Wacky Wednesday #55—Gum Wrappers

 

I have hundreds of them.

Gum wrappers.

About a year ago I started saving the foil wrappers from my gum habit. I liked their shiny look and I suspected that they could become a dress. And now it’s time to let them shine. When you wear metallic stuff there’s always the chance you’ll end up looking like a giant, foil-wrapped baked potato. But I’m not scared of that possibility. There are worse things in life.

 

Several people asked me how long it took to make this dress. 1 year of collecting. Six hours of sewing and gluing.  

Total cost: less than $3 (zipper on sale, plus hot glue sticks).

I glued the wrappers onto a dress I made from fabric given to me by a friend of a friend (thanks, Rechelle). If you’re wondering why I used blue and white gingham as my base, there is no intended reference to Dorothy’s dress from Wizard of Oz. The fabric was in my stash, it was free, and all of it would be covered by the gum wrappers.

Many of my costume ideas begin when I see something that others might think of as trash, and I say to myself, “That needs to be a costume!” Things most people throw away (gum wrappers) can become something awesome to wear. To me it’s exciting to look at something ordinary in a different way…

 

Today is my 55^th Wacky Wednesday post, and it’s the 52^nd consecutive Wednesday that I’ve worn a costume I made myself. My first three WWs were not on consecutive weeks but on May 6^th last year I started my weekly creations. I’ve done this every week for a year, and it’s been meaningful to me.

This whole thing started quite by accident. A little over a year ago I wore a costume I’d made and it happened to be on a Wednesday. A month later I wore another fun costume, by coincidence also on Wednesday. Those first few times were fun, but I hadn’t planned to do it every Wednesday--until I realized how happy it made me. Before long I began wearing funny things I'd made every Wednesday. Having a platform to show what I make has been wonderful. It’s been a good creative challenge. It’s been fun. It’s brought people laughs--and everyone needs that.

This year has taught me something about finishing projects. In my life I’ve sometimes been a procrastinator, leaving a project unfinished because I felt unsure of how to complete the last 5-10%. But over the last year--because I had a self-imposed deadline each week--I finished costumes, and that alone felt good. Even if the costume wasn’t exactly as I’d envisioned, completing something felt satisfying. I feel proud that I finished so much wearable art in the last year. I’ve loved hearing from friends and strangers that my humor and my creativity entertained them. Making kids laugh or smile each week while in costume has meant a lot to me.

But after today I’m going to take a little break from making costumes every single week. I’ll still make them, but not weekly. I need to recharge. Honestly, I hate the idea of disappointing people who read this blog each week and get a laugh. I still have more WW costume ideas so I’m not stopping—just taking a breath. I plan to keep blogging about parenthood, art, funny moments, and whatever else comes to mind. I have a public art idea that I want to bring to life this spring, and I’ll post photos and stories about that here. To my weekly readers, thank you for reading my blog over the last year. Thanks for giving me feedback in person, or emailing me or posting your comments and letting me know how much you liked my creations. It’s meant more to me than I can say…

Got gum?

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Wacky Wednesday #54: Flower Fields

Even if you don’t live in San Diego county, you may have heard of the famous Flower Fields in Carlsbad, north of San Diego. Today I am dressed as the flower fields, and I’m celebrating the arrival of spring. What’s that? You say it’s always spring in San Diego? You may have a point. We don’t get snow. But honestly, we do have seasons here and it’s clearly spring now. Flowers and plants and trees are all growing new leaves and buds and blossoms and it is beautiful.

Would you like to know more about my hat? It has several recycled elements and I like to share the back story to my creations. Several months ago I was walking past a neighbor’s house and noticed something on the ground next to the trash can. It looked to be in good shape and I wondered why they were throwing away a nearly new hummingbird feeder. I picked it up and brought it home so that I could make up a batch of red sugar water for the local hummingbirds.

