Trick or Treat

I just wanted to share the costume i put together for Little princess to wear, for her brief attempt at trick or treating tonight (it was her first time).

Month of Costumes Wrap up (+giveaway)

It's been so much fun putting all these costumes together, but also a lot of work. So here is a quick wrap up of the month.

Day 1 - Steampunk                                   Day 16 - Princess Fiona
Day 2 - 1920's                                          Day 17 - Vampire
Day 3 - Cat in the Hat                               Day 18 - Medusa
Day 4 - 1980's Madonna                          Day 19 - Lydia
Day 5 - Minnie Mouse                              Day 20 - Dorothy
Day 6 - Cowgirl                                        Day 21 - Harlequin
Day 7 - Emily the Strange                          Day 22 - Rag Doll
Day 8 - Little Red Riding Hood                 Day 23 - Clockwork Orange
Day 9 - Kooky Witch                               Day 24 - Matryoshka
Day 10 - Gypsy                                        Day 25 - Harajuku Girl
Day 11 - Alice in Wonderland                   Day 26 - Willy Wonka
Day 12 - Moon Goddess                          Day 27 - Gothic Schoolgirl
Day 13 - Princess Leia                              Day 28 - Pippi Longstocking
Day 14 - Safari Hunter                              Day 29 - Mrs Lovett
Day 15 - Pirate                                         Day 30 - Ringmaster
                                                                Day 31 - Day of the Dead

And for an extra added bonus, here are some photos of a few other costumes I have worn over the years.

 Hubby and I, at the "school days" party, dressed as goths.

 Wearing the purple and green tutu I made.

 At a 007 themed event dressed as Bond villains, Me - Jaws, Sandy - Oddjob.

 A Halloween party we had many years ago, Me dressed as Magenta from the Rocky Horror Show, attempting to do a Charlies Angels pose with a witch and Harry Potter. Hubby was dressed as Riff Raff.

 When I was a kid, dressed as a nerd for Nerds night at youth group or something (I wish I still had that pink jumpsuit, it was pretty awesome).

As a kid, dressed as Peggy Bundy, with Cat Girl, for a costume party.

For my retro themed party a few years ago.

Now, I have been planning a giveaway for the end of my Month of Costumes, but I haven't actually had time to put anything together. So, you are entering to win something unknown, but something is better than nothing, right? All you have to do is comment on this post to tell me what costume for the month was your favourite. You have a week to enter, and next Monday 7th November I will draw a winner. Please make sure there is a way for me to contact you via your comment.

Day 31 - Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos)

This is one of my absolute favourite costumes, which is why I saved it for last. And I am so happy with how the make up turned out, because I wasn't sure I could pull it off without practising. This one is not so much about the costume, but more about the make up, and to get the look right I watched A LOT of youtube videos. There wasn't any particular one I followed to get this look, but just took ideas and bits and pieces from all of them. If you search day of the dead or sugar skull on Youtube you will get heaps of make up tutorials. Put the make up together with a long skirt, some lacy shawls and a headband adorned with flowers, and you've got the whole costume.
To see my inspiration for this costume, check out my Day of the Dead board on Pinterest.

Day 30 - Ringmaster

This is all stuff I already had in my wardrobe or have used for previous costumes; black pants, black top, black velvet jacket with leopard print collar, black corset, black boots, top hat with leopard print scarf tied around base. The "whip" is a paintbrush with a skinny belt wrapped around it and some leather string from the craft room attached to the end.

My Place and Yours

This weeks theme was My Pincushion. I have many, many pincushions, but these are the latest ones I have made. I love making pincushions, they are such a quick crafty fix, when you feel the urge to make something but don't have a lot of time, or need to make a last minute gift for a crafty friend. When I saw this tutorial on The DIY Dish, I knew I had to make one, or many, and I love them! For the purple one I used a champagne flute instead of a candlestick, because that's what I had on hand, and just filled the inside of the glass with beads and buttons.

If you love pincushions as much as I do, then you should really head over to see all the other M.P.A.Y. links.

