Crafty Mom Makes a Medusa Costume

If you want to channel the powers of Medusa to turn certain men into stone, you'll love this sassy costume! You can actually find nearly everything you need at Wal Mart so it makes for a quick shopping trip!

For the headpiece you'll need:
1 small bag of toy snakes
3-4 medium size toy snakes (no longer than your hair length)
1 pipe cleaner tiara (should only cost about 50 cents)
   ^^if you can't find one pre-made at the craft or costume store, you can easily make one!
A hot glue gun
A couple twist ties (get them from the garbage bag box or save them from the bread bags)
1 can spray paint - white primer
1 can spray paint - stone colored (I chose copper)

For the dress/wrap you'll need:
2-3 yards of black fabric
1 Sassy little black dress that's hanging in the back of the closet
1 Spool of mythical looking trim
Black thread and neddle of course

To start off, I would to the headpiece first since it's the most time consuming. Start off with your smaller snakes, weaving them through the tiara so they end up with their little heads near the front. Hot glue the heads once you have them into place. Add a little extra glue where you see the snake might come loose. Next take the larger snakes and intertwine them with the sides of the tiara, again with the heads coming toward your face. This is where you may need to use the twist ties to secure the snakes since they're bigger. You're a smart gal, I'm sure you'll know where to use 'em. Now that you have all the snakes in order (make sure it looks exactly the way you want it to, there's no turning back) you're ready to spray paint!

In a well ventilated area - preferrably outside in the grass (yes I have to say this because there are actually people out there who will spray away in their 9x9 kitchen, windows closed and baby right next to them) spray on the white primer to completely coat the headpiece. Once the primer is dry, spray on the colored paint. Make sure you get in between the snakes as much as you can. Use a string to hang it up to dry in the garage or basement. The paint will be tacky for a few hours even after it appears dry and will stick to everything.

Now on to the dress! I used my trademark little black dress for this one. As if it hadn't seen enough events, I was now dragging it through Halloween. My particular dress had a haltar top and asymetrical bottom (it wasn't straight across, the bottom was longer on one side than the other). The only thing I did to the dress was tack the gold and black trim I picked up from Wal Mart across the bottom of the dress on the front only. Unless you want to devote your dress to this costume only, make sure you don't stitch too tight so you can easily remove the thread for wear without the costume. Next, do the same to both ends of the black fabric you have to use as a wrap.

This is what the finished headpiece should look like. I know, not the best picture of me, but the costume looked good!