Well, upon closer inspection I realized that this item would not feed hummingbirds or any other birds. Because it was a bottle drying rack. Oh. In my defense, there are three explanations:

1)      The bottom part of this stand had leaf patterns on it, which suggested that it was an outdoor feeder.

2)      The parts that hold wet bottles look exactly like the perches on my hummingbird feeder.

3)      It was very early morning when I walked by, so I may not have been 100% awake.

Once I understood that my neighbor was tricking me and this was not a bird feeder, I immediately saw that it could be a hat for a nature-themed costume. The plastic green parts look like flower stems. Problem solved. (And I already have a bird feeder, so really, this was all for the best…)

Most elements of my costume I already had. My dress is made from fabric in my sewing stash, felt, paint and buttons I already had. A neighbor left some silk flowers by the curb so I grabbed them for my costume. I did buy a few things to create this. Total cost of costume: $4 for hot glue sticks and felt.

It’s fun to make things from recycled materials. For this week’s hat most of my materials are recycled. I love how it all turned out!

These plastic caps are from shaving cream bottles. I’ve saved them for a year or so because they were such cheery colors and I had a feeling that they wanted to become art someday.

This daffodil started as a tiny take out cup of salsa. I took it home, washed it and sat it down for a heart-to-heart chat about how each small plastic container eventually will become a mature flower.

To make other flowers I used paper baking cups, pipe cleaners, glossy ads, magazine pages, felt, hot glue, cardboard food boxes, bottle caps and broken plastic spoons. 

And you know the famous saying: when life hands you broken clothes pins, make them into flowers.

To make this week’s experience authentic, I took a field trip to the flower fields yesterday. (I’ve chaperoned field trips for school that involved museums, theatrical productions, historical tours and visits to the library—no fields involved. I like putting the field back in field trips.) There are more than 50 acres of flowers there—mostly Giant Tecolote Ranunculus in thirteen different colors. They are shipped all over the world.

During my visit I decided to do some plein air painting, which means I painted on site. I want to do this more often--after all, I am an artist. And we have loads of great places in San Diego to paint outdoors. While there I finished one painting on water color paper, and also painted part of my dress. A good Tuesday.

I hope I’ve inspired you to go skip among the blooming flowers. Go! (Right now.) Happy Spring, y’all!

 

 

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Wacky Wednesday #53: Emojis

 

 

 

Emojis are a big thing these days. If you have spent any time on a smart phone or computer, you have seen emojis. (And if you haven’t been on a computer lately, you must be reading this on engraved stone tablets.) This blog post first took form a couple of months ago, when I tried to make a happy face stamp out of a recycled Styrofoam tray. I imagined covering a dress with happy faces. It didn’t turn out quite how I wanted so the idea sat on the back burner while I made loads of other costumes.

 

But a few weeks ago this costume returned to the front of my mind and morphed into a slightly different form. A friend who is a teacher emailed me a photo of something one of her students wrote. It was a helpful list of ideas for me for future Wacky Wednesday costumes. I guessed that this was a female student because she dotted each letter i with a heart. One of her suggestions was emojis, and this felt like a wonderful spin on the happy face idea I already had simmering in my mind. So, young lady in Ms. Doyle’s class, thank you for wanting to help me. Good job on using your imagination to come up with dozens of ideas. It seems to me that you are a creative soul, so run with that. I want to encourage you (and all young kids) to follow your heart when it comes to what you like to do. Don’t spend a lot of time worrying about whether others think your interests are cool enough—do what you love, and I promise you this: you will be much happier inside.

 

And now back to emojis and today’s costume. At the thrift store I found two shirts that were similar shades of yellow (which many emojis are—the faces, anyway), and I decided to cut them and refashion them into an emoji shirt and skirt.

 

 

 

I pride myself on making fun costumes without spending a ton of cash. Here’s today’s costume total:

 

Button-down shirt (thrifted)        $3.50

Tee shirt (thrifted)                          $2.00

_______________________________

Total spent                                       $5.50

 

In my mind, that’s a whole lot of happy without a lot of hurt to the wallet.

