Ursula

If you haven't figured it out by now let me clear the air. Ursula is my favorite classic disney villain. She's determined, she's over the top, and she is honest. Her honesty is the scariest thing about her. As a sea witch she has extensive knowledge of magic. She knows how it works. She knows how it will play out. She explains it to you so that you understand what you're asking for. It's up to you to decide if you let her magic solve your problem. 

We mustn't lurk in doorways, it's rude. 

The Little Mermaid was released in 1989 and so I chose the 80's as the decade for this challenge. I tried to make my hair as big and curly as possible. I kept my makeup eighties inspired with bright blue eyeshaddow, heavy cat eyeliner, and bright red lipstick. I also used a purple eyelshaddow to "chisel" my cheekbones. The only thing I was missing was Ursula's beauty mark.

I've got bigger fish to fry.

The dress just screams 80s to me. Black, slim fitting, and giant sleeves!

Life's full of tough choices, isn't it?

This look came out great but I bet you are wondering if I followed the rules. I came under budget. In fact I didn't buy a single thing for this look. I had all the craft supplies I needed for the crown, earrings, and necklace. I thrifted the dress about a month ago for around $12 dollars. I already had the makeup in my collection. 

This Ursula was so much fun. My brother was threatening to take away the crown and earrings because I was wearing them constantly! Haha. 

Can you guess who next months disney villain is?

Ursula Shell Necklace

Gadgets and gizmos are nice but there's nothing like a magical shell to make you feel special.

Time: Ariel could get Prince Eric to kiss her faster than this will dry. Plan accordingly. 

What you'll need:

Clay (playdoh, salt dough, homemade, Airdry - you're choice)

An "8" shapped keychain

Paint

Paint brush

Ribbon 

scissors

I apologize for the lack of pictures. I was too excited to stop and snap some pics.

1. Play with the dough. Aim for a long cone with a flat fat side and a point. Roll cone into a spiral with the pointed end curled in the middle and the flat fat side on the outer edge of the curl.

2. Gently insert the "8" hook into the top spiral until the bigger eye is inside the spiral and the smaller eye is hanging outside. Add more clay to the back of the spiral if necessary. 

3. Details. Chances are the spiral was smooshed while putting in the hook so use the handle tip of your paint brush to dig out the spiral. 

Optional: You can use small bits of dough to add spikes to your spiral shell like I did. You can carve lines or other textures into it too!

4. Now here comes the hardest part of this entire project - Letting the shell dry. The dry time on this depends on many factors but give it at least three days before the next step. Just remember, you didn't become magical overnight and neither will this lump of ocean floor.

5. Double check that it's dry

5.5 Paint! A couple layers of yellow followed by a few layers of gold. Let dry inbetween each layer.

6. Modge Podge to seal the magic within your new favorite necklace. Let it dry, you don't want the magic seeping out.

7. Cut black ribbon to whatever length you desire and thread it through the hook. 

8. Tie it around your neck and you're ready to capture the voice of any young mermaid who wanders into your garden.

Who's ready to take on King Triton? If you make a seashell necklace of your own I'd love to see pics! You scan send them my way on Twitter. A link is in the column on the right! Can't wait to see what you made! 

Ursula Shell Earings

A golden crown is splendid indeed but if you're going to be the Queen of the Ocean you're going to need to learn to accessorize! These shell earings are the hottest thing under the sea! Pair with bright red lipstick and all those poor unfortunate souls will want to be part of your world.

Time: 2 days

What You'll Need

Clay (playdoh, salt dough, homemade Airdry. It's up to you)

Lanyard Hooks

Plastic knife

Paint

Paintbrush

Earring hooks

1. Play with the dough. I started with a basic cone shape. You're going to need two cones.

2. Carefully insert the lanyard hook into the bigger side of your cone. Place it so that the smaller eye of the hook is hanging outside of the clay and the part with the clasp is inside.

