I’m the QUEEN of the last-minute costume

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OK, I admit that’s a BIG statement to be making.  But it is kinda true…as much as I love Halloween, I’ve never been a big “Let’s plan for this costume” kinda girl.  I’m more of a “Holy heck, Halloween is tomorrow!  I better get my look together!” gal. A perfect example of this is the Mona Lisa costume I painted the night before a Halloween party as you see above. I wore a black piece of fabric over jeans as a robe to complete the look.

Not to say, I don’t totally rock my costume.  I always try to put together a look that is either punny or celebrity-inspired that includes a quick visit to the Dollar Tree or craft store.  These 8 babies were Dollar Tree finds and so were the lips.  The hair was a stop at the Spirit Halloween store.

Here’s another last minute look. I paired my Casper the friendly ghost robe with a mat board egg. I found a random stick and headband to attach my foam cutout pitchfork and horns.  And it was a pretty sad devil makeup job. Thank goodness I don’t have an up close version for you to see.

My Britney Spears (back when Britney was a pregnant Cheeto-eating fool) was pulled from my closet and childhood toy bin. Come on, you totally had one of those fake fat Cabbage Patch dolls too growing up!  Put on a store-bought wig and add some chunky wedges and pickle-dipped ice cream, and you have a look to remember, y’all.

I always try to come up with a costume most everyone at my work immediately gets, so a couple years ago, I went as the Stan Bitters sculpture out front of my work’s building.  Yes, I printed this out the day of and no, I didn’t win anything!! Boo!

So there you have it…my last minute Halloween costumes.  What great costume did you come up with on the fly?  I really need to know, cause I totally don’t have a costume for the Halloween party at my work in 2 days. LOL!!!

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

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Costumes of Halloween past

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I have to admit something, I’m not really a costume person. The thing is, when you throw in winning some money + the competition, I bring out the big guns! I usually try to come up with ideas on a dime. I hate spending tons of money on costumes I’ll never wear again. Here’s some of my more memorable moments from the past few years. I really don’t have any shame. I will do anything and everything to win!

Me as MJ 5 years ago
This was me around 8 or so years ago. I dressed up as MJ (sorry for the poor quality photo). I wore the surgical mask, used black doll hair for the curly q look he used to have, had a sparkle glove, and made those weird shoulder pads he used to wear. I even carried a baby around and through it around in the air (this was right after the baby dangling incident, and a few months before the child molestation trials). I danced to Beat it and did a faux moonwalk. I hoped around a lot and ended up winning the big prize of $150. Woohoo! I was so excited!!!

me-as-deviled-egg-(last-year)
Here’s me in my Deviled egg costume. I ended up winning second place overall for this costume. I went around poking everyone with my pitchfork and telling really bad egg and devil jokes/puns. This was very much a DIY endeavor…I made the egg with foam core and paint sprinkled with seed beads. I made the headband and pitchfork from fun foam sheets I glittered myself. The no-cost costumes are the best ones!!

me in my mona lisa canvas + tutorial on blog
One year I dressed up as the Mona Lisa. I wore a black graduation gown and the canvas around my head. It actually stayed on quite well just with my head poked through. I didn’t say anything during the competition as to stay in character. I think I won second place that year.

me as britney (2 years ago)
For this Halloween, I went as Britney Spears preggo with her second son Jayden James. I looked really tacky. I carried around ice cream and ate pickles dipped in it, hence the stains on the tank. Totally gross, but trying to get into the role. I wore really clunky/sexy shoes and a short skirt (note, in the photo, it’s unzipped…oh, geez). Pretty trashy. Again, I think I won second place…I think I see a pattern going on here!

me as a California Raisin
The next time I won 1st place was when I dressed up as a California Raisin! The costume was designed by my friend Donna, We agreed that if she made the costume and I acted the part, we would split the winnings! I danced to “I Heard it Through the Grapevine” and the “Apple Bottom Jeans” song by Nelly (it was popular at the time). I think I made everyone laugh pretty hard being silly. The strange thing is that I moved to California 3 months after this event. I wonder if my costume was a sign?

229/365
A couple years back I dressed up as Octomom. I bought all the dolls at Dollar Tree for $1 each. I used some Velcro to stick them to me.. The one on the green ribbon was supposed to be on a leash. I would hand the babies over to people and say, “Here you go, watch it, you paid for it anyway!”. LOL. It was really scary looking at myself. I didn’t win anything that year as there wasn’t really a competion, just a dress-up party.

I haven’t really dressed up since my Octomom costume. I don’t know that I want to dress up this year, but I’ve always wanted to do the Bride of Frankenstein look. I think William and I would make a great bride and groom.

What crazy outfits have you worn in years past? Did you do anything embarrassing or outlandish to win a contest?

Until next time Swellions!

Alexa

Deviled Egg Halloween Costume

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me-as-deviled-egg-(last-year)

Here’s a pretty clever costume that will grab you by the horns! Hee hee! I wore this a couple of years ago to my company Halloween party and I snagged second place. In general, I’m so busy throughout the Halloween season, that I rarely have time to devote to a major costume effort, so my costumes usually end up being a last minute/night before kinda deal. This is exactly what happened with this costume and it turned out really funny and cute!

Deviled Egg Halloween Costume

What you need:
– foam core
– red and black facepaint
– cutting knife
– pencil
– blank headband (I bought a wide ready-made one at a dollar store for a dollar)
– white or clear string
– glue gun with glue sticks
– yellow paint
– red paint
– red craft foam
– red seed beads
– white or red outfit
– long dowel rod painted black (optional)
– red glitter paint (optional)

What you do:
1. On a piece of foam core, draw out an egg shape. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Even if it’s a little off, people will get the idea.
2. Using cutting knife, cut around shape. Seriously, I think I used scissors for this. I know that’s not good for foam core, but I’m a down and dirty kinda crafter and I’m terrible with an Exacto. If you do this, just don’t be too aggressive with your scissors and end up breaking them!
2. In the center of the egg shape, use a foam brush to create the yolk part of the egg. While paint is still wet, sprinkle on the red seed beads (It will resemble paprika). Let dry.
3. Attach a string at the tops of egg and hold in place with hot glue so that you can wear it around your neck.
4. Paint a plain headband red (for me, the craft paint held surprisingly well). Cut out little horns from craft foam. Spread with red glitter glue or Tulip Glitter paint if you like. Once dry, use hot glue to attach them to headband. Ha! Or better yet, go to the Dollar Store and buy a pair for a dollar.
5. If you want a pitchfork, simply cut the design out of foam core (I referenced a photo on the internet for the shape). I then used red glitter paint on top to further accent. I glued the foam shape design to the end of a dowel that was painted black.
6. Dress up in all white or red and make your face in the styling of a devil (refer to an internet photo for pointers).

Now that you look the part, act it! I’m sure I had some pretty “hellish” one liners like “Don’t bother me, I’m in a rotten mood today!” or “Sure, you want to eat me now, but they’ll be hell to pay later. Mwahaha.”

In honor of my 24 Halloween crafts in 24 hours, I’m giving away a Swell & Spooktastic Halloween prize pack. Click here to check it out and enter!

Check back next hour for another spooktacular Halloween craft idea!

Alexa