Showing posts with label Thrift Store. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thrift Store. Show all posts

Monday, November 12, 2012

Barbie Doll Costume



A few months back I made a trip to Savers in hopes to find the perfect costume.  My main objective this year was to find something inexpensive, comfortable and creative.  So, I tried on brides maid dresses, cocktail dresses and everything in between before I finally found "the one".  Well, really the "two".  These dresses couldn't have been more perfect and I knew that this was the year I was going to be Barbie.  I've wanted to dress up like Barbie since before I can remember.  I'm an avid Barbie collector and darn it I wanted a "pretty" costume.
Not-so-pretty-me on Halloween

Anatomy of a Barbie Costume

Dress:  I found 2 black dresses at Savers around $12 each (one was floor length with feather detail - reminded me of a Holiday Barbie I had as a kid and the other was a strapless knee length dress - more on the retro side).  I bought both dresses because they fit like a glove and I figured I could re-use them in the future.

Accessories:  Blonde wig, costume jewelry (ring, bracelet and necklace), handmade Mattel purse, feather boa, handmade Barbie wrist tag, black gloves, eyelashes and endless amounts of makeup.

DIY Barbie wrist tag:  I made a template out of scrap paper - I wanted the tag to be over exaggerated in size and big enough to fit around my wrist. Once I came up with my desired shape I traced the form onto pink poster board.  I printed 2 Barbie logos on regular printer paper and glued them on either side of the pink label.  I wanted the tag to last (I'm big on re using costumes) so I laminated the tag and added Velcro (the Velcro didn't really work so I ended up stapling it instead).



DIY Mattel logo purse: I don't exactly scream Barbie so I didn't want anyone to question who I was trying to portray.  If the Barbie tag and blonde wig wasn't enough, I figured the Mattel logo had to seal the deal.  I printed 2 logos on white paper, glued them to squares of red poster board and had them laminated.  I adhered them to either side of a clutch I already had (using Velcro) then rimmed the purse with red duct tap.




This was such a fun costume and I felt like a million bucks!! 



Link Parties:  Becoming Martha / Whipperberry / Happy Hour Projects / Craft Junkie Too / The Answer is ChocolateIts a Hodgepodge Life  /  High Heels & Grills / The Crafty blog Stalker / House of Hepworths / Momnivores Dilemma / I Gotta Create / Southern Lovely / Someday Crafts / 733 / Chic on a Shoestring Decorating 

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Halloween Chandelier on the Cheap





I've been staring at this dust-collecting-fruit bowl-thrift find for weeks now.  It has served as a great book end these last few years but I've been thinking, it's time for a costume change!


Supplies: Mardi Gras beads, other decorative beads (whatever you may want to hang from the chandelier), fruit bowl or colander, spray paint, hot glue and toilet paper cardboard inserts.

 

Step 1: Construct a few Toilet Paper Roll Candles (I used 5 for this project).
 
Step 2: Turn the fruit bowl upside down and place candles and beads in your desired location.  Mardi Gras beads are also used to hang the chandelier - adjust the length by using less or more beads.
 
 
Step 3: Use black spray paint to bring everything together.







I'll be taking this guy to Ohio next week to be used for my Sister's Halloween party.  I intend on adding a few more details once I arrive.  I'd like to hang spider cut outs (or maybe bats?) at different lengths from the middle. 

Total cost: $9
  • Fruit Bowl - Goodwill $3
  • Mardi Gras Beads - Dollar Tree $1/pack
  • Christmas Beads - Dollar Tree $1/pack of 3
  • Battery operated tea lights - Dollar Tree $1/pack of 3
  • Hot glue, spray paint, card board inserts - on hand


Friday, September 21, 2012

Halloween Recap & Pinterest Inspiration


It's my favorite time of year and I'm always on the hunt for easy, inexpensive and creative ways to decorate for Halloween!  Pinterest is my biggest source of inspiration these days and boy have I compiled an arsenal of Halloween goodies!  

A few Pinners/Bloggers I love to follow for Halloween ideas are:

Who inspires you?  I'd love to go check them out!



Some of our Halloween projects








Wednesday, September 19, 2012

DIY Halloween Trophies


 by the Big Sister

My Sister's 4th annual Halloween Bash is 1 month away and I can't begin to explain how excited I am.  By this time last year I had several spooky projects going on so I've been itching to get my hands dirty!  This year I've been tasked to create trophies for a spooktacular costume contest.


Objective: Inexpensive and unique. 
There are so many great ideas I found on Pinterest
and Google but I wanted to come up with something more my own.

Skill level: Easy...

...if you can use a glue gun, have a bit of time and
 a decent amount of patience.



________________________________________

Inspiration from: Bogleech Blog
(Other) inspiration from: Pinterest
(unfortunately they don't all link back to their original sources).

Supplies: Acrylic and spray paint, LOTS of hot glue,
and Dollar Store/ thrift store finds listed below.
1. Dollar Store Barbie bust, 2. Dollar Store Trophies, 3. Child's plastic music box from thrift store, 4. Toy wings from thrift store, 5. Mini trophy from thrift store, 6. toy strainer, 7. Top half of a Halloween trident, 8. Plastic vase from the Dollar Store, 9. Rod iron candle holder base from thrift store
Step 1:  
 Decide on the "bones" of each of your trophies.  I was asked to create 6 and wanted them all to be fairly different from each other.  I stacked many different components on top of each other until I got the combination I wanted. 
Spray each piece your desired trophy color.  I chose Gold (I decided to use gold acrylic paint to paint anything on the barbie doll busts.  I've spray painted barbie plastic in the past and it makes them very tacky - seems like it never really dries.)




