Doily Art

I have to admit that my poor little desk area took a beating in grad school, and was left deserted for a few months after I graduated. However, I am now gainfully employed and working from home, so I needed to spruce up my workspace. I saw this inspiration post on Pinterest, and decided to make some art for above my desk.

Inspiration:

My version: 

The inspiration post used peel & stick doilies. I didn't find any of these at the craft store, so I used regular paper doilies (these are often found in the baking/cake decorating section). I already had my two canvases and some metallic paint, so this was a very cheap project! I painted the canvas first, then painted all of the doilies before gluing them on with Mod Podge. I sealed the whole canvas with glossy Mod Podge afterwards. I think they look pretty great, and you really can't get much easier than this. 

Halloween Costume: Toddler in Tiara

Hi Craftsters!

After a rather long hiatus, I'm trying to get back on the blogging wagon. I have a lot of old projects to get caught up on... first up, my 2012 Halloween costume. I'm not really one for the kind of skin-tight, revealing costumes that seem to be popular among my age group, and usually try to go for something ridiculous and funny (see my owl costume from last year.) This year, I decided to be a toddler-in-tiara. This is a pretty funny costume in general, and the fact that I'm really short (and therefore somewhat toddler-like) makes it even funnier.

A basic breakdown of things I found, what I did to them, and how much it cost:

1) The dress. This was a fabulous find. I got this green velvet beauty for $7 at a thrift store. Pre-bedazzling, it already had an off-the-shoulder cut, some sparkle, and was a little poofy. I used some super-strength craft glue to add plastic crystals (from my local craft store, probably about $10) all over, as well as some rather ridiculous pink flower things I found on sale.
2) Adding some poof. While the bedazzled dress was pretty fantastic, it needed some poof to bring it up to true toddler-in-tiara fashion. I made a tutu using this method, and was able to use up some tulle my friend had left over from a bridal shower. It ended up being much larger than I expected, but actually worked to make me look even more ridiculous than anticipated.
3) Sash. Obviously I would rock at being a toddler-in-tiara, so I had to give myself a title. I turned a bachelorette party sash inside-out and used iron-on letters to give myself a "Mini Supreme" title.
4) Accessories. White ballet flats ($11 at Payless- I conveniently discovered I can still wear children's shoes, which are way cheaper than adult shoes.), lacy socks ($3 at Payless), plastic crown ($5 at Claire's).

Add some super-sized hair and a whole lot of makeup, and ta-da!

Don't forget... pretty feet and cupcake hands!