Ember Costumes and Crafts

Back in October, my friend Susan mentioned that her little girl was begging for a Little Mermaid doll costume to match her Little Mermaid Halloween costume. And it just so happened that I had all the materials on hand, so how could I resist? It was really fast to make and it turned out adorable!  In fact, I had all the materials already because I had made a Little Mermaid costume for myself back in 2010, and when my parents cleaned out their house before they moved last year they dropped off a pile of my old costumes. So this was a chance to get rid of something I'm never going to wear again and make something for a sweet little girl.  Me, in 2010. Before babies! The hair is a wig!  The top is made from purple satin and has elastic along the bottom. It closes in the back with two small hook and eyes.  The tail part is made from stretchy sequined material and green organza, with velcro closure in the back. I'm still not great with sewin...

Link and a little fairy!  So there's a story behind this tunic...last October John's work was having a costume contest, and because it was just work and not a con or something, John ordered a tunic from China on ebay for super cheap. When it arrived, we saw why exactly you shouldn't order a costume from China on ebay for super cheap. It was child sized (even though he ordered men's medium!) the design was just laser-cut stickers barely sticking to the fabric, and the material was really thin.  So with a week until Halloween, John and I made a new one. He bought some nice heavy bright blue cotton twill, I whipped it up into a tunic, and he hand-stitched thin white bias tape into the design you see below. I think it turned out pretty good! Needless to say, with his accessories and his little fairy companion, he won the costume contest at work and at our friend's Halloween party. Because we're just extra that way.    Homemade leather sword st...

             Jack is obsessed with sharks, in case you didn't know. He insisted on being a shark for Halloween, but unfortunately we could not find a shark costume at any of the three Halloween stores we went to. Cue mama to take out my dusty sewing machine and get to work! I used blue and white fleece, some black fabric paint for the eyes and gills, some stuffing for the fin, and a long zipper up the side to help him get it on and off. The pattern is of my own spur-of-the-moment design, inspired by  " Left Shark " of course, from that infamous Katy Perry Superbowl show.

Despite a rough week, I managed to make Gandalf and Bilbo costumes for Gunnar and Jack! G is a huge LOTR fan and is currently reading through all of the histories, so when I offered to make him a Gandalf costume, he was ecstatic.  For Bilbo, since the outfit was so small, I used scraps from previous costumes to make an undershirt, vest, and cape. I drafted my own patterns based on some of Jack's T2 sized church clothes. The ears are earmuff-style stuffed ears made from felt and attached to a headband and the feet are costume hair just stuck onto Jack's feet with spirit gum. (He thought that they were bugs at first and was wigged out, but we managed to convince him that they were "like fuzzy socks.") For Gandalf I dyed my stash of estate-sale $1 sheets gray and then threw together a robe (gathered at the front and back for volume) and mantle, then used the scraps to cover a cheapo black witch hat in a patchworky style. A costume...

This year I went to the Texas Renaissance Festival for Halloween, which was loads of fun! I wore my Queen Susan Narnia Costume, which was incredibly hot and sweaty on a sweltering 90 degree Texas Halloween. Next year I'll have to be a scantily clad elf or something, I swear. The only thing to do was drink a delicious strawberry daiquiri and watch my friends ride the elephant, right? Also, I'm not a very good archer, unlike the real Queen Susan. Me and Nick, who is wearing Gunnar's Rich Merchant costume. There are no pictures of Gunnar's epicfail diseased villager costume on my camera. My brother-in-law Erik, below, had an epic monster/demon costume. I helped him by telling him to use his Darth Maul cape and hood and work mak-eup on whatever was left. No that is not his real nose. Yes, that is a real turkey leg. The whole gang at the end of the day. (G washed the make up off.)

A few weeks ago (okay, like a month ago, sorry!) John participated in the Lincoln Zombie Walk in Lincoln Nebraska! (He's currently a supersenior at UNL ) photo by programmerman He went as a survivor ( Left4Dead style) with a medpack strapped to his back and a gun ready in hand. With his amazing ninja and zombie-fighting skills, he was one of the last survivors standing, but was inevitably eaten/infected before the night was over, after being cornered in a tree on the university's campus. Zombie Walks happen all over the country, and they aren't just for Halloween! Zombie is a great easy costume that anyone can put together too, so there's no excuse for not having a costume this year! Instant Zombie Recipe Old Clothes, artistically torn White/gray/black face paint Fake Blood, splashed liberally on face and torso Moans and Groans about brains