Wacky Wednesday #86—Spring!

It is officially spring where I live. Flowers have burst into bloom overnight and every day when I walk through my neighborhood I notice new leaves and more flowers. Here in San Diego we hardly have a brutal winter. You might assume that we barely notice the difference between winter and spring here—but we do. Spring has sprung and today I’m wearing my enthusiasm for this happy season.

(Update: I started writing this blog post a few days ago when it was sunny in San Diego. Today it is cloudy, somewhat windy and has rained, off and on. Is Mother Nature trying to complicate my WW? She can’t stop me. I busted out my umbrella and I’ve decided that these showers are going to bring even more spring flowers.) 

As always, I like the challenge of making things from unexpected objects. For example, some of the flowers I’m wearing are made from pull tabs from cans, and from plastic tabs that hold bread bags closed. I found these wonderful supplies a few days ago amongst several big containers of found objects I’ve saved for years. (Remember: it is not hoarding. It is CAP--Collecting for Art Projects.) I actually made a few more of these found object flowers but once I was decorating with them, I realized that they are heavy. So the rest of my flowers are made from fabric and rice paper, which is a little easier on my neck.

 

I made my necklace from fabric and buttons I had already, and some earrings add to the spring effect. (My friend Sam is responsible for some of these buttons—she has a mind-boggling collection of wonderful things!)

 

 

A word about my faux-hawk. Having a true mohawk would require shaving the left and right sides of my head, and there’s a small part of me that is tempted. But most of me is not planning to that anytime soon. Still, I do love rocking a mohawk from time to time. My mohawk has nothing to do with the fact that Mr. T is on Dancing with the Stars right now. Although I do dig his style. He’s so funny and fierce and original. I think mohawks rock. And I think Mr. T would agree with me when I say, “Yo, I PITY the fool who doesn’t love spring!!!!”

 

Even if spring hasn’t quite made it to your corner of the world yet, hang in there. It’s coming. May this time of growth and warmth and new life give you the boost it’s giving me!

Wacky Wednesday #85—Cards

Costumes are fun, but for me, the story behind the costume is often as much fun as what I’m wearing. Who doesn’t like a good story? Credit for today’s costume goes in large part to someone I’ve known more than thirty years. My dear friend Maia gave me these playing cards a couple of months ago. She took the trouble to package them, write a note about their Wacky Wednesday potential and mail them from her home, a nine hour drive away, to mine. But she’s like that. She always has gone the extra mile for her friends. The cards are smaller than standard. I didn’t ask Maia if they were airplane entertainment during one of her overseas trips, but they struck me as a travel sized deck of cards. (Maia, are they?)

Funny—cards could be the subject of a long blog post, independent from this costume. (But I’ll try to be brief. Ish.) Just off the top of my head, it seems to me that cards have many uses, meanings and histories. They are a device for connecting people. Or if you’re alone, you can entertain yourself by playing Solitaire. I associate cards with my dad, who taught me to play Gin Rummy when I was about nine or ten. He loves cards. A lot of people do. Card games were important to my 82-year-old neighbor, who recently passed. After her husband died she began playing cards twice a week with her girlfriends. The social connection over playing cards is probably a big part of why she lived a long and happy life. For some, card games are a way to relax. Hubby and his friends bond over poker games. Some people make a living off of playing cards in Vegas. Whether for work or fun, cards are played all over the world.

Even in a time when technology has made so many changes to how we spend our free time, people still love playing cards. Sure, online card games exist, but it seems meaningful that the paper cards are still used and loved. Besides, meeting in person over a real deck of cards just brings a certain something that an online card game does not.

Anyway, where was I going with this? Oh right: unusual hats.

When Maia sent these cards I immediately knew they would become a house of cards hat. Even the box holding the cards had potential. I cut the pictures of cards out of the box and glued them to my sunglasses. Add some earrings and a necklace and you’re either ready for Wednesday or ready for Las Vegas—or both.

