Calavera Rendezvous, here I come!

It's been wayyyy too long since I've posted and it's all MECA's fault!  Just kidding!  I've actually been spending all my energy working on a fundraising event for Multicultural Education and Counseling through the Arts, and I'm happy to do so.  Not only have I been busy coordinating, I also created a skull for the calavera auction.  Whew! BTW, how do you like my poster design?

I'll be back in a couple weeks once I've recovered!

Stay tuned for pictures of the event and meanwhile, stay spooky my friends!

Dia de los Muertos- Part I

Last weekend was the MECA (Multicultural Education and Counseling for the Arts) Dia de los Muertos festival.  This year, they added a new kick-off party on Friday night called Calavera Rendezvous.  The event included a great lineup of singers and dancers, a fashion show by the Art Institute of Houston, an altar exhibit, a silent auction of Day of the Dead skull sculptures, yummy tamales, arroz, frijoles and empanadas! 




My sister and I donated skulls for the auction and together we brought in more than $400 (mostly my sister)! Hers is the blue mosaic glass one above. Mine is the red skull in papier mache and acrylic paint. I'll do another post about my skull sculpture soon.




The fashion show was really fun.  I was pretty excited to see one of the models wearing my mask! (That's her up there wearing all black. She was a tiny little pixie of a girl-- so cute.)  I loaned MECA the two Day of the Dead masks I made last year for the MOCAH gala.  Right now, they are part of the community altar at MECA.




We also attended the outdoor festival on Sunday afternoon where we watched Mariachi MECA and MECA Ballet Folklorico and enjoyed delicious chicken mole, tacos al carbon and mango agua fresca!  Can't wait until next year!

A Mexican Masquerade

I know it's way past Halloween, but I wanted to share some pics of the masks I made for the Museum of Cultural Arts Houston Masquerade Ball. We dressed as a Dia de los Muertos couple. I made the masks out of papier mache and embellished mine with silk flowers and Swarovski crystals. I made the little skulls out of polymer clay. Michael's mask got just a touch of fine black glitter on the cross. I love the way they turned out. They are going to be awesome Halloween decorations next year!





I love this shot because it's so dark and spooky and the background reminds me of The Shining. At the time, we thought the picture wasn't any good because we took it with an iPhone and it didn't have a flash, but I think it's awesome. Very film noir.





I also made these wicked awesome masks for the founders of MOCAH, Rhonda and Reginald Adams. Don't they look great? Reg is verrrrry tall and Rhonda is teeny tiny. I hit at right about his nose! Leave it to me to make a foot-tall mask that made him even taller!

Christmas in October

This masterpiece earned the coveted "Most Creative Costume" ribbon in 7th grade. It was brilliant, I must admit, and the cheapest costume I ever made. Method: get one huge box, wrap it in last year's left over gift wrap, cut hole for head, and top it off with a gigantic bow headband (of which I owned dozens.) It was a cute costume and everyone loved it, but that sucker was a flippin' nightmare to maneuver on the bus!

Update
Oct. 14, 2009- I submitted this post to Tip Junkie's Talk to Me Tuesday feature. This week's installment, Halloween Show and Tell, highlights Halloween costumes and since this one is so simple to make, I thought I'd share it. Click the logo below to go to Halloween Show and Tell and see more spooky fun!

Give me your trickers, your treaters, your candy-warmonger masses...

Fast forward to 2001. This is my homage to the great Lady the month after 9/11. I thought it was appropriate and I think everyone at work appreciated it. Ingredients: One giant gray-green cut of fabric (on sale, score!), one text book covered in silver wrapping paper, one spray-painted flashlight with gold tissue paper flame, one foil brooch, one store-bought Lady Liberty headpiece, a pair of sandals and some silver lipstick.

Me and Melly, we's like peas and carrots

Welcome to the first installment of Homemade Costumes of Halloweens Past...

When we were dating, my husband used to say--in his Forrest, Forrest Gump voice--that we went together like peas and carrots. So, when we got an invitation for a Halloween costume party/couples wedding shower (cool, huh?), I thought peas and carrots would be the perfect couples costume!

The costumes were a breeze to make (once I figured it out) and pretty inexpensive. First, I tried making them with plastic carrots and pea pods, but they were too heavy and wouldn't stay, plus it just wasn't very cute. So, I decided to make them look like the actual peas and carrots dish. I made them with Styrofoam, Velcro and paint. The peas were 4" balls and the carrots were 2"x 4"x 12" rectangular blocks which I cut into square pieces. I painted them with a couple coats of acrylic craft paint and affixed Velcro (the rough side) on the back of each. I tested the veggies on our new fuzzy sweaters and soon found out that the peas needed a flat surface to stay on better. So I trimmed them and it worked just fine. Perfecto! Costume bonus: without the bits, you have a comfy cozy sweater to wear for the rest of the season...I did!

Everyone at the shindig thought they were so cute. The picture above is at the beginning of the evening with the peas and carrots separate. As the party rolled on, people kept stealing our vegetables and mixing them up. We looked like a mixed bowl of orange and green bits by the end of the evening just like a Luby's side dish! It was so much fun. We ended up wearing them again for my sorority sister's Halloween party in Dallas.

This costume idea was featured in the Costume Roundup on One Pretty Thing!  Thank you, chickadees!

Update
Oct. 14, 2009- I submitted this post to Tip Junkie's Talk to Me Tuesday feature. This week's installment, Halloween Show and Tell, highlights Halloween costumes and since this one is so darn cute, I thought I'd share it. Click the logo below to go to Halloween Show and Tell and see more spooky fun!