(I already had thread, hot glue, permanent markers and paint so I don’t include them in my total).

How do you make a skirt from an oxford shirt? Cut a horizontal line below the sleeves. Voila.

 

 

My youngest wanted to help and surprised me with this winking emoji, so I made it into a bracelet.

 

 

Why are emojis so popular? I assume that one of the first emojis was the classic happy face, which certainly has appeal. No matter which language you speak, you understand what a happy face means. In 2016 many of us comment on other people’s images online—people who may live on the other side of the earth, speaking a language we don’t know. Using symbols gets around this challenge. Perhaps this is one reason that emojis—with their international set of symbols—have become ubiquitous. Or maybe emojis work well these days because many of us want to convey a sentiment quickly, rather than typing out a few sentences. A smiley face, or a sad face or a heart (or any one of hundreds of emojis) is a quick response to something, and it does convey a mood. Or maybe emojis are just a fun trend. Who knows? I use them daily. They are a way to communicate and they’re cute. Win, win.

 

 

I hope I’ve put a smile on your face today (and not a sad, crying emoji). It’s been fun, but it’s time for me to say goodbye. See you next Wednesday.

 

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Back to the Swaddle Again

My sister and her husband just welcomed another baby. Everyone is thrilled. Even though babies are born every day, it still fills me with wonder to see newborns—so small, but completely formed little people. They are fragile and strong, simultaneously. I am full of awe, gazing at the tiny human being that my sister grew inside her body. Holding my nephew for the first time is something that’s hard to put to words. It’s beautiful. It’s deeply meaningful. I’m in love…

Now there are two little boys in our family: my older nephew is seventeen months, and my new nephew is only a couple of weeks old. Until the new baby arrived, my older nephew looked like a baby. Now he looks giant—a little boy who wears pants and shoes and has tons of hair and suddenly is the big brother, even while in many ways, he is still a baby.  But I suppose in life many things are relative.

I wrote a blog post when my older nephew was a few weeks old. At the time, my role as aunt was brand-new and I was still pinching myself to see if I was dreaming. These days, I’m accustomed to being an aunt: to noticing the small changes in my older nephew—the growth of his hair, the development of teeth, his milestones…I no longer pinch myself. It’s a dream to have nephews, but I’m wide awake.

It’s a joy to experience it all over again with my new baby nephew. I see photos of him swaddled snugly in a blanket, his body content to be curled up and cozy, as he was in utero for nine months. Swaddling involves wrapping a baby in a blanket, so that he or she is warm and feels safe. The swaddle technique comes back to you, even if it’s been years. I still know exactly where to position a newborn on the blanket, how to wrap, and where to tuck in the end of the blanket so it will stay closed. A lot of these skills bob right back up to the surface when you’re holding a newborn again. And some tendencies never seem to leave. I still find myself swaying at times while waiting in line—literally moving back and forth because I swayed while holding my own babies for so long. I don’t have babies anymore but I still sway. Go figure.

My sister and brother-in-law definitely have their hands full. They are blessed with two sweet, healthy boys, and are so grateful for the babies. But it’s a lot of work. Harder than when I had mine three years apart (and that was hard!). Still, as I tell all parents with newborns: it will get easier. It really will.

I’ve asked for advice for my sister from friends who had babies close together—eighteen months apart, or fifteen months apart. They don’t deny that it was tough at first, but they offer encouragement to parents in the same position. They talk about how emotionally close their kids are. The kids bonded well, played together, and shared so many stages. During those tiring months with a newborn, it’s important to have faith that the hard times now will give way to a close-knit bond between the kids. It will get easier, and it will be wonderful.

The title for this post came to me while I was out walking. For a few days I’d been pondering title ideas and this one surfaced when I wasn’t thinking specifically about it. Nice when that happens. Now, if you’ll sing along to the verse I’ve written, it’s to the tune by Gene Autry, “Back in the Saddle Again.”