You know I love the shadows my wacky hats make…

And on a related note, is it just me or do many card games have far too many rules? I want my recreation time to be simpler than my real life. I have enough trouble remembering three kids’ schedules and class assignments and all kinds of real life things like insurance and medical appointments—and this is important stuff that must be remembered. Why would I want my play time to involve a million things to remember and to be even more complicated than my real life? I guess Go Fish is my speed.

What’s your favorite card game?

Wacky Wednesday #84—Grapes

What do you think of when you hear the word “grapes?”

Sour grapes?

Wine?

PB and grape jelly?

You probably don’t think, “Hmm. Wearing grapes is a good idea.” But I do.

This story started ages ago—three days ago, to be precise. I was in a thrift store searching for ceramics to smash for an upcoming mosaic project. I decided to do a lap around the store because thrift stores (with their quirky mix of stuff) are excellent for jump-starting Wacky Wednesday ideas. Mixed in among this and that was a silicone mold of bunches of grapes. Was it intended as an art supply? Or for soap making? Candy making? Ice cubes? Who knew? Of course, its original purpose has nothing to do with its potential. (This is a wonderful philosophy for people, too: who we’ve been or what we’ve done in the past shouldn’t prevent us from trying something new, just because!)

In any case, the grapes mold came home with me and the grape harvesting began. I didn’t end up using all the parts of the mold, but there are two of the shapes in my necklace. For the rest of my grapes, I used felt and t-shirt fabric with pillow stuffing inside.

Here’s a breakdown of my costs:

Grape mold, thrifted                      $1.70 (Tax included)

Purple t shirt, thrifted                    $1.10 (Tax included)

Felt                                                    $1.76 (Tax included)

Purple skirt                                      $      0 (Already had it)

____________________________________________

Total                                                  $4.56

And so today I am wearing grapes. Just for fun. This outfit is not a reference to Dionysus, the Greek god of grape harvesting and wine making. Or Bacchus, the Roman god of wine. You choose your favorite. I’m staying out of it. This costume is Just About Grapes.

And let’s say “Cheers” to grapes not only for their flavor but also for the fact that they are good for us, full of antioxidants and anti-inflammatories and vitamins. Personally, I don’t like wine, but I like grapes and raisins. But grapes with seeds? Having to spit out a seed takes away from my experience. Seeds make grapes feel like work—the equivalent of bringing homework on a vacation. I choose seedless.

Now it’s time for me to sign off with a quote from a famously silly French royal, Marie-Antoinette. What was it she said? Oh, yes. Let them eat…grapes!

Wacky Wednesday #83—Peacock

I’m bucking tradition and dressing as a male peacock. Female peafowl are much less colorful—and child, please—do you think I want to dress as the less colorful half? No.

My intention with today’s outfit was not to replicate every feather in a peacock’s train. That would require 200 feathers, which would be some serious work. No, instead I am suggesting a peacock using a few feathers I created, a few real feathers I bought at a thrift store years ago, and a few decorations (also thrifted) that gave a peacock vibe.

Last year at the Goodwill store I found some decorations (approximately 100 of them) that grabbed my eye. The shape reminded me of peacock feathers and at $1.99, the price was right. 

My peacock outfit simmered in the back of my mind for quite a while, but recently everything came together. I liked the idea of a poncho that I could wear not only today but on other winter days—one that had personality and color and was unlike any I’d ever seen. Clearly, I’d have to make one. So I grabbed this navy blue fleece while it was on sale at the fabric store and planned to embroider some feathers onto. Welllllll, embroidering a peacock feather is easier said than done. I’m sure it can be done but my first attempt at it wasn’t quite how I wanted it to be. It looked like a bunch of confused pine needles. So I opted instead to make feathers from fabric and to stitch them onto the poncho. I ended up using some beautiful fabric that my fashion designer friend Frana gave me a few years ago. It’s copper and gold mesh with sequins here and there, and although I hadn’t planned on it for this project, I’m delighted with the shimmery results. I’ve abstracted the feather shape but I think it still reads as a peacock feather. 

Today’s statement necklace incorporates some of the same feather decorations I thrifted, along with some fringe, real peacock feathers and rhinestone. My two head pieces use the small feather decorations, a few real peacock feathers and rhinestones. It was breezy today but my headdresses (mostly) stayed put. One woman I saw today said my outfit had a Mardi Gras feel, and although that wasn’t my intention, I agree. And she’s from New Orleans, so she’d know. 

