Cheap and Easy Costume

Around mid October of last year, my Colonial New England History professor told the class we could come in costume to class on Halloween since class was from 6-9pm. I love costumes. I never dressed up for Halloween as a kid, but I did dress up on normal days. Oh how I love costumes. I'm so weird. Anyway. The syllabus said that we would be discussing Native Americans on that night so, of course, I decided to dress up as Princess Tiger Lily from the live action version of Peter Pan. Though the character was fictional, the actress playing her is Iroquois and I always loved her in that movie. I did not want to spend $60 on an already put together costume. Costumes for girls/ women above the age of 9 tend to be tight, short and modeled on the package by someone with a seductive look on her face. I'm sure there is a time and place for that, however class is not one of them. I was able to make my entire costume (using the word make loosely) for under $20. It was wonderful.

• Huge brown men's shirt-- Clearance for $2
• Brown corduroy pants which can be reused-- $10
• Tube of face paint-- $1
• Hair clip with leather string, beads and feathers-- $2
• Headband-- a strip that I cut off the shirt
• Shoes-- moccasin slippers I already owned

How to make it look like a costume instead of an awkward outfit gone wrong:

The shirt had a picture and some words on it so I just turned it inside out. I cut the bottom into a V shape so that the sides were shorter than the front and back. I then cut strips into the bottom (they can vary  in length depending on the length of the shirt). I also cut off the collar (keeping it in once piece for later) and added a v-neck shape. For the face paint, I used a foam makeup applicator spongy thing and dabbed it onto my face. I put more towards my forehead and then dabbed down so that it was darker at the top and blended and got lighter towards the middle of my face. I braided my hair, stuck the clip onto the collar, and then used the collar as a headband. It was nothing elaborate or fancy but it worked. (Not the best picture I could have taken but this was before I decided to share it with you)

I came to class and realized that I was the only person who actually dressed up but I didn't mind. It was a tiny class and everyone loved my costume plus I had a lot of fun with it. Try making your own costume sometime!! Whether it is similar to mine or not, I'd love to hear about it!!

How to Remove that Awful Wallpaper Border You Have Had Since Middle School or Earlier

Here is my border... which is finally gone and shredded into a million pieces.

There is nothing wrong with it, it was just not my taste. After a few years, I hardly noticed it anymore but now it is time for it to finally come down. I am in the process of redoing my room (YAY!) which involved removing the boarder, painting, and getting new carpets and furniture. I of course had never removed any type of wallpaper before and so was a bit unsure of where to begin. I searched the internet to see what everyone else suggested and then ended up modifying the results to however I felt like doing it. *NOTE* I was not very careful and ended up scraping up paint and reaching drywall. This was not a problem since I knew I was painting however if you are not planning on painting this is probably not the best idea...

It was not that hard (although my arms were tired after a while) and the best part is....

No fancy tools required!!

What I used:

1)Spray bottle filled with water

2)An ordinary kitchen spatula

3)An old shirt to dry any drips of water or glue

First I tried peeling off some of the paper since the edges were lifting. That actually worked out best since my brand of paper was somewhat waterproof. Once the I got to the bottom layer of the paper I was able to spray it with water to the point of saturation.

When the paper is saturated, both the paper and the glue begin to weaken, making the whole removal process somewhat easy.

All that was left was to scrape off the rest of the paper with the spatula and vacuum up the mess of shredded paper that fell to the floor!!

Having trouble? For stubborn paper, wet it and then go to the kitchen and have a sandwich or bowl of cereal. After eating said food, return to the room being beautified and spray it again so you can get to work. Sometimes that extra time given to allow the water to seep into the paper really helps. If you let it dry too much though, the extra spray may have been a waste.

Still having trouble? I could try to give more advice however I have only done this that one time in the pictures so try asking someone at a hardware store. They tend to know everything.

Good Luck!

Quick and Easy Craft for Girls Who are Beyond Crayons AND can use Hot Glue Guns

Yes. Long title. Well here it goes. I made this little purse back when I was in maybe later elementary or middle school? I started out with a boring little pouch.

I then took a large enough piece of lace to cover both sides and cut it down a bit and rounded the edges all pretty. I hot glued it at the top and let the sides dangle (with this particular pouch I needed to be able to lift the lace to reach the zipper). I then added some lace edges to hide the zipper and make it look cute.

Then came the ribbon for a handle followed by ribbon around the top to hide where the handle was attached. For a last and final touch I added a tiny fake flower to the handle...

Of course there are many different ways a craft like this can be done. This is just one of many options. Something like this allows a girl to really explore her creative side and feel mature because it is a bit more sophisticated than paper and crayons. You can go to a craft store and just see what kind of cheap little fabrics and nick-nacks they have that could be of use. Or even check scraps you have at home already! There is no telling what you could end up with if you know where to look. Be creative and have fun with it!!

If this inspired a craft of your own, let me know. I'd love to hear all about it!!

Once upon a time....

I'm Marissa. I have always loved making things. I love cooking/baking, doing crafts, drawing and art in general. So here I am. An average person of average skill. I have spent hours, maybe days of my life scouring the web, checking out all sorts of DIY ideas and other nifty things. I always wanted to try them out. Some I have. Sadly they never look quite as I want them do upon completion but I still enjoy doing it. Somewhere along the line I decided maybe I'd start some type of "how- to." My posts probably wont fit into one category. My thoughts and ideas tend to be scattered so my topics may be as well. I will do my very best to make this fun and interesting though. When I make something, it gives me a sense of accomplishment that is rarely rivaled, and I hope that my tutorials can help you experience that feeling. Enjoy!