We’re back to the swaddle again
Out where the diapers never end
Where the newborns feed
At slow or fast speed
We’re back to the swaddle again

I love singing funny lyrics. But on a serious note, I feel so thankful that the baby is safely here, that he is doing fine, and is giving all of us a chance to experience again the joy that a baby brings. All of us are so happy to welcome this darling boy into the family. We are delighted to be back to the swaddle again… 

Wacky Wednesday #52: Bowling

Let’s bowl! Today I am wearing bowling pins and a few bowling balls. (Not real bowling balls, of course—they weigh 6-16 pounds each and I’m not that much of a glutton for punishment.) How did this costume come about? I saw plastic toy bowling sets in two different stores and took this as a sign that I should turn them into a costume. They tick many boxes for my costume requirements: they’re colorful, they’re playful, they’re unexpected on a dress, they’re inexpensive, and hopefully they make others laugh.

Bowling is something I like to do but don’t do often. I’m not good at it but I think it’s fun. I like that it’s not an exclusive, costly activity that only the wealthy can afford to do. So while my bowling score could be mistaken for winter temperatures in a snowy climate, I’m okay with that. For me, the fun of an activity is not about high scores—it’s about laughing and camaraderie.

 

I love the 1950s neon signs outside some bowling alleys—they are bright and stylized and playful. Roadside signs from that era are eye-catching. Here are a few of my favorites:  

Village Bowl, via Recapturist.com

The Aztec Bowl sign above was preserved after the alley was demolished in order to build housing. It is near where I lived once upon a time, and I was so glad that they kept the sign. It gives the complex more personality to have a piece of the past incorporated into its design.

One aspect of bowling alleys that I really like is that they don’t tend to get makeovers every seven years, like hotels and malls do. They look roughly the same way they did in the 1950s. It’s all about the game, not about fancy fixtures, and I appreciate that fact.

 

To make this costume, I hot glued plastic bowling pins to a hat I made of felt. The pins came with two plastic balls, but I gave them a makeover with sparkly nail polish. Bowling balls often have a sparkly or marbled look and I wanted to give them this effect. I made my necklace out of small plastic bowling pins, and my dress I made from fabric in my sewing stash. I painted the back with the word “BOWL” in a style I’ve seen on bowling signs from the 1950s. The front of my dress shows a bowling alley. The Internet had lots of photos for me to use as reference. I used permanent marker and acrylic paint to create the lanes. 

I always try to make costumes for as little money as I can. For me, it’s part of the challenge: making something memorable by using my imagination, not my wallet. Today’s costume is no exception:

Cost for this costume:

4 miniature plastic bowling sets:                                   $ 4.30

Dress (from fabric and paint I already had):                $    0

Zipper                                                                                 $ 1.50

Hot glue sticks:                                                                  $   .50

Total spent:                                                                        $ 6.30

People really liked this costume. The hat seemed to entertain people, and several people I didn’t know liked it so much they hugged me. I’m fine with that, and it moved me that my humor reached people in this way.

 

P.S.  I thought I’d finished writing this post earlier this week. But I had a fun conversation earlier today and I want to tell about it here. Today at noon I stopped by a local bowling alley to take a few photos of me in my bowling dress and hat. The place was packed. I was surprised because when I’ve bowled it’s usually been with my kids in the daytime, and we must have gone at their quiet times. Today there were more than one hundred bowlers--two senior leagues, I learned. Some people smiled as they saw my hat, and all the bowlers were chatting and having fun. A woman approached me, introduced herself as Jayne and asked about my costume. Jayne and her friends were celebrating Willy’s birthday and wondered about my outfit. She thought the birthday boy might like to hear the story of my costume, so I followed her and then I sang “Happy Birthday” to Willy (who was very surprised but said this certainly would be a memorable birthday!).   