Day 29 - Mrs Lovett

Last year for a function we went to, Hubby and I dressed as Sweeney Todd and Mrs Lovett. This is what I wore for the Mrs Lovett costume: the skirt is actually two skirts layered, from my wardrobe; the top I got from a thrift store and sewed some ruffled red fabric around the neckline; the corset I bought online, paid quite a bit of money for, but it has come in handy for a lot of these costumes which shows how versatile it is; the gloves are out of the dress-up box; and the rolling pin is out of the kitchen, I just smudged some whiteboard marker on it to look like blood.
This is a great couples costume idea, and if you don't want to buy the stuff to put it together, most costume hire places have this as an option. I think it probably cost as much to buy it as it would have to hire it, but now I get to keep it and wear it again. For Hubby's costume we had to hire the wig because we couldn't find one quite right to buy. It occurs to me now that I could make a yarn one, I wonder how that would look. The rest of his costume was bought from a thrift store or out of his wardrobe.

Day 28 - Pippi Longstocking

I made another one of these wigs, but this time I plaited it and put wire through it to make it stand up like Pippi's hair. For the costume I just looked for some random, mismatched clothes to put together, with odd stripey knee socks.
I had to go out and buy yarn for this wig because I didn't have any red/orange yarn on hand. I think it cost about $2.50 for the ball, and I only used about half of it. It doesn't take much time to put together either, it took a couple of hours while watching tv, and the most time consuming part is cutting all the strands of yarn. So this costume cost less than $2.00 to put together.

Day 27 - Gothic Schoolgirl

This is a costume I wore to a party a few years ago. The theme was "school days", and I knew I wasn't going to pull off the skanky school girl look that most females would go for, but Goth wasn't much of a stretch. While I would not have looked quite this extreme in High School, the make up and black hair are pretty accurate.
I picked up this skirt from a school uniform shop on clearance for $5.00. The white shirt is one of hubby's. White knee socks and black "tie" (actually a belt from a jacket), plus all the accessories I already had. The shoes and wig I bought for this costume when I originally wore it.

Day 26 - Willy Wonka

So, I found this blue velvet coat ages ago in funky junk, and knew that it would make a great addition to the dress-up box. The glasses were bought for a retro costume a few years ago. The gloves are out of the dress-up box as well. The hat and cane were from a dollar store. Top, pants, scarf and boots from my wardrobe. For this costume it was a toss up between Willy Wonka and the Mad Hatter, but in the end, the hat I found wasn't Mad Hatter enough. I had planned to make a Mad Hatter hat, so maybe one day I will be able to do a Mad Hatter costume post.

Day 25 - Harajuku Girl

From Wikipedia: The term "Harajuku Girls" has been used by English-language media to describe teenagers dressed in any fashion style who are in the area of Harajuku. This fashion infuses multiple looks and styles to create a unique form of dress. The cyber-punk look takes its influence from gothic fashion and incorporates neon and metallic colors.
For this costume, I basically just chose some random items from my wardrobe, that kinda coordinate in a crazy way. The blue wig I found at a thrift store and I love it. If I could get away with wearing this everyday, or dying my hair this colour, I totally would. In fact, many years ago when Hubby and I first met, I think my hair looked very close to this, but a bit darker blue.
One day I would love to walk down the streets of Harajuku, what an experience that would be. 
Yes I own a neon pink pleather belt, pink fishnet gloves and purple fishnet tights, doesn't everyone?

Day 24 - Matryoshka

I walked past my nesting dolls on the shelf the other day, and it suddenly occurred to me that I was looking at a great costume idea. That's the fun thing about being in costume mode at the moment, everywhere I look I am seeing costume inspiration.
I was given this shawl a while ago, and it is great for this costume, but would have been better if it was triangle shaped, instead of rectangle. The black dress, purple top and purple shoes are out of my wardrobe. The apron is another one from the collection. I am just about the perfect shape to pull off this costume :)

Day 23 - Clockwork Orange

This is a pretty straight forward, easy costume to put together. White shirt, white pants and black boots out of my wardrobe. Cane, black bowler hat, white suspenders and fake eyelashes from a dollar store. Who knew fake eyelashes were so hard to put on!?! I've never tried before, but I never imagined it would be so difficult. I got glue everywhere, but still couldn't get them to stick to my eye. But eventually I got it to say there long enough to take a few photos, and then I couldn't get the glue off my eye! Oh well, a lesson learnt.

