. For the inside I decorated a circle of paper with the characters initials and colors being used in the costume. I attached this to a cut out piece of cardboard, cut the same size to fit in the powder place. Secure inside with hot glue (or any other glue). I used the piece of cardboard and hot glue for the inside instead of just decoupaging straight to the metal because I wanted a flat appearance instead of the lines int he metal. 

Using what I hand, I sealed the paper inside with a clear top coat nail polish I already had. It sealed the paper/cardboard base and gave a clear finished looked to it.

It's ready to go.