Gotta Make It: Creative Halloween Costumes October 19, 2007

“Double, double toil and trouble; fire burn and cauldron bubble.”  – Shakespeare, Macbeth

I’m always looking for some creative and funny halloween costume ideas and if you’re here you obviously are too! So without further ado (is that right?), here are some ideas that you can do with a plain ole cardboard box.  Some are for kids or adults and others are just for the “big kids”.

MOVIE THEATRE POPCORN COSTUME

       MATERIALS:  long carboard box (wardrobe one would be good), white/red/black paint, glue, yellow tissue paper.
       TO DO:  cut hole for head and arms in box and leave the bottom out for your legs.  Paint the box using the 
                       picture above as inspiration. Then crinkle up the yellow tissue paper and attach to the shoulders of your  
                       costume.

CRAYOLA CRAYON BOX COSTUME

          MATERIALS:   Large cardboard box, paint in all the primary colors
          TO DO:  cut hole in box for head and arms and leave bottom out for legs.  Use the photo of a Crayola box like the
                         one above to paint the cardboard box similar
         VARIATIONS:  for a family a parent can be the Crayola box and the kids can be the crayons.  See my post at 
                         http://inspiremecrafts.wordpress.com/2007/10/15/gotta-make-it-crayon-costume/ on how to make
                         the crayon costume. 

GOD’S GIFT TO WOMEN COSTUME
         MATERIALS:  cardboard box, romantic wrapping paper, big bow or ribbon to make bow, cardstock paper (color 
                                    coordinating with wrapping paper of course), tape, large stickers/stencils/or marker

         TO DO:  cut hole for head and arms in box and leave bottom out for legs.  Wrap the box with the wrapping paper. 
                         Take the large bow or make one and put it on the front of the box.  Using the cardstock paper write, use
                         the computer, or use stickers to say ”FROM:  GOD       TO:  WOMEN”.     Paste the ‘tag’ to the box near 
                         the bow.  
         VARIATIONS:  If you wanted to do this with your significant other, you could put their name in the “TO” spot. 

MAMMOGRAM COSTUME

        MATERIALS:  small cardboard box, stickers/marker, foil, paint
         TO  DO:  This costume is just going to go over the man’s head and rest on his shoulders so the box doesn’t 
                          need to be too large.    Leave the bottom of the box out so it just slips over the head.  Cut out 
                          the front of the box in the shape as it appears in the photo.  Then paint the box or cover in foil.
                          Use markers or stickers to write “FREE MAMMOGRAMS” on the top and “PLACE BREASTS
                           HERE” on bottom.  Then find a white lab coat and you are set to go!
         VARIATIONS:  If you want to do this with your loved one, your significant other can dress up as a busty 
                                       nurse.

MORE IDEAS:
      Rubik’s Cube
      Domino Piece
      “I’m In the Dog House”  (create dog looking house with box  and paint)
      Pair of Dice
      Lego
      Robot
     

Have any ideas you would like to share?  We would love to hear them at inspiremecrafts@yahoo.com  or on our comments!
    

                        

Gotta Make It: Decorated Pumpkins October 19, 2007

“When black cats prowl and pumpkins gleam, may luck be yours on Halloween.” – Unknown

Sometimes simpler is better….please give me the pleasure and let me explain!  I had a couple of ideas for decorating pumpkins and I had to discover (as I’ve done many times before) that things don’t always go as planned and turn out as desired.  I am sure everyone wants to hear my disasters as well (you know you do) because it reminds us that we are all human and NOT perfect!  So let’s begin with the simple  idea.  Get your favorite ribbon, stickers, and pumpkin and TaDa!….you’ve got a no mess, 5 minute solution to sprucing up your holiday decor. I am addicted to black & white stuff so I continued that with the decoration of my pumpkins as you can see in the photo below. 

Now lets get to the fun stuff…the failure (ok maybe thats a little drastic).  I had some Mod Podge (can’t live without it), tissue paper and one extra pumpkin so I decided to try mod podging the tissue paper to the pumpkin.  It didn’t work out so well as far as ‘being easy’ goes.  The tissue paper is so thin that I had to do several layers and it was just a mess and too time consuming.  Then I realized that the colors really don’t go with any of my holiday decor for halloween.  I thought it would be a fun color combination and it was some leftover tissue paper I had….but it just didn’t excite me when I was done.   But what can you do?  Moral of the story…don’t use tissue paper and mod podge on a pumpkin and remember that sometimes simple is exactly what you need!

The photo of my time consuming, non exciting project…….

Now this next idea I LOVE and its gorgeous…that’s why they get paid the big bucks!  Check it out at http://www.marthastewart.com/article/glittered-pumpkins .  If you decide to try it let me know and send me pictures.  I would love to hear how it goes!