Day 22 - Rag Doll

I have been thinking all month about doing a rag doll costume, then I saw this tutorial on A Beautiful Mess, and immediately had to make a rag doll wig. I think it turned out really well, and I am very tempted to make one in every colour. I used most of a ball of yarn to make it, which works out to be pretty cheap if you get yarn from a dollar store or any other cheap variety/craft store. The top, dress and shoes were out of my wardrobe. The apron was out of my apron collection.

Day 21 - Harlequin

If you are wondering why you can only see one side of my face in all these photos, it's because I couldn't get the make up right on both sides, so I ended up with make up only on one side, the other side is clean. So it's kinda cheating, but you get the idea.
I had to buy the black and white top from a thrift store for this costume, but it's something I will wear on a day to day basis, I just didn't have anything black and white in my wardrobe. The skirt, shoes and knee socks I already had. The hat was also from the thrift store, but I added a fascinator I made a while ago for the tea party I had for my birthday. The ruffle collar I made from some fabric in my stash, there's about six layers of fabric, sewn together with a running stitch, gathered a bit, and attached with a snap at the back.

Day 20 - Dorothy

I've been thinking all month about how I could do Dorothy without having to sew anything or buy anything expensive. Then the other day, when looking through my apron collection for an apron for another costume (coming soon), I found this blue gingham apron, and the rest of the costume came together from there. I thought  I was going to have to buy ruby slippers, but then I remembered these red slip-ons that I never wear, and I thought they could pass as ruby slippers. Add to that a white top and white skirt from my wardrobe, a basket from the craft room, and a little dog from the kids' toy box, and you have a just barely recognisable Dorothy costume, without spending any money or sewing anything. I know my pigtails are pretty pitiful, but at least it's a version of Dorothy's hairstyle.

Today is Hubby's birthday, so I want to say Happy Birthday to my Gman, my bestest friend in the whole wide world. You really are my other half,  without you I would not be a whole person, you complete me. I know I don't always show it, but I love you just as much today as I did 11 years ago.

Day 19 - Lydia

I hope that if you have ever seen the Beetlejuice movie, you will recognise this costume. Beetlejuice was one of my favourite movies as a kid, and because of that movie and the character Lydia, Winona Ryder is my favourite actress to this day.
So for this costume I just put together a black velvet dress, black sunhat, black lacy scarf/shawl and black shoes. I made my face pale, and blacked out under my eyes, to get the pale look that Lydia has. I got out one of our old photography cameras to use as a prop for the photo, because that's how Lydia discovers the ghosts in the house, in the movie.
By now you may be thinking that I am a bit obsessed with goth girl characters, and you would be right. Just a bit.

Day 18 - Medusa

This started with the dress, which I have had for years, but I don't wear it anymore, because it's just not me anymore. Anyway, I found it in a box while looking for more costume ideas and thought I could use it for something. I found some green fabric in my stash, to drape from the shoulders. The belt was from a dollar store. The crown was in the dress up box, but it was blue, so I just painted it green with some acrylic paint. I had a mission finding plastic snakes, I must have gone to about 9 shops looking for them. I hot glued a whole bunch of snakes to the crown, in a kinda symmetrical arrangement. I also hot glued 3 snakes together and attached a safety pin, to pin the fabric to the shoulders of the dress.I had a big fabric snake, which I wrapped around my neck, and a couple of long snakes around my wrists as bracelets. I found heaps of cool make up videos on YouTube for doing Medusa make up - like this one and this one. But I didn't have the time to do anything too elaborate, and I didn't have a lot of green make up. Oh, and I am wearing another black wig, this one is more like a rock star mullet, but it looks ok with a crown of snakes added :)

Day 17 - Vampire

Vampires are another one of those easy to put together costumes, because you can pretty much take anything from your wardrobe, add fangs, and you're a vampire. I tried to make it a bit more interesting, with a corset and a black cape out of the dress up stash, the rest is just stuff out of my wardrobe - black top, black boots, red & black skirt.

