anchors aweigh!

a wasted seaman and the U.S.S. ?

hey, it spins!

inspiration came when i found that stylin' navy shirt w/ the epaulets & gold buttons on the clearance rack at Ross for for $8.49. figured i could build a pretty good costume around it. i already had the captains hat (from 1989?) and andy already had the white pants from the colonel sanders costume, so... that was easy. but it took me 2 months to make that stupid wheel, mainly b/c i had to plan it all out so it wouldn't fall apart after wearing it for 10 minutes. i made the wheel from really thick cardboard. the side is thinner cardboard braced with bamboo skewers (hand whittled so that each end would be sharp enough to puncture the front & back surfaces) and then i added a ton of gorilla glue, you know, just to make it extra sturdy. the center section is a foam cylinder shape that i was kinda forced to buy at a craft store due to time constraints, and the spokes are clear plastic tubes for protecting fluorescent lights. i mounted the wheel onto a piece of sheet metal using a 5" screw threaded all the way through, and hung the metal piece from my neck. also had the bottom of the mount strapped to me with a stretchy belt. 

i think i went a little over budget ($30), only because i had to buy two cans of spray paint, and the rope wasn't cheap either. it's definitely a quality piece. maybe i can rent it out next year and recover some of my expenses.

costume phase 3

halloween: the good news is that costume construction is on schedule. as one of my former coworkers would say, "everything's ship-shape!" like i said in the previous post, if i show you pics of the whole thing you'll be able to tell what it is, so here are photos of some parts and some close-ups:


  




freecycle update: previous post mentioned a guy who sent odd text messages. he came for the stuff- no eye patch, no suspicious vehicle. just some middle-age guy and his wife in an old pickup. completely unremarkable.

football: maybe you saw the broncos/dolphins game last sunday. i was never a tim tebow fan - mainly b/c i dislike almost all SEC teams and got sick of the media hype while he was at UF. i wouldn't call myself a broncos fan yet, but i'm getting there (i know the names of four players now, instead of two!) it seems like all the hopes and dreams of the city of denver are on tim tebow. people go absoutely bananas over the guy. it's so bizarre.

radio: my friends know that i love morning radio shows, but denver's stuff just doesn't do it for me. sorry bj, howie, & erica. i gave it a good, solid 2 months but i just had to switch back to atlanta's "the bert show." i mean, you never forget your first love...   unfortunately during my listening gap i missed out on getting to know the new host (kristen). she's ok, but i'm surprised the company didn't hire someone with a drastically different perspective, because in my opinion she's a blend of jen hobby & wendy adams.  i still miss melissa carter, but at least i've still got jeff.  fortunately there's a good afternoon show here so it almost makes up for the pain.

weather: a winter storm is forecast for tonight, continuing into tomorrow afternoon (i think i just heard...thunder snow?). denver may get up to 8 inches of snow, which apparently is a lot for this time of year. my mom (mary ellen) is flying in tomorrow, so i would really like it if she didn't experience horrendous delays; although she's so cool i doubt it would mess her up too bad. i love the way she's always down for whatever these days.

hockey: the good news is that i'm actually playing. the facilities are nice, and they're close to my apartment. the bad news is that i think i'm playing in what's known as the "old man league." there's very little team camraderie, and i think there is only one other female player in the division. if you were to take a team poll, i'm sure i'd be voted worst player. that never feels good. if i were to compare it to playing in the AAHL, i'd say the division is equivalent to playing in middle A. some guys have real skillz but play kinda lazy. i lack skill, but play really hard, so sometimes it evens out.

books: i've been reading like a fiend since the denver library has ebooks you can check out on your digital reader. the checkout period is 21 days and if you don't finish the book it just disappears from your shelf. can't renew. aww. most newer books have a lengthy wait list, so a lot of times i'll put myself on the wait list for several books...and then for some reason they all become available at the same time and then i have to read 3 books in 21 days. so far i've read twenties girl, smokin' seventeen, outliers, and now i'm on the help (i swear i was on the wait list for months). it's pretty nice not to have to visit the library to get your hands on "free" books.

stuffed animals: i have two that hang out on/in my bed. one is a wild turkey. the other is the yellow angry bird.

that last one was really random, but gives you a deeper insight to the girl behind the blog.

costume construction, phase 1

I was fortunate to find a good job in Denver after about 1.5 months of dedicated searching. I only applied to jobs that were downtown or a reasonable driving distance from my apartment so that the commute wouldn't suck (i had a 1-mile commute for 3 years in atlanta, and yes, it was amazing). I also only applied to jobs that had regular hours and decent benefits... until I came across an ad for a part-time IT position at a private school 5 miles from my apartment. Now I'm working there as an entry-ish level technician, part of a 4 person team that keeps everybody's stuff working. It's pretty awesome as far as jobs go.

Now, on to the main reason for this post: the halloween costume teaser series (visit  http://agurley.blogspot.com/search/label/halloween and scroll to the post from 2010). if you don't know my deal with costumes by now, you're either a new reader of this blog or don't do enough stalking on facebook. i always go to great lengths to make a homemade costume while keeping costs low (<$30). i'm usually able to think of humorous, original couples-themed costumes that aren't lame. 2007 was construction worker and man hole, 2009 i think we ignored altogether because halloween was on a wednesday and 2008 seemed near impossible to top. 2009 i made (with a little help from mary ellen) the most kick ass cockroach costume one could make on a budget - andy was an exterminator, and 2010 was the year of colonel sanders and the double down sandwich.

my idea for this year is kinda tame, but i'm hoping the originality and construction quality will make it cool. i'm hesitant about putting too much effort into this mainly because we don't have that many friends yet since we're still so new to town, and it's no guarantee that we'll even be invited to a party. i mean how bad would that suck?! maybe i can wear it to work on the 28th, and then during my hockey game on the 29th (i'm attempting to make this costume adaptable for hockey gear just in case). below are some of my supplies. phase 1 has begun.

cardboard, spray paint, rope, foam squares, paperboard tubes

by the way, if anyone in the denver area wants to use my cockroach/exterminator costume i'll rent it to ya. would also be willing to trade for supplies to complete my idea for this year.

the big reveal - but first...

sorry that i failed to provide updates while making the costume.  i got really busy a few days before halloween and production basically came to a halt.  i made the majority of it on saturday afternoon and it was *not* fun.  here is my costume taking shape:

a misshapen heart?

 a giant mouth?

 an ice cream sandwich?

 what the...

 the sandwich so meaty, there's no room for a bun!!!

totally ridiculous.  again, i think i spent too much time and money on this, but i'm willing to bet no one else has ever made their own double down costume.  we went through the kfc drive through in costume (well, mine was in the back seat) and the guy at the window got a kick out of it.  naturally we ordered one double down for each party we attended.  thank goodness we only went to two parties because those suckers are $4.99.  here are a few more photos:

looks more like egg than cheese... i was limited to the scrap bin at the fabric store so this is what i got

cannibalism!!  (i took two bites, which was enough)

nutrition facts.  less calories than i expected. (i knew i couldn't walk around in the double down for long so i made a kfc tank top) 

no comment

i'm not really sure what i'm going to do with my double down.  i think i'll just disassemble it and put it in a giant plastic bag.  maybe i can just make something out of the foam next year. oh, and wouldn't you know, kfc is having a contest to win kfc for life: http://www.kfc.com/doubliciousdouble/ but i'm having trouble finding a full-body photo, most of them are just waist up.  i'll submit a photo for sure, but unlike the contest where i won an iPad, the thought of just straight up winning this costume contest is way more appealing than the actual prize itself.

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