The Ten Dollar, Two Hour DIY Wonder Woman Halloween Costume

When I was a youngster, my mom made Halloween costumes for me and my sister by hand, every year. She's one of those crazy talented, super busy, do-it all moms; a real, live Wonder Woman. So when I started thinking about what I was going to be this year, I knew I wanted a homemade costume that was quick, easy, cheap to make, and if it could be a nod to all the working moms and busy juggle-everything ladies out there, all the better! Wonder Woman ahoy!

 

I up-cycled a red-ish tee-shirt I already owned, and grabbed a few sheets of golden felt from my massive pile. If you were to buy felt sheets, they would cost you about 39 cents each, and you would need about 3 of them. 

You, of course do not need to use a tee shirt. If you had a tank top or even a TUBE TOP you could apply this same design. My tube top days are far behind me... 

I began by cutting one piece of my felt in half, across the shorter end. From there, I started cutting a rainbow-y shape that ended up looking a bit like a Ronald McDonald hand. I used one of Ron's hands as the template to cut the second one. I grabbed some scraps for the center of the shape... It might to look like a LITTLE a Palm tree made of fast food French fries, but it's not. It's Wonder Woman. Wait for it...

I pinned the shapes in place and stitched them using the double zigzag stitch (circled at right.) Once the entire shape was stitched in place, I set it aside. 

Taking another piece of felt and cutting it in half across the short end, I roughly measured how much felt I'd need to make a head piece that would sit on my head comfortably. While wearing a wig. I cut out a red star, stitched it on by hand, and then sewed up two seams on the golden head piece. 

I needed two cuffs to complete the look. I managed to get two cuff pieces out of the scraps from my headpiece. If you don't have extra, don't worry, there should be that third piece of felt lying around somewhere. 

After I cut out and hand stitched two red stars to my cuffs, I needed a comfy way to attach them. I ended up making clasps with yellow buttons, and loops of elastic that were sewn into the opposite side of the cuff. The elastic loop wraps around the button and presto! A one-size fits MOST Wonder Woman cuff. 

The entire costume! Including the headband, two wrist cuffs, and the modified shirt. Done and done!

This crazy easy costume costs is to be paired with a denim skirt or jeans. I also added a yellow rope belt for a bit more authenticity. My handmade Wonder Woman outfit DOES look crafty and handmade, but it costs next to nothing, used material I'd been hoarding, and was completed before lunchtime. What's wrong with that?

I did buy a ten dollar wig at Target yesterday, because I wasn't ready to commit to dying my hair. If you are in a pinch for handmade Halloween costumes this year, feel free to crank out my $10, 2-hour Wonder Woman get-up - and p.s I'd love to see photos! Happy almost Halloween, friends!!

Photo Saturday: Fire-Side Spa Treatment

 

My dear husband and I went camping at Montaño de Oro last weekend. We visited the State Park in February, and wanted to see it again in September. 

The weather was a cool 60 degrees (a very pleasant escape from the triple digits of Los Angeles) and was PERFECT for lots of hiking. After a 6.5-hour hike up a mountain peek and across vast stretches of beach dunes, we returned to camp in need of a little something for our aching feet. 

To create a soothing, fire-side spa treatment, we filled our dish-washing bin with hot water and a few sprigs of fresh cilantro, left over from the previous night's dinner. If you've never soaked your feet in a basin of hot water, while seated in a quiet, coastal, State Park, I highly recommend it. 

Adding fresh herbs like cilantro, basil, thyme, or even wild-growing sage and lavender* to hot water will release the natural oils from the herbs; perfuming the water (and your feet!) and will help soothe away the ache! We threw a couple of pieces of lemon in my husband's soak which smelled nice, but I would not recommend this if you have cuts or blisters on your tootsies.

Also, be sure to scrub out your basin thoroughly with soap and boiling water after soaking your feet and before you use it to wash the dinner dishes.

*And a friendly remember- do not collect plants like sage and lavender from National or State Parks. 

DIY Dry Erase Board and Calendar with Martha Stewart Glass Paints

You know how life sometimes presents solutions before you even realize there's a problem? Thanks to Blueprint Social, I recently received a heaping box of Plaid’s new Martha Stewart glass paint which allowed me to finally create a project I'd been thinking about making, but had never quite gotten right before: A DIY Dry Erase Board and Calendar. 