I love it when people ask about what I’ve made or tell me they like it. I’ve said it before: humor is something that brings people together. Seeing people’s reactions to my creation gave me a big boost. It reinforces what I believe: that people are meant to be with others. We may not need other people the way we once did, in hunter-gatherer societies where team work was essential. But we benefit greatly from being around others. Making each other laugh, or just saying hi to someone, bonds people. Bowl together, if that’s your thing. Or sing together. Throw a ball together. Laugh. Talk. Connect.  

 

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Wacky Wednesday #51: Origami

I am not an Origami expert. By any stretch of the imagination.

But I like trying new creative techniques and today I am wearing the origami creations I made this week.

When I was about ten years old, a young woman from Japan stayed with us for a weekend during her first trip to America. Her name was Miyuki and she brought us some origami paper to fold into stunning three-dimensional shapes.

Unfortunately, I made folded two-dimensional shapes that looked like notes you’d pass in class. They weren’t stunning. But they were colorful.

Over the years I may have tried origami once or twice more but it’s safe to say that my skills are no more advanced than when I was ten. I do love seeing the brightly colored squares of Origami paper in my local craft stores. Some have patterns or are metallic. They beckon but I’ve resisted. I wonder if that’s because origami involves following a precise recipe with specific rules, and I like making up my own art techniques as I go.
 

But I decided to give it a try this week. This morning I hot glued my creations to some felt and made a necklace and head piece to wear as accessories. Here’s how it all turned out: 

 

 

The timing of my origami accessories is not coincidental. Last night we came back from six days in the Midwest, visiting relatives. I wanted to make something to wear today and I decided that I'd create something that was lightweight and easy to transport. I also wanted to work on a theme that didn't require electricity, as I planned to do some of my creating while on an airplane. Origami fit the bill nicely, as it's lightweight, small, and can be done on an airplane without a hot glue gun (unlike many of my creations). The upside to doing origami for three hours while on an airplane is that it distracts you from looking at the time every fifteen minutes to see how much longer you’ll be stuck on the plane. The downside is that if you are seated on the aisle (as I was), you have to pick up all your papers and stand up every time someone needs the bathroom. Still, I managed to make a couple dozen creations and it did pass the time.


The paper instructions from the package were not very helpful but there is a great resource called the Internet, which had lots of tutorials for origami. I ran into the dilemma of whether to use  folding techniques only, which is what origami purists would favor, or whether I'd choose to fold and also to cut the paper. I ended up doing a mix of the two techniques. Paper crafts using cutting and gluing are called kirigami (whereas origami is folding only) but I decided to mix and match and not stress out over the whole thing. 


Origami has its origins in Japanese culture dating back to the Edo period (1603-1867). I love that the basic technique hasn't changed in four hundred years. Folding paper to create something playful or beautiful is such a nice concept, and I like that it doesn't require technology or electricity. Believe me, I love technology and electricity! Especially together. But it's refreshing to use neither one to create something with your hands.


If you've ever held a piece of origami paper, you know that this paper is lightweight. This means that it is easier to fold than heavy weight paper is. Therefore it also holds the crisp folds better than a thicker paper would. Having a crisp fold contributes to the overall effect of whatever you are making. The shape is more defined and the individual parts all work better together if you've made good creases in your paper.

 

The shapes I made include cat face, fox, butterflies (I did lots since they are easy), hearts, box, leaves, flowers and jets. The hardest shape I made was the crane. It took longer than the other shapes and even watching the technique on YouTube confused me. But I associate origami with cranes and I was determined to finish one. Here is my lavender crane:

Cranes symbolize love in Japanese culture. They mate for life and are considered a lucky symbol in Japanese wedding ceremonies. Some brides (and grooms) make 1,000 origami cranes before their wedding, a tradition believed to bestow longevity on a marriage. It can take a beginning origami crafter 100 hours to make 1,000 cranes, so bridal couples intent on following this tradition start working on their cranes months ahead of time. (Given my very slow pace at making a crane, I can confirm that it could easily take six minutes to make one crane, or ten per hour, so 100 hours for 1,000 cranes is not an exaggeration. Sure, you'd get better and faster with practice, but this definitely could take a while...)


