Wacky Wednesday #78—The Very Hungry Caterpillar

 

Even if you’re not around young kids very much, it’s likely that you know Eric Carle’s children’s book The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Carle has a distinct illustration style in all his books, and his playful illustrations are a beautiful match to his stories. Recently I decided to create an outfit celebrating Carle’s book.

For those unfamiliar with the story, here is a brief summary. A caterpillar pops out of an egg, and is very hungry, so he searches for food. On Monday he eats through one apple, but he is still hungry. On Tuesday he eats through two pears, but he is still hungry. The story continues and after a week of eating all kinds of things, the caterpillar is much bigger. He builds a cocoon around himself, and stays in for more than two weeks. When he emerges, he is a butterfly.

Almost every kiddo I saw today knew the story, and some of the adults did, too.



These are the illustrations from Carle's book. I tried to capture the same playful feel in the fruit I painted.

Carle's lollipop is on the left. On the right is my recreation, using foam and paint.

Another page from Carle's book.

A little history about this beloved book: Carle wrote it in 1969, and more than 44 million copies of it have been sold since. He has illustrated more than 70 books, most of which he also wrote.

For me, this story stands out among the hundreds of books I read as a child. The illustrations are so clear, and the colors vivid and rich. The story is told thoughtfully, in language a small child can understand. I also love that the story shows change in a way that isn’t scary—but as a natural, good thing. My kids loved The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Every kid I know loves this book.

This is the back of my outfit, showing the caterpillar, his cocoon and the butterfly he becomes.

Today it was great fun to wear the work of the imaginative Eric Carle, and I hope you enjoy this outfit as much as I’ve enjoyed making and wearing it.

Wacky Wednesday #77—Alphabet Soup

Did you eat Alphabet Soup as a kid? I remember being delighted that there were letters in my soup. Tiny pasta letters.

 

Fast forward a few years and today I’m wearing my love of soup.

 

 

My bowl of soup has spilled onto my clothes, but hey—sometimes this happens when your soup bowl is on your head.

Most alphabet soups have light-colored pasta letters but I like a lot of color and so my soup is a rainbow of letters.

Playing with your food isn’t exactly encouraged. But listen—I’m a playful gal. So play I will.

 

By some online accounts, alphabet soup actually dates back to 1867.

 

Here’s an ad for alphabet soup from 1968. I think it’s adorable.

 

Soup really brings me back to lunches at my grandparents’ house, when lunch was always a hot meal—a cup of soup and a half sandwich. I still love soup.

 

All ingredients supplies for my spilled soup were ones I had on hand already. But if I had to put a cost on this costume, I spent roughly 30 cents on hot glue sticks and 50 cents on felt. Total: 80 cents. Cheaper than a dented can of soup with the label half ripped off, relegated to the store’s sale rack.

Hey, spills happen. But as the famous saying goes: don’t cry over spilled soup.

Wacky Wednesday #76: Trivia

 

 

Today I’m wearing trivia. (I was forced to because all my other clothes are covered in strawberry jam. Don’t ask.) January 4^th is National Trivia Day in the USA. Really! The following pieces of trivia are ones I handpicked from various sources and I hope you have fun with some of these surprising facts.

 

 

Why do we humans like trivia? I can’t speak for everyone, but I’ve noticed that most people seem to get a kick out of learning something that may not have been covered in school. Or maybe we appreciate trivia because we like to be surprised, and lots of trivia pieces include an unexpected element. Or because our brains are designed to be curious.

What’s your favorite piece of trivia?

New Year…New Paintings…(And Old Messes!)

Happy New Year, everybody.

It’s my first blog post of the year, and I’m attempting to keep it short and brilliant. Or at least short.

Yesterday I started the new year out with something I began doing regularly last year: plein air painting. For those of us whose French language skills start and end with croissant, plein air refers to painting outdoors. Here in San Diego you can paint outdoors almost every day of the year, and I hope to do dozens of these paintings in the coming year.

Here’s the painting I did yesterday at La Jolla Shores beach, which is a beautiful spot that attracts visitors as well as locals. There were a lot of people there yesterday, and many stopped to peek at my painting. Some even asked first if it was okay to look, which I found charming. Who says manners are dead?

 

 

It was fun to talk with people who stopped. The only problem is that most of my paintings go through an awkward stage at some point, when they look like a hot mess before everything comes together. Having people watch the awkward stage is tricky but I got through it and they didn’t seemed scarred by the ordeal, either.

In case you’re curious, I painted this with acrylic paints on watercolor paper.

I wouldn’t say that doing more painting this year is actually a resolution. But if it were, I’d have to say that 38 hours into the new year, I’m honoring my goals. Of course, this doesn’t explain why I’ve ignored my multiple Reminders To Self to clean out the unruly wad of stuff crammed into my wallet from last year. Coupons that are probably over a year old. Bandaids. Receipts (just in case). Cleaning out last year’s wallet debris is tedious. And aren’t we supposed to be looking forward at the year to come, not back?

I’ll make you a deal. I promise to clean out the wallet mess sometime this year.