Step  2: 

Paint your barbie busts.  Again, I used acrylic paint (a few layers) on their "flesh". 



 Step  3:  Anatomy of a trophy...
Zombie Trophy: I glued a Dollar Tree Barbie bust to a Dollar Tree trophy.  Hot glue was dripped from the bottom shoulders of the bust down the trophy to give it a "uniform" and melting feel.  The face was painted in cream colored acrylic paint, the eyes were blacked out using black acrylic paint and watered-down black acrylic paint was smeared down her face and neck.




Half Barbie/Half Trophy: The following components were glued on top of each other (from top to bottom) - mini trophy from a thrift store on top of a Dollar Tree Barbie bust on top of an upside down Dollar Tree plastic vase anchored to a child's toy strainer. 

Many layers of hot glue were dripped from the top of her head to the bottom of the vase.  A portion of the Barbie's face, hair and shoulder were left exposed to maintain the half and half look. 



Half Barbie/Half Trophy (the smaller version)This trophy was created using steps from the Zombie trophy and the first Half Barbie/Half Trophy.  See above for details.



Bride of Frankenstein TrophyI began by building her beehive hair style with several layers of hot glue.  Once dried, the layers of hair were painted with black acrylic paint stripped with white acrylic highlights.  The Bride's flesh was painted with a white/green acrylic paint, and her eyebrows, lips, stitches and eyelids were constructed using black acrylic paint.  Her shoulders were painted with gold acrylic paint and attached to the child's plastic music box spray painted in gold.



Vampire/Demon Trophy:  She was created by connecting a Dollar Tree Barbie bust to an upside down plastic Dollar Tree vase.  Wings from a child's toy found at a thrift store was painted in the coordinating gold color and glued to her back.  Her "flesh" was painted with off white acrylic paint while her eyes were blacked out using black acrylic paint.  Watered down black acrylic paint was used to shade and hollow out her cheeks, mouth, forehead and eye sockets.





Bleeding Skull Trident Trophy:  I found the top half of what may have rested on top of a staff at my local thrift store and knew it would make a pretty awesome trophy...
...if I could find a base.  It was meant to sit on top of something as it had a large hole in the bottom and wasn't created to free stand.  Low and behold in the next isle, I found a lonely rod iron candle holder base.  These items alone made for a waste of time but with their powers combined we have a First Place trophy!  I spray painted both elements gold, painted the eyes and nose with black acrylic paint and dripped blood (hot glue painted with red acrylic paint) down the skull.




Step  4:  The Trophy Plaque - I printed out the trophy labels (see examples below) and layered them on top of white and black scrapbook paper.  Each label was laminated and attached with string.
Side 1:
4th annual Halloween Bash
10.20.12
Hosted by Jaime & Jason Meyers

Side 2:
Best Costume
"Black & White"
2012
I made "Best Costume", "2nd Best Costume" & "3rd Best Costume" (adult and kid editions).  "Black & White" signifies the contest theme.  This year anyone entering in the contest must be wearing a costume that is either black or white or black & white.






Cost: Each trophy cost me between $2 - $5 dollars (I already had the hot glue and paint).





And the award goes to...stay tuned for the trophy winners and the rest of the Halloween shenanigans!




 We linked up to these parties: 




Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Halloween Spell Book {part 3}

L.O.V.E. how this book turned out for so many reasons!  Mainly because I was trying to use supplies I already had and didn't know exactly where I was going with it.  Now I have another Halloween prop to contribute to the Halloween Party!



Supplies you'll need:


Thrift Store Book * Brown Paper Bag * Mod Podge



What to do:

Add character to your book spine by adding layers of hot glue



  • Crinkle up the brown paper bag and tear it into pieces
  • Using Mod Podge, cover the book with the crinkled paper bag
  • Glue the front side of the magazine eye (or the flat side of the marble)
  • Attach the front side of the glued image to the flat side of the marble
  • Glue the marble eyes to the front of your book
  • Surround the marble eyes with crinkled brown paper bag to give them a more finished look
  • To create the bloody tears, drip layers of hot glue (blow on them to cool in between layers)
  • Paint the dried {hot} glue with red paint

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Googly Eyed Busts


I recently scored big at Savers and found these small busts for 99 cents a piece. With my sister's "Victorian" Halloween party just around the corner, I was certain I'd find a purpose for these fine gentlemen.


Watered down black acrylic paint was used to "stain" their surface



I had an extra Dollar Store candle holder from my Apothecary Jar project. A few coats of black spray paint and a stone faux finish (gray paint and a sponge) transformed this guy into a pedestal.


The BEST part.... tiny googly eyes. This reminds me of a Scooby-Doo episode...



I feel like these distinguished men will display nicely on the mantel.


Linking up to:

Monster Mash Bash

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Pre Halloween Party Meeting



This past weekend I was Ohio bound to my mandatory Halloween Party Meeting


 We immediately raided the Halloween and Thrift Stores from NW Ohio to SE Michigan


My amazing thrift store finds

$1.99 each

$4.00

$0.99 each

$0.99 each

 Some serious Halloween projects were created by 3 generations of creative minds - this is serious business folks!


 

Halloween craft tutorials to come!!!


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