The paper I used for this project came in many bright colors. I didn't buy a package with metallic prints or other patterns on the paper, but these are beautiful, too. Given how much I love color, this project has been fun for me. It's also been challenging. It still amazes me how many three-dimensional things you can make out of a flat piece of paper. I'm always interested in new creative techniques. It's a good challenge and it's also good gymnastics for the brain. Like cross word puzzles and all the other activities that are supposed to keep our minds nimble.


Today I told someone about spending several hours on a plane last night, making origami. I joked that my body feels like origami today—all my joints feel tightly folded. I was on two airplanes yesterday, and sitting still for that long will make your joints feel stiff. I’m not thrilled to feel tired and inflexible today, but it does feel fitting that my paper and my body both did origami together! 


It is unlikely that my new (basic) origami skills will lead to my making a scale model of the White House from origami paper. Or a life-sized peacock from a single sheet of paper. But I’m proud of my crane, the trickiest thing I made this week, and I had fun making all the figures.


Now my crane and butterflies and I are going to fly off to bring color and maybe a little luck to all those we see...

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Wacky Wednesday #50—Easter Eggs

Easter is this Sunday and today I am a walking, talking Easter egg hunt.

Kids all over the world will search for Easter eggs in a few days and since I’m a kid at heart I may join in the hunt!

 

 

It gave me a boost to create this costume because spring colors, like these Easter eggs, are so cheerful: full of life and color. Spring is a season of new life and the spring colors are pure joy, from dyed eggs to blooming flowers in all shades of the rainbow. Color is an instant mood boost and this costume put me in a great mood.

The lime green fabric I used for dress and grass is the same fabric my adorable neighbor gave me last month, which became my green eggs and ham hat three weeks ago. (If you thought it looked familiar you were not imagining things…) The Easter eggs are ones I’ve had for years, ones we use each year during egg hunts, then stash back in the garage until the following spring. I made a few colorful eggs out of felt because the back of my dress needed eggs too, but I decided that sitting on breakable plastic eggs would not contribute to my happy vibe.

 

This outfit was made mostly from things I already had: chicken wire for my hat’s structure, felt and plastic Easter eggs. The dress fabric was given to me, as were the beads for my sunglasses (I thought the beads looked a little like Easter eggs). I did buy a few more Easter eggs and some hot glue sticks, but the total cost to make this was $5. A lot of people seemed to like this costume and I’d say it was worth every penny to share some cheer with my community.

 

As I think about Easter eggs, I remember egg hunts I went to as a child. Believe it or not, I was a very shy kid when I was young. I got over that when I hit double digits but I remember the egg hunts I attended in my single digit years. I wasn’t an aggressive kid who raced for the eggs with the killer instinct of a hard core competitor. This meant that I ended up with very few eggs! It’s okay. My aunts and grandparents made sure I had tons of Easter treats. But it’s funny to remember how cautious my egg-hunting approach was. Hunting for eggs is a fun activity and it makes me happy just to see brightly-colored plastic eggs. These eggs haven’t changed at all since the 80s, when I was a kid, and they instantly transport me back to other egg hunts, and the magic of discovering something hidden in the grass. It’s pure happiness.

Today’s costume is all about the fun of wearing Easter eggs, but I do have other another funny (related) story to share, if anyone’s interested. A few years ago I blogged about my brief experience as a mall Easter Bunny when I was in my twenties. If you need a laugh (and yes, of course you do), here’s the post I wrote four Easters ago about bunny-hood:

http://frecklefacedwordwoman.blogspot.com/2012/03/secrets-of-mall-bunny-march-29-2012.html

Whatever you’re celebrating this season, have a happy spring. May it bring lots of color to your world, fun surprises to your day, and new life to your soul…

 

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