3. Shape the cone into more of a shell shape. I gently rolled the cone till it took on the shape that I wanted.

4. Using a plastic knife or the handle of your paint brush, carve a shallow line into the cone. I found that if you start towards the top and drag the knife sideways and downward while turning the shell you get a nice effect.

5. let the shell dry.

6. Now you're ready to paint! Coat earings with even layers, may take more than one, letting the paint dry inbetween coats. Let the shells dry before next step.

Purple shells are always in style, just ask Ariel, but shells come in all sorts of colors as well. 

Optional: you can seal the earings if you'd like with white Elmer's glue or modge podge. Sparkly nail polish could be cool!

7. Attach your shells to earring hooks. I really can't give instructions on this part. I left mine on the rings you see in the pic. I love the dangliness the earrings have hanging off of those. However you decide to wear your earings just remember to make them secure because you do not want them plummeting to the ocean floor. 

8. Try on your newest accessory! These earings are kind of heavy. Keep that in mind. You may have to experiment with different doughs to find the right weight for your ears. 

Did you make a pair of these shell earings? Whether you're the Queen of the Ocean or not I would love to see pictures! You can send them to me on Twitter, link is to the right! 

Ursula Crown

Ursula is one of my favorite Disney villains! She's confident, she knows what she wants, and she is purple - my favorite color. Her ultimate goal is to become ruler of the ocean, taking down King Triton and his precious family is just a bonus. As scary and evil as she can be, her face when when she finally gets King Triton's crown is amazing. She literally is holding her dreams in her hands. She's so happy! ... And then she turns into a giant sea monster and begins her rule of chaos blah, blah, blah. Not important.

Time: Two Days

This prop is a test of patience. There is a lot of dry time involved.

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

Wire (thick)

Tape

Modge Podge

Scrap paper

Gesso

Yellow Paint

Gold Paint

Scissors

Paint brush

1. Measure a wire "halo" that goes around your head. Make sure the halo is resting comfortably around your head at the angle you want the crown to rest. Snip and tape ends together. The half of the halo that isn't taped will be where the front of the crown is, the tape side will be hidden in your hair/wig.

My halo is made out of two pieces of wire. Do whatever works for you.

2. Measure out, snip, and bend five points ( /\ ). You'll need one large, two medium, and two small. Arrange and tape to halo. 

take the time to make sure it still fits your head the way you want.

3. Cut strips of scrap paper. They should be long enough to wrap around the halo band and have the ends touching an inch or two higher than the tallest point. Using the modge podge begin to paper mâché the paper strips to the points. The strips should go underneath the halo and meet at the top so that you are covering both sides of the point at once. Repeat paper mâché until all points are covered. Let the crown dry all the way through.

There is supposed to be a lot of excess paper at this point, don't worry.

4. Carefully cut excess paper off, CAREFUL! 

If you happen to cut away to much, patch the edges with paper mâché and let dry before continuing.

5. Coat the crown, front and back of the points, in two layers of modge podge, letting dry inbetween each coat and afterwards.

6. Paint two layers of gesso, front and back of the points, letting each layer dry.

7. Paint the front and back of the points yellow. The front of the points will get two layers and the back will get one. Let dry.

8. Paint two layers of gold paint to the front of the points only. Let dry.

9. Place crown on your head and make sure it fits. If you need to adjust the fit, un tape the back of the halo and gently bend it back into shape. 

You can add ribbon around the back of the halo to help bobby pin the crown into place.

I made my crown with things I had on hand. I made my halo with the wire stems from a fake flower bouquet and scotch tape. While this was thrifty and saved me a trip to the craft store, it isn't the best materials for this project. My crown doesn't fit my head well because the wire was hard to manipulate so the back of the halo, which is supposed to be taped, is apart and it digs into my hair which is kind of uncomfortable. Also, I'm not sure how long the scotch tape would hold the points together if I didn't paper mâché them to the halo right away. Use duct tape if you've got it. Flower tape might work as well.