Day 16 - Princess Fiona

Please try to ignore the really bad green face paint, cheap face paint doesn't blend as well as you would expect, it dries too fast.
This dress is another one of those weird items that has been in my wardrobe for years, just waiting for the perfect opportunity to be worn. It used to have green feather trim around the sleeves, but I removed it to make the dress look more princessy and less drag queeny. Instead of gold accessories, I went with silver because that's what I had. So I added a silver scarf as a belt, silver tiara (borrowed from little princess), and a plastic bling necklace from the dollar store. The shrek ears headband has been in the dress up box for years as well.

Day 15 - Pirate

I've dressed as a pirate a few times before, and worn something different each time. It's fairly easy to dress as a pirate, pretty much any outfit can be accessorised with an eye patch, pirate hat or head scarf and a sword, to make a convincing pirate. This time I have used a long tiered skirt, tie-dyed flared sleeve top, velvet belt I made, and a black head scarf. Previously I wore black 3/4 length pants, a black and white striped top, a black jacket, fingerless gloves and a red/blue/gold sailorish head scarf, with black boots and stripey socks. The other time I wore the gypsy skirt and head scarf, with a brown top, and a scarf tied around my waist as a belt.

As an extra added bonus for today's post, I have decided to join in with My Place And Yours, over at Punky & Me. The theme for today is On the Shelf, and as soon as I saw that, I thought of my Ode to Tea shelf.

I apologise for the poor quality of this photo, I only had my iPod to take the photo because Hubby has the camera. I seem to have collected quite a few tea related items, in the process of planning two tea parties, and this shelf is where I display some of the larger items. Can you ever have too many teapots? I don't think so.

If you're coming over from the MPAY linky, why don't you check out my Month of Costumes so far. I love getting feedback :)

Day 14 - Safari Hunter

I think this costume is quite funny, because safari hunting is something I would never ever do, in fact I don't even like the idea of it, so this is kind of making fun of the idea of it. Here I am hunting some elephants, so I can make an ivory necklace to go with my zebra hide shoes.
The hat, gun and binoculars are from a dollar store, the rest of it was out of my wardrobe (even the shoes). I bought this shirt from a thrift store a while ago, when I was trying to put together a costume for something else. But the shirt wasn't quite right, so I didn't end up wearing it. Of course I kept it just in case, and here you go, a perfect hunting shirt.

Today is my Little Man's 2nd birthday - Happy Birthday Little Man, mummy is so super proud of you, you are amazing, beautiful and you light up my life :)

Day 13 - Princess Leia

I can't remember exactly how it happened, but somehow it came up in joking conversation with Hubby that it would be funny to do Princess Leia as one of my costumes. Of course, it became a bit of a challenge for me, and actually it was quite easy. I used this tutorial to make the headband with "buns". Mine came out a lot flatter than it looked in the tutorial, and I even added extra strands to the braids, so I probably should have used thicker yarn. The rest of the costume was, again, stuff out of my wardrobe - White top, white skirt, white belt.

Day 12 - Moon Goddess

Everything in this costume, except the cape, was what I wore for my wedding. I made the cape using the same tutorial as my Little Red Riding Hood cape, from some purpley blue velvet fabric from my stash. I made all the jewellery for my wedding, the necklace includes some vintage moonstones that were given to me by my father, the crystal on the headpiece is a rose quartz given to me years ago by someone who was very close but has now passed away. I love my wedding dress, because it is gorgeous, and wearable, so it's not just going to hang in my closet never to be worn again. I wish I had known how to make a cape like this for my wedding, it would have been awesome.

To make it look more moon goddess like, I added lots of shimmery silver eye shadow to my face, and some shiny purple/silver lipstick and eye make up.

Day 11 - Alice in Wonderland

Who doesn't love Alice in Wonderland, right? So of course I had to have a go at dressing up as her for my Month of Costumes. I really need to get a blonde wig, for future use, but I have seen versions of Alice with black hair, so I think it's ok.