These gorgeous birds really put on a show when all their feathers are on display. Did you know that after mating season, they shed their train? The feathers are gathered and new ones grow back. If only I shed peacock feathers instead of tumbleweeds of brown hair—the bathtub drain would look much more glamorous.

But hey, you can’t have everything.  

Wacky Wednesday #82—Rain + Sun = Rainbow

Rainbows are easy to like. (I double dare you not to like them!) They’re so beautiful and colorful, and not something you see every day (unless you live in Hawai’i). Today’s outfit celebrates rain and sun and what they create when they work together: a rainbow.

My shirt is one I’m reusing from my hot air balloon Wacky Wednesday (more than a year ago). But everything else I’m wearing is something I created this week from supplies I had already. My hat shows the sun and a puffy cloud with rain falling. The rainbow is a necklace.  

The raindrops have a fun back story. Fifteen years ago I was obsessed with beading and making jewelry. Eventually that hobby made way for others, but a few times a year I dig out the beads to use them in a project. Some of the beads are from that collection. Others (the pearl raindrops) are from my friend Frana, who gave them to me a few years ago. Frana is an artist and fashion designer who did costumes for the musicals I did a teenager. We’ve been friends ever since.

 

 

The rainbow has a back story, too. I love buttons, and I have a collection that has grown over the years. My creative friend Sam gave me a huge stash of buttons last year (you rock, Sam!), and some of them are on this rainbow. Others are from garage sales or from my own collection. Throw in a few rhinestones and you have a sparkly, Vegas-worthy rainbow.

 

May your umbrellas not flip inside out, and may all your rainy days end in rainbows.

Wacky Wednesday #81—Dominoes

 

 

Do dominoes make you think of necklaces? Me, too! Months ago I imagined a funny outfit themed around the classic game of dominoes. The contrast between the black and white appealed to me. The silliness of wearing a game on my head and body (obviously) appealed to me, too. Plus, most people recognize dominoes (and probably played with them at some point), which adds nostalgia to this theme. Did you know that this beloved game dates back to Italy during the 18th century? Chinese dominoes may have been around since 1120 CE.

 

Some of the dominoes I’m wearing are not real. I made them from foam core and paint. The dominoes on my head piece are real—but they are smaller than the usual size—a travel set? The tiny dominoes I made for my sunglasses are made from flexible, lightweight foam and paint. Because I had most of my supplies already, my only cost for this costume was for the real dominoes (bought gently used): $ 2.

 

 

Game night, anyone?

Wacky Wednesday #80—Shiny Stuff

 

Hello, folks. Once again I’m mixing fashion and trash to make trashion. (I draw the line at wearing slimy banana peels and moldy artichokes covered in ants. But clean trash not covered with insects? Bring it!)

I’m dressed in shiny stuff (some of which I’ve been saving for more than a year until all the other outfits I’d planned had their turn at the plate). Here is a list of the shiny trash/recycled material I used:

      ·         Part of a broken red piñata (from Ky’s party a year ago)

·         Turquoise Yoplait lids from sixteen yogurt cups

·         Shiny bags, repurposed

·         Mylar balloons

·         Twirly party decoration, saved

·         Cellophane saved from the summer

With its shine and color-changing ways, the iridescent cellophane reminds me of rainbows and bubbles and abalone shells. My logical conclusion was to turn it into a cape.

 

The cape shows up well in this shadow photo.

I’m thinking of starting my own confetti business with the hundreds of leftover shreds of shiny plastic on my floor. But I still have loads of material left over so if anyone needs some…

Last year I did a costume in which I was wearing a mylar balloon, but I think there’s room for a different costume made partly from balloons. And a piñata hat always changes the vibe. (The hat isn’t the easiest thing to wear, I’ll admit. It doesn’t hurt—it’s just a little awkward. Still, one must grab chances when they come and who knows when I’ll have another chance to turn half a piñata into a hat?)

 

With that, I’m off to share the shine with the rest of the world. Shine on, y’all!