Also you don't have to use Gesso. I used newspaper to paper mâché my crown and needed a white base to paint on. If you use white computer paper or yellow construction paper to paper mâché you should be fine. 

I know the instructions are kind of confusing so if you have any questions you can leave them below and I will do my best to help. 

If you do use my tutorial I'd love to see a picture of your crowns! You can send them to me on Twitter. Link is to the right!

Chillin Like a Villain Series

Chillin Like a Villain. Disney villains to be more specific. This series is about simple costumes you can put together easily with things around your house or a quick trip to a craft or thrift store. I wouldn't necessarily label this as cosplay, it's more like disney bounding. These looks will be inspired by the villain but will not be exact replicas.

Rules for this series. 

- $25 budget 

If I don't already have the supplies to make the complete look then I have to stick within this buget.

- Each look must have at least one handmade prop

- costume must be put together from things you already own or from thrift/ second hand shops using part of the budget.

- each look will be based on a different decade. Decades can be used more than once but I will try not to do that. 

Sounds like fun right? I can't wait to show you what I've been up to. If you want to request a villain please leave me a comment or a tweet and I will add it to the list!

Fan Friday - I watch WAY too much TV

I welcome you to Fan Friday! A series where I introduce you to things I'm currently obsessed with. Call me a product of my generation but I fangirl over things. I like, I subscribe, I follow, I obsess. It's just what I do.

I had a handful of things I could've talked to you about today. The new Avengers, my favorite youtubers, the construction of a local theme park being put on hold :'( - but I decided not to go with those topics yet. No. As awesome as Avengers was I really don't want to spoil it so I figured we should skip the silver screen and go straight for the flat screen. I'm talking about TV here folks. 

The 2014-2015 fall/winter season is winding down and the finale feels are in the air. Some of my new favorite shows didn't make it to finale season and some did. I'll have to update this list as the executions continue.

SPOILER ALERT!

... just checking.

Body Count:

Manhattan love story - why in the world would you cancel this show? It was new, it was different, it was adorable! All available episodes are on Hulu.

Selfie - ... I liked it. I understand why it was canceled. I just... Yea.

The Paradise - BBC period drama, beautiful sets, interesting characters. I loved season one and rushed through season two only to learn that there won't be a season three. S1-2 on Netflix if you're interested.

Galavant - the fate of this musical comedy is up in the air. I'm hoping for the best. *UPDATE galavant renewed for second season! 

New Fav's That Didn't Get Canceled:

iZombie - not the stereotypical zombie flick. not you're typical chick flick. not you're typical cop show. Oh just watch it already! 

Younger - I am behind a couple of episodes but I'm up to episode five and I'm hooked!

Gotham - I'm not a batman fan. In fact my favorite batman movie is the one all the batman fans hate (batman and robin). BUT this show is amazing! This is the story of Gotham. The story before the story when you meet all the pieces on the chess board before they're divded into hero and villain. I just cant say anything bad about this show. 

Cristella - I love this show. The character development from episode one to the finale was a nice surprise from a comedy.

Agent Carter - I'm a modern marvel junkie. I admit it. This show was brilliant! Technically not cancled as it was only meant to be a one time mini series. *UPDATE Agent Carter renewed for second season!!!!

Old friends:

Supernatural - renewed for its 11th season! Keep Rowena, save Adam, and obliterate Metatron! That's an order. 

PLL - It's a love hate relationship but I'll watch it till it ends... If it ever ends. And it better end in A.

Once Upon a Time - I held on tight during the Frozen episodes and I'm so glad I did! Maleficent and the villans are brilliant this season! 

Shield - all the fan boys out there can just chill. I love this show. I have a love/hate relationship with the characters. I love that it actively ties in with the rest of the current marvel universe. I'm not well versed in the cannon of the comics but I don't need that knowledge to understand this show. Please please please please don't kill this show. 

Shows I haven't watched yet or need to catch up on: 

Daredevil - I know! But I've watched episode one so leave me alone because I'm working on it.

