Thursday, January 13, 2011

{Golden oldie} Happy Halloween!

Lately (always?) it seems like life has been going at warp speed. You know, places to go, people to see, food to eat.....I can’t really complain, because it’s almost always fun stuff, but I get frustrated when my blogging can’t keep up with the doing. I’m always behind, trying to organize thoughts, edit photos, and find time to actually put down the words to remember our super-fab life (ha!).

So we’re implementing a new regular feature here on Bowdenisms....Golden Oldies!
These posts will be your cue to hope in your way-back-machine, to a simpler time...Or maybe just an earlier time. I hate to have good stuff go undocumented, so this will be a way to ignore the rules of timeliness, and dive into the memory banks (or computer archives) to feature that which went unsaid. (Otherwise known as, “If a tree falls in the forest and no one blogs about it, did it really happen?”)

First up in our historical adventures is.....

Halloween! (See? Currently irrelevant....and yet perpetually fun!)
It goes without saying that I love, love, love a costume, so Halloween is always a fav. Someday I’ll have to take you down the memory lane of costumes....but for now we’ll just focus on this year (believe me...that’s plenty).

Last year I slaved over an alien robot outfit, and while it probably should have taught me a lesson, it really just inspired me to create something just as good (or better!) this time around!

I had been toying around with the idea of Medusa for a while....I’m not usually a “wig person” (my Halloween philosophy is that costumes should be pretty...not gross, scary, or particularly smutty, thus wigs, fangs, and skintight polyester-satin dresses are typically out), but I thought it would be an interesting to try to make a hairpiece....plus the look would allow me to play around with makeup, which is always fun! (While I wear almost no makeup everyday, I LOVE an over the top special occasion look.) So I bought this renaissance wig-






a ton of fake snakes, and some bright green hair extensions from the dollar store, and set about creating my masterpiece. I actually conned my mom into helping (oh how I love to rope other people into my overambitious plans!)- she and I tried every possibility under the sun, and finally settled on a low side ponytail (or, snake-tail). It took FOR-EV-ER, but I loved how it turned out. Then, after perusing you-tube for instructional videos, I had crafted a toga and my look was (almost) complete. Googling for makeup ideas led me to the technique of pulling fishnets over your face, and then applying make up, which gives the look of scales. Really cool.



Now the only task left was convincing Dustin to wear a costume. He comes from the “I won’t anything that is too hot, too itchy, too tight, too loose, too bright, too boring, or any fun at all” school of costuming, which makes it exceptionally difficult to dress him. So I came up with “swamp thing”, which allowed him to wear regular clothes, and add a hat (which I covered in left over snakes). Not bad, considering the constraints.

After all that effort, I really didn’t take very many pictures....but here’s what we ended up with:




(Note- the superman tshirt is one of Dustin’s old costumes that I made. “Clark Kent” works around most of the “I hate costumes” rules...)

And please take a look at our friends Mike and Lindsey’s incredible costumes. They went as a geisha and a goth/punk...I LOVE the enthusiasm, and it’s even better that they were able to pull it off using entirely stuff they already owned!

So Costumes 2010 were a rousing success! But wait.....there’s more.....

This year at work, there wasn’t going to be a costume contest....and I just was not okay with that. So I started my own! And if you initiate a costume contest...you pretty much have to dress up (not complaining!). But after all that effort on my wig, I was realizing that perhaps a heavy head of hair and snakes, and a full face of makeup, wasn’t going to be the most practical choice for a workday.

You know the solution, right?
Make another costume! Yay!

Somehow I got my heart set on being an owl... and I found some great ideas online. I followed this tutorial, which is GREAT....but they may have underestimated the time (or overestimated my skills)....My poor mother (yes, she got mixed up in my madness again) helped me sew “feathers” for an hour or two before we were forced to reevaluate, and come up with a more executable plan.

Do you know the solution this time?
Ruffles!!

We changed the design and pressed on, eventually making one heck of a dress! I crafted a mask, added cape-like wings, and I was in birdie-business! (click the photo to see me in all my feathery glory.)

And since it’s all about the details- witness my owl nails, and ring!


So there you have it....Halloween 2010. Better late than never!

OH- and if you’re wondering....no, I didn’t win the costume contest (It’s poor form to take the prize at your own game!). But I did make a pretty sweet trophy for the winner.

2 comments :

  1. You're amazing (and so is your mom)!!! And before I saw the picture of the Tolinos, I absolutely thought L was the Geisha and M was the punk rocker. Imagine my delight when I saw the picture???? Great!

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  2. Hahaha! I love the post. Your owl costume was awesome! Thanks for taking that pic - we didn't have any of us. I like this golden oldie idea. I have a post that is past due that I've been trying to frame as logical to post now. Thanks for including us in your super-fab life!

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