Probably.

Wacky Wednesday #75—Christmas Tree Hat

Surprise! I’m back with another blog post, even though last week I threatened to take a two week break from blogging. But you see, I came across some battery-operated lights at home, and they demanded to be worn and before I knew it, I was repurposing a Wacky Wednesday hat from a few months back…into a Christmas tree!

Last week I felt ready to take a break from costumes for a couple of weeks. I had zero intention of making something to wear today. But yesterday I had an unsettling realization. I noticed that I’d posted blogs 49 times in 2016, and somehow this did not sit well with me. That number felt anticlimactic. Unfinished. 50 sounded like a complete set, so I decided I could squeeze out one more post this calendar year. Yep, I know that’s a strange reason for posting, but hey, I’m being honest, and my strangeness is just one of the reasons you love me!

It took only fifteen minutes to turn this hat into its current incarnation. Usually I glue my costumes and hats but this one is intended to be temporary and under those circumstances, duct tape is an excellent solution: fast and strong, but temporary. I felt victorious. With only fifteen minutes I’d created a tall, festive hat, and since all supplies used were already on hand, this cost $0 to create. I did a Christmas happy dance.

And then the photo session began. That’s when the trouble started. Apparently it’s an airtight law of the universe that when your costume only takes 15 minutes to make, capturing it in a photo takes a zillion hours. Sigh. The first photos weren’t bad, but I felt like they didn’t capture how bright the lights were. So I took some photos in a darkened room. All were annoyingly blurry. I attempted to persuade one of my kids to take my photo. Major resistance. Then I decided that I didn’t like the way the lights were spaced on the tree so I took it apart and started again. I made the room darker to showcase the lights. More blurry photos. I set up the camera in a new spot and promptly tripped over a big crate I’d forgotten I’d left on the floor. “SON OF A REINDEER!” I shrieked with frustration. Next came photos with the tip of the tree cut off. Photos with the right side of the tree missing. I glared at my camera and through clenched teeth growled, “You piece of candy cane!” Finally I had a few photos I could use, but at what cost? I was exhausted, as though I’d given birth to a six-foot tall Santa, complete with beard and hat.

Yet the show must go on. And now that I’m sitting down again, downloading photos, I feel fine. Here are a few photos that (kind of) capture the magic of my Christmas Tree Hat. 

 

Hey—anybody have a sleigh and reindeer I can borrow?

Wacky Wednesday #74—Twelve Days of Christmas

I love a good story. Writing one. Reading one. Or wearing one.

Today’s dress is a story—a song you can wear.

Many people are familiar with the song “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” but in case you are not, here is a brief description. The song tells about different presents given each day for twelve days. The tune repeats and it is simultaneously sweet and funny (especially if you forget which line comes next, as I often do). Months ago I decided that in December I would create a dress illustrating all the gifts given for twelve days.

I drew and/or painted all the images for this dress, but I have to admit I took a shortcut. I Googled “pipers piping” and some images showed bagpipers and others showed musicians with horns. By that time I just didn’t have it in me to create eleven sets of bagpipes! So I have elevens “pipers” with instruments. And don’t get me started on twelve drummers drumming.

Below are photos of everything on my dress.

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me…

…twelve drummers drumming…

…eleven pipers piping…

 

…ten lords a-leaping…

 

 ...nine ladies dancing…

 

 

 

 

…eight maids a-milking…

 

 

…seven swans a-swimming…

 

 

 

…six geese a-laying…

 

 

...five gold rings!

 

…four calling birds…

 

 

 

 …three French hens…

  

…two turtle doves…

…and a partridge in a pear tree…

While doing research for this blog post, I found a charming version of the song done by the late John Denver and the Muppets, in 1979. This playful crew of animals makes everything better.

(Spoiler alert: at some point I will devote an entire blog post to the fabulous and fierce, the bold and sassy, the one and only Miss Piggy.)

Here is the Muppets’ rendition of this song.

It is likely that I will take off the next two Wednesdays from costumes and/or blogging, but I’ll be back the first Wednesday of January.

Until then, Merry Christmas and happy holidays to you from this wacky-dressing, Muppet-loving gal.

Wacky Wednesday #73—Paint Deck

You are what you wear, as the famous saying goes.

What’s that? This isn’t how the famous saying goes?

Oh.

In any case, I am a painter and I am wearing paint swatches today.

 

This idea came to me months ago when my artist friends Jeanne and John gave me some art supplies they no longer needed, including two paint decks. (Thanks, J + J!) I immediately saw the potential to turn a deck into a dress. I’m using my favorite colors from the deck, which are the brightest, most colorful ones, rather than all the serious greys and beiges. Bright colors make me happy. If you feel happy in your clothes, your day is more likely to go well. (Wearing paper is not the most comfortable thing ever, but color wins this week!)

 

By the way, does this outfit make you want to race to your nearest paint store and buy quart after quart of happy colors and paint accent walls different colors all over your house, until it looks as colorful as a candy store? ME TOO!

Happy painting…