phase 2 - making a mess

it's monday night and i'm a little behind schedule with my costume.  andy's is coming together a little quicker only because i don't have to make it from scratch.  anyway, these pics were taken last week.  didn't get to work on it much this weekend because i was out of town.  

foam mess

you know what sucks?  cutting this stuff with a utility knife. very messy but thankfully it's an easy cleanup with a vacuum. methinks it wouldn't be so bad if the blade was actually sharp. dull blade != good times. should have gone to more effort to borrow an electric carving knife as planned. 

tan tissue paper + mod podge = crinkly goodness

this part is also messy. i ran into a snafu with the tan tissue paper - originally it was wrapping for a dress i purchased at anthropologie.  i knew it would be great for the costume but i only had two pieces.  so i went back today and apparently someone who hates me and wants me to fail called them up and had them switch all their tissue paper to white.  that's not really the story, but yes, i did go back and there was no tan tissue.  i called every craft store and stationery place i could think of and no one has tan tissue.  may have to resort to using packing paper which is much heavier.  bah.

bucket full of coffee used as a dye (andy's costume)

i splattered coffee all over the place whilst swirling the fabric in the bucket, but it's the guest bathroom so i don't really care too much.  the deal with the coffee is that it gives the stark white pants that i got at a thrift store an antiqued look. i just hope the pants match the shade of the jacket that i rented. i'm also concerned that the jacket might not fit. hrm. yes, i had to resort to renting.  and yes, i am ashamed.

costume phase 1.5

i found some more materials so phase 2 is being postponed.  i decided to buy all this stuff so that if my costume needs to undergo more than 1 iteration i have plenty of supplies.  

cardboard, foam, & random synthetics

the red things you see are vinyl placemats and there's a bag of polyfill just to the left. i got all this at thrift stores.  unfortunately a small can of spray adhesive set me back eight bucks.  as you can gather from the photo i have yet to begin construction.  borrowing an electric carving knife from my grandma this weekend.  why?  to shape the foam, duh.  i got that handy tip from an instructional video about how to make a giant angry human-sized sandwich costume.  no, i'm not planning on being a sandwich...per se.  but anyway, as i sketch and envision my costume i can't help but feel nervous that maybe i've gotten in over my head.  although i guess if i fail horribly i'll have enough foam to do something lame.  like a piece of bread.  or cheese.  

making of the halloween costume, stage 1

most of you know that i like to make my own costumes for halloween (see post from November 4, 2009)

my sewing skills are rudimentary at best, and i don't have a lot of craft supplies just laying around. but my ideas are usually pretty kick-ass and i'm very resourceful.  nevermind that my mom's a champion costumer and seamstress - i only ask her to help when it's absolutely essential...or just really convenient. unfortunately i'm also very frugal and don't like to spend too much on materials, which can be the kiss of death for a do-it-yourself project. it's not like i can't afford to drop some bills at michael's craft store and the home depot, but i get way more satisfaction out of creating something using repurposed materials that i can acquire very cheaply.  

last year i spent way too much money. the result was totally cool, and i even won a contest sponsored by my hair salon (bob steele at post riverside) and got a $100 gift card so it kinda evened out.  so to avoid unnecessary expenses i'm starting this year's project many weeks in advance. hopefully i have ample time to cruise the thrift stores for materials and borrow stuff from coworkers.

i will admit that my plan for this years costume is ambitious.  obviously i'm not gonna tell you what i'm going to be, but it involves the foam that you see below:

i scored this at a goodwill store.  it was originally an exercise mat. all i did was cut the plastic sheath off to reveal the prize inside.  i didn't know how expensive foam sheeting would be at a fabric store - figured it had to be *much* more than the $4 mat i bought - so i stopped by a fabric store on the way home, just to satisfy my curiosity. when i saw the price per yard i did a celebratory dance in the aisle and quickly left the store.

next phase: cardboard and spraypaint

confused by the tube flop

i usually visit www.whiskeymilitia.com throughout the day so i don't miss any killer deals on awesome gear/apparel.  i'm usually on the lookout for cute clothes or funky shades.  anyway, check out what they had earlier today:

the tube flop by sanuk

so then i had to visit sanuk's page - http://www.sanuk.com/tubeflop - and there's a video dedicated to this product:

i'm not even sure how i feel about these. the girls in the video look cute enough wearing them. i guess it solves the age-old question: how does one wear tube socks and sandals at the same time? what a world.

oh, and i didn't purchase these if you were wondering.