Lizzie Borden - can't say much about it other than I'm looking forward to watching. 

New Girl - I've watched S1 and S2. S3 was nearly spoiled in my feed this week. Hurry up Netflix! 

Writing this list has made me realize that I watch a lot of television. I should probably cut back but it's difficult when you invest so much time into these characters, ya know? 

What were your favorite shows this season? Did they get axed? Any shows I need to watch ASAP? Leave me a comment or find me on Twitter! I can't wait to chat with you :D 

Our First Mother's Day

Mother's Day is a time to reflect and celebrate the women in our lives who made us who we are. Whether they are related or not does not matter. These women are superwomen. They cared for us when we were sick, told us stories at night, they taught us right from wrong, they taught us to be strong, and were there during our triumphs and heartbreaks. They did all of this while running house or business. I'll say it again, my mom is superwoman. 

Let me tell you about my Mom. She's a married woman of 25 years. She work twenty-four / seven at home and at work. She has three children, of whom I am the first. She's been a mother for 23 years and I've been there since day one. 

This story is usually told on my birthday but I've come to realize that this story has more to do with her than it ever will about me. It all started with pizza and cheesecake. Funny how this story starts with food. My parents went out for pizza and cheesecake one cold January Alaskan night. The waitress jokingly told my mom that the pizza would make the baby come. I'm sure they laughed it off, her due date was a few week away. In the middle of the night the pizza lady's words rang true and they rushed to the hospital. It wasn't long before I arrived. And that was our first Mothers Day. 

My mother has taught me a lot of things. She taught me how to cook, clean, and take care of my siblings. She taught me to care for others. She taught me how to be strong and she taught me that it is okay to cry. She took me to dance and gymnastics classes. She routed for me when I tried to do sports. She helped me in Girl Scouts. She helped me in school. She's understands when I'm not ready to do something and encourages me when I am.

We look a lot a like. People sometimes mistake me for her.

I inherited her love of crafts and thrifting. I grew up watching her up to her elbows in scrapbooks, quilts, crochet, and paint. She had an entire room set aside for her work. Sometimes I would do my homework in there. 

We go to thrift stores and try to find the oldest books or best cook books. I have an entire suitcase filled with thrifted books because of this. We've found some pretty good ones. Disney cook books and old encyclopedias. Cookbooks and text books are her favorites.

We've been through a lot together in 23 years. Sometimes we get along, sometimes we don't but I know that she loves me. I hope she knows I love her. I don't always show it and I know that I should. I'm moving and I don't know if I'll see her next mothers day which is hitting me kind of hard. She is my mom and I'm going to miss her a lot.

This weekend I am celebrating my mother by remembering our first Mother's Day with pizza and cheesecake - and chocolate chip cookies because they're her favorite. 

I love you mom! 

Pin Collection

I just can't see to get these pin posts out of my system. I feel as though I need to prove to you somehow that I actually do collect pins and buttons. I gathered my pins from the box (I actually need a bigger box) and the case to take pictures so that I could show you.

My favorites that aren't disney: carnival fascination, Riley's believe it or not, Bryce Canyon national park, coca cola factory, m&m factory, musk ox from Alaska, jonas brothers, Nevada girl state, American legion, salt lake comic con 14, Scandinavian festivle '13 & '14

these are from my mom. The "Ha Ha" Joker pin is probably my favorite 

These are from a friend of the family. Take a photo it will last longer is my fav

These are Hannah Montana ones I bought at a store and Highschool Muscial on Tour ones that I got from the merchant table after watching the musical.

 Pepsi and Coke

 Random 

More random

Hard Rock Cafe and marvel. The avengers logo and fantastic logo are missing from the packs but they are in my case along with a Captain America shield and a Doctor Who Dalek.

These are some I collected from going to youth group events and volunteering for VBS

And I'm sure I have more that are floating around in my room that haven't made it to the box or the case yet. I love pins and buttons and I plan on collecting for a very long time!

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