I made the apron, using a couple of pillowcases, some ribbon and some polkadot fabric. The dress, shoes, petticoat and knee socks are all out of my wardrobe. You can't really see it, but I tied a piece of navy blue lace in my "hair" to be a hairband. If you zoom into the picture you will see in a couple of the photos I am holding a little glass bottle with a tag that says "drink me".

When I was planning how to put this outfit together, it was a toss up between Alice and Dorothy (Wizard of Oz). Their outfits are kind of similar, so I thought I could go either way, but in the end Dorothy was going to be a bit more difficult to pull off with things I have, so I went with Alice. Mental note for the future, must make/buy ruby slippers and get a toy dog. To see my inspiration for this costume, head over to my board on Pinterest. 

Day 10 - Gypsy

This is a costume that I think pretty much anyone could put together with clothes out of their wardrobe. The main ingredients are a tiered skirt, some kind of peasant top, a head scarf, a frilly/ lacy shawl to tie around your waist, and a chunky belt. I added leather shoes, but you could go barefoot or wear boots. Then I went through my jewellery stash and put on anything that looked gypsyish. Gypsies have also always been very appealing to me. I'm pretty sure in another life I was one of those travelling gypsies with the gorgeous gypsy caravans, stopping in all the towns to sell their handcrafted items. That would be pure bliss.

Day 9 - Kooky Witch

Ok, this is one of those crazy wardrobe items I was talking about the other day. Someone gave me this dress years ago, like maybe even 15 or so years ago, and I have kept it all this time knowing that one day I would use it, because I love witches and this dress is perfect for a witchy costume. In fact, I can't imagine where else you would wear a dress like this, even in the 80's this would have been pretty out there.
The hat was a Christmas or birthday present years ago.
The "belt" is actually a scarf. I have quite a few scarves, a ridiculous amount when you consider how often I actually wear a scarf, because I don't like things around my neck.
The boots are out of my wardrobe, and haven't been worn for years!
I added the black wig because i thought it looked more witchy than my short hair.
I would happily walk around dressed like this every day if I thought I could get away with it. My name means white witch, so I have always been quite attracted to all things witchy. I even have a witch tattoo on my back, which I got when i was 15.

Day 8 - Little Red Riding Hood

I'm quite proud of this one, because I put it all together in a couple of minutes, and made the hood/cape in less than half an hour.
I used this tutorial to make it, and it was really easy and quick to make. I cheated a bit and used ribbon instead of making the ties out of fabric, but I like the look of the ribbon anyway.
The rest of it was just a brown skirt, top and shoes out of my wardrobe, and an apron out of my collection of vintage fabric things that seemed like it would match.
Little princess woke up from a nap while I was taking these photos, and managed to sneek into one of them :) She looks so tall standing next to me like that, she will be overtaking me very soon.

Day 7 - Emily the Strange

This is one of my favourite characters, so I had to have a go at dressing up as her.
Another easy costume to put together:
- black wig (always handy to have).
- black dress
- white top
- white knee socks
- black shoes
Usually Emily would have black tights and white shoes, but I dont own white shoes so I switched it up a bit.

Day 6 - Cowgirl

Another one all put together with stuff I already have. By this stage, if you have been following along from the beginning, you must be thinking "this person has some crazy items in her wardrobe", and you would be totally right. You haven't even seen the craziest stuff yet.
Ingredients:
- White shirt, tied at the front.
- tiered skirt
- boots
- cowboy hat
- western looking necklace + bracelets.
- an attempt at some country hoedown poses.

Day 5 - Minnie Mouse

Not very authentic, but still recognisable because of the accessories. I got the headband ages ago from a dollar store, another one of those 'just in case' purchases. The belt was also from a dollar store. The rest of it was stuff out of my wardrobe. I was thinking about adding face paint, but I thought it looked good just like this. Normally Minnie Mouse wears a red dress, but everyone owns a little black dress, right? Then all you need to add is a red belt, black heels, black tights, and the mouse ears headband. Easy peasy.

