Costume #17: Ghostbusters!
I had an old pair of coveralls that I got at the thrift store back in December last year; I printed out some appropriate patches and attached them with safety pins. (This is a pretty annoying way to do it; the paper rustles and crinkles and never looks as good as an actual patch-- but it's the cheapest and easiest way to do it. Especially if you want the patches to be removable after.) Then I used strips of neon-yellow duct tape to add stripes on the sleeves and legs.
I actually reused this for the Haunted Hustle, a 5k race I did yesterday, so here's a really poorly lit shot of me posing after the race:
Costume #18: Miss Peacock, in the Thrift Store, with the Wrench
This one was simple but fun; I wore all blue with a peacock pattern scarf, then I borrowed a prop wrench from the store for a murder weapon. I was told by a few coworkers that the result was kind of intimidating so I guess it worked! Maybe I'll have to buy one of those prop wrenches sometime, it was kind of fun to carry around.
Costume #19: Tinkerbell
This dress and the little green wings came from my Mom's costume collection-- she made the dress herself.
I did my hair in a bun, and did simple makeup (though I used a brow liner to with a truly staggering amount of green body glitter (*ahem* pixie dust)-- I think I was leaving a trail of sparkles behind me for the rest of the day.
So it turns out that the best thing about dressing up as Tinkerbell? The adoration of all girls between the ages of 3-7. Lots of kids got really excited to see me, and I overheard one little girl telling her Mom, "I wanna be just like her when I grow up!"
Costume #20: Dorothy
White blouse, blue gingham skirt, a pair of braids-- and I borrowed a pair of red crocs from my Mom. Not exactly a pair of ruby slippers, but it was the only pair of red shoes in the house.
Oh, and I couldn't bring this particular prop to work, but we've got a couple of yorkies at home that finish the look. Though Mignon looks a little wild eyed here to be Toto-- Toto kind of took everything in stride. If it'd been Mignon in the movie, she basically would have barked nonstop and tried to pick fights with the Munchkins.
Costume #21: Gamora
I wanted my very last costume to be something a bit showy, so I picked a challenge for myself. And while there's still a lot of room for improvement-- if you compare this to my first "green" costume, Disgust back in September last year, you can see how much I've improved in my makeup skills from doing this whole thing. I kept the clothes pretty simple because I really didn't have the money for anything crazy--just black clothes with a leather jacket.
I left my hair long and kind of wavy, and used some leftover red hair spray from one of my Mom's costumes to color the ends. The face I did with lots of green eye shadow in four or five different shades-- my Sister is to thank for this; she gave me an awesome makeup kit for Christmas this year and is singlehandedly responsible for me not rubbing my skin in chalk for any of this year's costumes-- and having different shades meant I could get a little more nuanced look. I did the tattoos in black eyeliner but that came out too bold so I covered them up with a thin layer of more green eye shadow.
I couldn't do much about my hands-- eyeshadow doesn't stick to hands very well and I would have made a mess working that way. I thought about wearing gloves but I was so warm with the leather jacket that I couldn't make myself do it.
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And now... it's October. I've been busy, teaching twice as many orchestra classes as I was last year and trying to run my business. I've also been broke because teaching orchestra only pays once a month--so financially, at least, I am very ready for it to be November. I'm kind of stuck between incomes until then.
I had some mixed feelings about leaving the thrift store; sure, it wasn't the work I wanted to be doing, but I did have some good friends among my coworkers there. But in the end, I am so glad that I've moved on. Even if my business is still a long ways away from where I want it to be, even if things are a little lean right now-- more and more every month I'm getting to do what I love, working with kids and with music and with sweet little old ladies that get excited when I sing Johnny Cash. There is such a long way to go-- but the amazing, unbelievable thing is that I'm actually making some kind of progress in the right direction.
I'll have to come up with at least one more costume this year for Halloween, though. After all, I'm an addict now.
