Costume BREAKdown

Hey Crafters!

On this beautiful Cincinnati Halloween day, I'll spin you a crafty tale of my scary (drunken) exploits in "The Tale of How I Became Frida Kahlo".

I had been preparing all week a mighty cool Dia de los Muertos couple for my fella and me. I did test runs of both skull make up and hair. John and I went thrifting for suits, dresses, and accessories. I bought the orange dress to the left, decided I didn't actually want to wear it, cut it into chunks, and made it into a pocket square and a sash with fringe for John and a knotted scarf for myself. I glued the boutonniere (at right) for John that matched my headdress (pictured below, tutorial to come).

And on Friday evening before going to our big shindig I started in on my hair, which took a little longer than expected but that was no big deal. I began applying make up and let me tell you, I have been so spoiled by theatrical make up that the cheap grocery store make up really made me sad that this is what most Americans use on their kiddos. It was thick, waxy, and difficult to put on. I scolded myself for forgetting my stage make up kit at my parents home this year. I was racing the clock by the end of my my application since I still had to glue my purple false eyelashes on and do my fella's makeup but after all those years in college doing other people's stage make up at the last minute I knew I could do it. I started to powder and this is where my evening took a turn. 

Earlier in the week when I had done my make up test run, I must have use just a bit of flesh colored powder to set since I wasn't going anywhere in it. But on Friday evening I loaded up my powder puff and *poof* fleshy spot on my white skeleton make up (picture at right). I should have known better and used baby powder since its white and would have gone right over, but I was trying to cut a corner. Ung. So, I had a mini freak out knowing that I did not have time to redo my makeup and do John's, so he talks me down from the ledge and asks me if I have an extra head band. While he is soothing my freaked out self he manages to make himself a pair of cardboard ears. He reminds me that its not a big deal and, even though he appreciates the work I did during the week, he is happy with anything. He suggests that I go as Frida Kahlo (who I love) so I can use the rest of my costume and he went as a panda (and I still did his make up, haha).

Here we are, late in the evening after I'd had too many drinks, sporting both a unibrow and mustache and John with his own crafty, 3-minute panda ears.

Happy Halloween! BK

PS I entered a costume contest where the crowd went from cheering the last person off to a steep drop in noise and booing me and my unibrow. I may have yelled "Go back to middle school art class, you plebes!"