Day 4 - 1980's Madonna

This is all stuff I already had, and the kind of things most people would have in their wardrobe, or easily found in a thrift store.

The main ingredients for this costume were the animal print dress, black jacket, black tights, and loads of jewellery. Also, important accessories to pull off the look are the lace/fishnet gloves and headband with bow on top. I really don't have the right hair style for this look, and if I was going to wear it out I would probably get a wig with the bad bleach job kinda look that Madonna had back in those days.

Day 3 - The Cat in the Hat

This was an easy peasy costume, because I already had the main ingredients. The only things I had to buy were the white gloves and red bowtie, which I got from a dollar store. Of course, not everyone has a Cat in the Hat hat lying around. I have had it for years, it's just a random item I bought because I knew it would be handy one day. I tend to do that a lot. That's why I have so much stuff.
So, once you have the hat, gloves and bowtie, all you need are some black and white clothes. And if you wanted to be more authentic, you could add face paint - White face, black nose and whiskers. I also should have had a black tail, and I tried to find one, but with no luck, so I will keep an eye out for one in the future.

This is a really good time of year to find a few key items to put away for when you may need a costume, being Halloween month. Just about anywhere you go has Halloween stuff out at the moment, but as I said earlier, Halloween isn't a big thing here, so after Halloween you can go buy stuff on clearance for next to nothing. Hats or head accessories are always good to have, because you can usually put together a costume to go with a hat from normal everyday clothing items.

Day 2 - 1920's

This is a costume that I have put together for a function we have to go to at the end of the year, Hubby's work are having a 1920's murder mystery night for their Xmas function.

This was put together mostly with stuff I already had in my wardrobe & jewellery box.
The skirt and top were mine. I got the little cardi to go over the top from a thrift store. The shoes I bought ages ago from a thrift store because they are vintage and really comfortable. The necklaces, bracelets and rings I already had. I made the headpiece from some trim, feathers, fabric, chain and a brooch I already had in my stash. So in total I only spent $2.00 on this costume. Obviously not everyone has pieces in their wardrobe that could fit into this theme, but these things are easily found at a thrift store. So many ready made 1920's costumes are the shiny flapper dresses, but the fashion of the time is really beautiful, and looks good on just about any body shape, I think.

To see my inspiration for this costume, check out my 1920's board on Pinterest.

Day 1 - Steampunk

My latest obsession, thanks to Pinterest, is Steampunk. The way I like to think of it is a combination of Victorian/lacy/frilly & futuristic/mechanical/metal. I desperately wanted to create a Steampunk costume, but I really had no reason to. I considered having a halloween party just so I had a reason, but I'm not much of a party host. Then, in the process of looking through all my stuff to put this costume together, I realised I have a lot of dress up stuff, and the idea for a month of costumes was born.

Components:
Tulle petticoat - found at funky junk (free) and altered to fit.
Dress - something I've had for years.
Waistcoat - from the $1 rack at the thrift store.
Belt - dollar store.
Handbag - already had.
Boots - already had.
Leather clutch (attached to belt) - thrift store.

Accessories:
Headpiece - made by me from bits & pieces I had in my stash of Junque; a clock-face out of an old alarm clock, bits of lace and tulle, an old key, a fabric flower, feathers.
Mono-goggle - made by me from handbag straps, hose connecter, magnifying glass lens, elastic.
Wrist cuff - made by me from bits and pieces I had in my stash; fake fur, lace & trims, buttons, a doily, random charms and bits of watches (including a functioning watch, so I can actually use it to tell the time).
Necklaces - cameo necklace from thrift store but altered by me, random chains put together with some things hanging off; a bullet that came on a keyring from dollar store, a huge nut and bolt I found in my stash, butterfly charm, and a few other random little things.

Another little detail you can see in some of the close up photos is the shoulder hooks. I sewed metal rings onto the shoulders of my dress, then metal hooks on chains onto the shoulders of my waistcoat, so the hooks can attach to the rings. This is actually a functional feature, because the dress is a bit loose and the shoulders kept falling down, so the hooks on the waistcoat hold it up.

To see my inspiration for this costume, check out my Steampunk board on Pinterest.