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!

Halloween is Approaching!

Yes, I am aware that it's only the beginning of September but I can't help myself from thinking about Halloween already! I love Halloween. It's during fall which just happens to be my favorite season. You get to decorate in the most gorgeous golds, oranges, reds and browns. And one night a year, you can dress like a complete whore and pass it off as a "costume."

In lieu of the "complete whore" look, I like to dress up as something fun, semi-original, and even just a little bit sexy. Hey, it's one night a year. I was nine months pregnant last year when we went to our friends' costume party. You can only imagine how much fun that was. No costume, no beers. I just pulled up a chair next to the buffet and grazed all night. Well, at least until 10:00. Then I decided it was passed this mama's bed time.

The year before I decided it'd be way more fun and cost effective to make my own costume. This was one of the first years we actually going to a real costume party. There would be cash prizes for the best costumes. I chose Medusa. You don't see a whole lot of Medusa these days. She has incredible powers- turning men into stone... who wouldn't want that power every now and then?

After a couple hours of crafty work, I was all made up. When we go to the party, we were greeted by all sorts of characters. In our crowd we had Little Bow Peep, Cleopatra, Julious Ceasar, Nurse Lauren, the crackhead guy from the Chappelle Show, V for Vendetta, and Flavor Flave turned Armenian mobster. Others like God's gift to women (our friend wrapped as a gift that said "To: Women, From: God), and varisous skanky costumes flooded the party.

When it came time to vote, Teen Wolf deservedly took first place. That was a great costume. Then Pot Man  came in second. Seriously? A grown man dressed as a marijuana leaf won a prize? What kind of party was this? Then my hand-crafted getup came in fourth. I was proud that I was the only winner who actually made their costume. Er, wait, I didn't win... Oh well, close enough.

I'm looking for great costume ideas for this year. I'm thinking Poison Ivy from the Batman comics but want to get some others before I start putting it together. What are some great costumes you've worn or seen someone else in? Going to any costume parties this year?

And The Winner Is...

Laurie aka Clueless_Mama! She's the lucky winner of the Wanchai Ferry Asian Meal for 2 Prize Pack! Congratulations! You'll be getting a free Wanchai Ferry frozen entre (the orange chicken is super yummy!), two bamboo placemats, bowls, and chopsticks! Hope you have a fun night in! I'm sure we'd all love to hear how you liked the prize once you get it!

I want to thank each and every person who entered my first giveaway! I hope I'm able to provide you with more awesome reviews and stellar giveaways!

If you get a chance, hop on over to Guessing All the Way, our winner's blog. She also has fab giveaways!

Thanks again to Wanchai Ferry and MyBlog Spark for giving me the opportunity to provide this great giveaway to my readers!