HALLOWEEN!! Okay, it’s true… I’ll jump at the chance to make costumes or dress up. That is why I love Halloween so much. This year I had to come up with two costumes - one for work and one for a party.

For those who don’t know I’ve very lucky to work for a company that embraces Halloween and encourages every department to dress up and decorate. And no one is shy about it. I normally head the decoration planning, because I’m a bossy perfectionist that way but this year I kept my crown in storage and went with the flow. It was nice, due to our department change we were absorbed into the fellow creative team’s idea and there wasn’t much that had to be done. The theme was Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome. I admit, I had to watch the movies to get an idea of what in the hell to dress up as. Again luckily I was just a Barter Town folk and didn’t have to plan too hard for my costume. The search began at the local second hand store. Since Barter Town was a crappy post-apocalypse town the costume details didn’t have to be perfect and looked better if they weren’t. The costume consisted of a large dress that was half black thermal and half crinkled linen, as you can imagine it was quite a show stopper, I can’t believe someone gave up such a gem!! I added extra flair with textured puff sleeves I got from this wonderful 80’s top. LOL The second layer was a nasty gray synthetic stretch top that I converted with the help of a tweed mini skirt zipper. I made a capelet-thing out of the left over skirt and wrist warmers out of the sleeves from the thermal dress. The best part was these weird magnifying glasses that added that special touch of wtf!! The base layer was a distressed long sleeve shirt and black pants. I also added details like bracelets, chains and a cool leather bag that acted as my trick or treat bag as I walked around taking candy!! I have to say it was one of the most comfy costumes I had worn in some time. Oh and I made a headband out of a elastic belt… actually pretty cool looking and if I wouldn’t get weird looks I’d add it into my regular rotation. LOL

Tina was pretty rad… and yes Mary DID drive with those glasses on. Goofball…

The thunderdome costume was nice… but the haunted hillbilly Halloween costume was the best!! My mom was in town for this party so we whipped up her a costume with the left over brain and bits from my costume. My theme was “hunter’s safety”. You know I love to dress up dead… I don’t know why, I just do. The costume consisted of a camo hat that I gave a faux bullet hole on the front and an exposed section in the back, to look as though my head had been blown out. Brains and blood everywhere. My little bro even got into the costume and gave me the idea of adding the buckshot element… of course he would know. I wore a long curly brown wig with Mary said freaked her out more than the hat because it looked good?? I’m not quite sure but it was funny. The hunting vest and shirt were found in a last minute shopping trip at the same second hand store I got my Mad Max pieces. It came together quite effortlessly! Of course I splattered blood on the clothing and my face for that extra detail, again the buckshot came into play. My mom’s costume was fun as she came up with the theme of her’s before she arrived. She was the “toilet seat horseshoe champion” who met her untimely fate with a nasty head gash!! The head gash was made of the left over brain from my hat and a great discount wig we got at Joanns. I made the brain a clip that glued to the hair and then painted around it with acrylic paint. The best component of her costume was a replica toilet seat complete with poo and blood stains!! How much more hillbilly can you get. This was the best costume in quite some time and now I have a couple options for next year’s zombie walk. **I will make next years zombie walk!!!!!!

Check out my mom before and after!! She’s such a good sport.

It all started with a 5 dollar gallon of “oops” paint (the unwanted paint you can get at any home improvement store on the cheap) which just so happened to be “very cherry” pink. I sat on this paint for some time, trying to decide a theme or color palette for my studio space. I toyed with the idea of a black, white and pink palette for a few until I went back home one weekend and found the most gorgeous vintage wall paper… Bright, bold and absolutely perfect. The colors were pink, lime and teal… all colors I’m very fond of and tend to gravitate towards. For people who know me, that’s an understatement.

The minute I found the wallpaper I knew exactly what I wanted to do. Hot pink was the main color with lime as an accent. I’d also bring in pops of teal, or “peacock” as it is now fashionably called, with the accessories and fabrics. The pink is an accent wall, with the rest of the room being bright white. (I haven’t got that far with the painting, the white is still in progress). My main mission was to get the multiple cluttered bookcases paired down enough to have all my personal crafting/painting bits on one wall shelf. Amazingly, I actually managed to do so. The wall storage was a shelving unit that Fred had in his studio back in the old apartment. He was nice enough to gift to me and let me paint it white to match the decor.  The long desk (not pictured) really made the studio super functional with out taking up too much space. Before what would take 3 desks to accomplish now just takes one. Because the desk is so long I can now just roll back and forth from the computer to sewing machine.Clamp task lighting helps as well.

I was super excited to get photos of progress up, but I’m no where near complete. I still need to complete the other side of the room including the new guest daybed with whimsical lime polka dot bedding and bright accent pillows. A guest space is a must, I thought I might be able to live with out it but it’s just not an option. I found a screaming deal on Craig’s list for a sleek retro 80’s daybed for only 75 dollars complete with trundle bed. I have a lot of sewing and decorating left to do this studio is finished, but so far I’m absolutely in love with it!

My latest score when out thrift store shopping. Lynn and I just happened upon this thrift shop going out of business. Everything was 50% and you could stuff a bag full of clothing for 10 bucks. When it was all said and done we had about a dozen pieces of clothing including this amazing gently used retro dress coat that Lynn literally jumped up and down when she found and all the crafty items shown for $9.50!!! They gave us 50% of the already amazing clothing sale… it was crazy. Lynn and I ran out of the store just in case they made a mistake. It was a good day.