I had attempted a similar project a while back, using an old picture frame, some tape and spray-on chalkboard paint. The results were not impressive. So when the box o' Martha arrived, it felt like the heavens opened up and a divine hand of organization reached down and smacked me on the back of the head. I quickly began familiarizing myself with all of the awesome paints, stencils and precision tools that I had received. I also did something I rarely do: read the instructions. (Incredibly helpful!) I painted up a couple of test projects (see the black mug, and bird-shaped salt and pepper shakers below? I highly recommend test projects first!)

Then, using an over sized, double-paned picture frame that I'd purchased almost 3 years ago, I set out to paint my way to a more organized existence. Note- I DO USE a calendar on my computer, but I am a champion list-maker, and there is something to be said for writing things down in a list and on a calendar that you will SEE in your home every day. For me, that's a bit harder to hide from than good ol' iCal... 

I started out by taking one of the 2 panes of glass from my frame, and washing it with glass cleaner. 

Next, I made a Scotch tape border around the edges to protect my fingers, create a no-paint zone and to secure the glass to the table to prevent it from sliding around as I worked on it.

Knowing that I wanted both a calendar AND a place for notes, I grabbed my metal ruler and wax pencil. On the "right side" aka "front side" of the glass, I measured and drew the lines for my design.

 

When the lines were drawn, I unattached the glass pane from the tabletop, flipped it over to the other side ("the wrong" or back side) and used my Opaque Metallic paint in "Yellow Gold" to paint over the wax guides which were showing through from the "back" of the glass and therefore didn't affect how the paint would adhere to the glass. 

By painting on the backside of the glass, I was ensuring a flat surface on the front side- which could be written on over and over again with dry erase marker and cleaned up with a number of glass cleaners. 

 

Along with my wax pencil, using a ruler and tape were extremely helpful for me when I painted the straight lines of the calendar boxes and notes area. (Notes area painted in Translucent Frost in the color of Sea Lavender.)

To add some decorative elements, I used one of the circular boarder stencils in both Translucent Frost Sea Lavender and Transparent Gloss Polar Blue. The stencils were very easy to use- and since they can be peeled up and re-stuck to your project, creating patterns and design elements is a snap. The hand squeegees were also super easy to use and clean. 

When the designs on the "wrong side" of my glass were done, I placed the entire pane somewhere safe and out of the way, to dry. 

I then grabbed my picture frame's SECOND pane of glass. Originally, I HAD attempted to use the Martha Stewart letter stencils incorrectly by painting them backwards on the "wrong side" of my first glass pane. This was not a good idea. But thanks to the scraper tool in the Martha Stewart glass paint collection, fixing mistakes wasn't difficult in any way, and only proved to me that you should, in fact use some tools as they are meant to be used... 

 

So! On the "right side" of my second pane of glass, I used the letter stencils to spell out "Notes" and "THIS MONTH." I left the calendar numbers off, so that I could write & re-write the numbers of each month with dry erase marker and use my calendar all year long... 

Here's a glimpse at my favorite tool- the scraper. Mine is already well-used and totally covered in paint, but it still works like a charm. 

And here are my other favorite tools- the squeegees, my beloved scraper, my personal wax pencil (not included in the kit- but useful in MANY craft!)

After I had finished decorating my glass pieces to my liking, and they had both dried COMPLETELY, I placed the painted calendar pane on top of the pane with the lettering (still keeping the paint-free side facing out) and then slid the two sandwiched glass panes into the frame. 

 

The reason I love this particular style of frame, is that you can leave a background off of your dry erase board and let your wall paint, wallpaper or wood grain (seen above left and top of the post) show through as you write on your calendar, or you can use your favorite craft paper (above right) to mount behind the frame and give it a bit more definition and customization options.

Again, big big thank to Blueprint Social and Plaid’s new Martha Stewart glass paint!

To follow Plaid and learn more about their complete line of awesomeness, check them out online on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.



Disclosure: This post was written as part of a paid campaign with Martha Stewart Glass Paints and Blueprint Social. The opinions in this post are my own.

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Carrot, Apple, Ginger Pops: Our Summer Staple

 

Carrot, apple and ginger pops are a staple in the Rad household. So when my friend Jessica (who is on a fabulous road trip right now) asked me if I could write a guest post for her, I really wanted to share my recipe. If you get a chance, head on over to her blog to read about my FAVORITE hot weather treat.