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Weekly Reads and Finds
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I completely forgot that A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness was turned in to a tv show, so I get an event filled evening of catching up on the episodes. Yep, my Friday nights are pretty exciting 😉
Tom bought some early Halloween candy to have around the house and I keep finding it in hidden spots because Merle is stashing it everywhere to hoard it. Little does she know that I steal some of it every time I find it and put it in my own little stash.
I have a fun-filled weekend of finishing the Halloween costumes. Attempt 2 of the witch hat is already looking a million times better and it’s only 1/6 done. I’m hoping that the rest of the outfits goes just as smoothly. I actually managed to get this post done early this afternoon to start sewing. I’ve never had one done that far in advance before posting. And I am sadly not joking. #progress
Weekly Reads and Finds
I seriously can’t believe the weekend is here already. For some reason this week flew by and I have no idea why. I’m sitting in my “office” and by office I mean at my desk that is in the living area directly across from the bathroom :/ and surveying the disaster that is about. So.Much.Crap. I don’t even know where to put most of it. I was dreading taking down the Christmas tree because there is now an empty spot there, and to Tom empty spot = a good spot to pile more shit. So far it has remained empty but I am not feeling optimistic.
Above are some more spring new arrivals and inspirations pieces that either I have or have caught my eye.
What I Wore This Week
Outfit 1 – Check blazer (really old so it totally pays to keep things sometimes) similar style | Band Tee (similar) | Cropped Jeans • Mango (plus size) | Booties Ecco | Purse • Botkier |
Outfit 2 – My Carmen Sandiego inspired outfit | Fedora | Trench | Black Blouse | Dark Skinny Jeans | Loafers | Purse |
Outfit 3 – Lace Peplum top (plus size) | Leather Jacket | Boyfriend Jeans | Loafers | Purse |
Outfit 4 – Band Tee • Junk Food Clothing (similar) | Oversized Cardigan | Boyfriend Jeans | Knit Beanie | Adidas | Purse |
SHOP THE POST
On Saturday there was a Halloween event nearby so Merle got to try on and test out her costume. It was a success and you can see it above (here is my diy for the Cousin It bucket). She is all about the costumes while her sister is just more about that candy (always has been) and I guarantee by the time for bed on Halloween night she will already be thinking about what she wants to dress up for next year.
Also on Saturday night I decided that it was a most excellent idea to move the living room around. And by most excellent I obviously mean not the brightest idea. I wanted to make room for the Christmas tree and figured it was a good time to start. I ended up too tired and going bed before I finished so I had to deal with the mess on Sunday morning which totally sucked. I also ended up scratching the shit out of my knuckles when my hands got stuck moving a desk. Good times. I think the result is pretty good though. Much roomier aside from the fact that there are 4 baskets of laundry in there to be folded and put away. I so hate folding and putting away laundry.
It was so cold in my bedroom last night I had to build a tent of pillows and blankets around my face with only a breathing hole. It’s my favourite way to sleep, so I am happy it’s cold enough now. Do you like to sleep in a freezing room?
My 12 (almost 13) year old wants to read IT, but I don’t want to let her yet because of some super graphic scenes. I haven’t read much of his stuff because I scare easily, but she seems to have more of her dad’s tastes in movies and books. Is there a Stephen King book that isn’t quiet as bad as that one? What about Pet Cemetery, Kujo, or Carrie? If you have read any of those? Will it be too scary for a kid that has a pretty high tolerance for scary stuff?
Last year I bought Merle this cat Feisty Pet from Vat 19 (she loves Vat19 and watches their Youtube videos all the time). So if you are looking for an inexpensive gift for people/kids with unique tastes this may be for them. They are pretty awesome eh?
Who is going out on November 1st to buy all the mark down Halloween candy?
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DIY Cousin It Trick or Treat Bucket
I am going to preface this by saying I did not come up with this idea. I copied it from someone else who is obviously way more creative than I am and you can see their video here.
I am not creative enough to come up with ideas, but I can copy fairly well…..sometimes.
Sometimes it turns out really bad. Like, pretend it never happened bad.
This inability applies to all areas of creativity with me.
In school when given creative writing papers to do I always drew a blank, but I kicked ass at research papers.
In art when told to create something I never could, but put up something on the overhead (dating myself?) and tell me to replicate it?
I’d do my best, which often wasn’t a bad imitation depending on the amount of skill needed 😉
It is what it is, and I am aware of that weakness which makes me thankful for the Internet because there are all kinds of things I can try to reproduce.
This is one.
I love Addams family costumes (especially the Addams family themed costumes) and Merle wants Wednesday Addams costume for Halloween.
While I think she is going to look super cute beacsue Wednesday Addams is like her alter ego, a Wednesday Addams kids costume is a relatively easy Halloween costume.
I think this Cousin It trick-or-treat bucket is the perfect way to make it obvious who she is.
I also am bad at photography an obviously timing because:
a) it’s pushing it for Halloween costume DIY’s, and
b) I decided to do this project on a Saturday evening on my balcony when the sun was starting to go down.
I also had to make an emergency run to Walmart to get another ball of wool* because I needed two.
*I’m going to note that I think my issue with needing another ball of yarn was because the type I bought was really thin and he looked like he was balding. If you get an average thickness of yarn you probably will be okay with one ball.
These were the supplies I used:
- one trick or treat bucket pumpkin or cauldron.
- top hat (found one at the costume store for a couple of dollars)
- Tan colour yarn – one ball. Maybe two if thin.
- Duct tape. I had one light colour roll and one black.
- Cheap black sunglasses
- glue gun
- scissors
These were the steps:
- Cut the top off of the top hat but leave a small border along the edges.
- Cut the plastic handle off of the bucket.
- Braid a length of yarn that will be long enough to use as a handle for the bucket.
- After braided feed the ends through where the handle was and knot off to make secure.
- Wrap yarn looped from elbow over your hand (like you are winding rope) 50 times and set aside.
- You are going to repeat this until you have 6-8 of these bunches of 50 loops. You may need a couple of extra if it seems like the hair isn’t thick enough.
- Take one loop at a time and cut one end.
- Then lay out the cut length flat and organize and straighten the yarn into a neat line. Take a piece of light colour duct tape long enough to lay over the ends of the row of yarn and press yarn on to it to make secure.
- Take the strip of duct tape with yarn and wrap it around one side of the bucket about halfway down. Repeat that step with the second strip of duct tape and yarn, and place on the opposite side so they slightly overlap at sides to make sure bucket is covered.
- Turn the bucket upside down and cover with pieces of duct tape to hide the orange so you can’t see it through the yarn.
- Repeat steps 7-9 placing the yarn higher up the bucket each time so that it overlaps the previous row. I did this a 3rd time as well and placed it around the top edge of the bucket.
- Decide how the hat will look best and use the glue gun to attach. Make sure that the handle is hanging out the top. My glue gun wasn’t working very well so I also used black duct tape along the inside edge of the hat to attach it firmly to the bucket and yarn.
- Close the arms on the glasses and place it on the front where you want them to be. Use a pen to mark the tape where the arms are on the glasses. Cut a small hole on each side of the bucket where you marked the tape and slide the arms through the plastic.
- Trim the length of the hair (I still need to do this) and he is good to go.
Cousin It Trick or Treat Bucket DIY
I think this is the perfect addition for Merle’s Wednesday Addams costume and if you are a super creative person (unlike me) you probably can come up with some other good character bucket options.
I’ll post an updated picture of her when she is in full costume with the bucket. Updated: the picture is at the top now.
Have a great weekend!
