Sleeveless

I'm concerned about the heat in Atlanta this weekend.
I thought a sleeveless blouse would be nice to wear with my outfit on Sunday, but I couldn't find one I liked. My solution, was to carefully remove the sleeves from this vintage blouse that I already owned. While watching t.v. last night, I picked away with a seam ripper. Then I sewed down the raw edge left around the arm hole. This took a lot less time than all the fruitless shopping I had been doing to find just the right blouse.

What Would You Call These Things?

Blaze and I saw a picture of this dish online yesterday. He was so excited by this concept, that he told me he would cook it for dinner tonight. The picture we saw didn't give it a name and I can't figure out what to call it.





It's very simple and very strange looking. Poke raw spaghetti through chunks of hotdog. Then place in boiling water and cook just like you would plain spaghetti. Drain and serve.

Quick and Easy Choker

I went into Walmart the other day to buy lightbulbs and came out with this octopus locket from the craft department. I didn't have a chain that it would look good on, but I found a far cheaper solution, by sewing the locket to the front of a stretchy lace headband. The headband works perfectly as a choker.





4 days until Dragon*Con (the first 4 days of the new school year).

Soccer Season Begins

Last night's Top Soccer practice began the new fall season. With temperatures hovering right around 100 degrees F. it certainly didn't feel like autumn, but the kids had fun anyway. They just took frequent water breaks.

The Airship Pirate Gloves

I found a pair of black leather gloves in the free box in our apartment complex laundry room, and since I can never leave well enough alone, I did a little modifying to make them go better with Blaze's airship pirate costume.

A set of skull and crossbones buttons and some wing shaped charms became an airship pirate insignia.



I attached them to the gloves with a combination of sewing and Super Glue.



I also cut off the fingers of the gloves, since his character is supposed to be very mechanically inclined and I figured he would want full use of his fingers.




6 Days until Dragon*Con!

The Skirt Lifter

I need a nicer belt buckle, or better yet, a nicer belt, but since I have neither, this will have to do. I sewed two gold "D" rings to the belt and hung a chain from them. A separate chain, threaded through the right-hand "D" ring, has a globe style pocket watch on one end and a clip on the other. That is the skirt lifter. The idea is: when I check the time, it lifts my skirt, revealing the gun in the ankle holster.

The clip was made by glueing a a lace flower over one of these clips:







The count down until Dragon*Con continues. Only 8 days to go. Chances are, I'll be working on these little costume accessories right up to the moment we start driving to Atlanta.

The Escapist : The Escapist Presents : Dragon*Con Parade

Adding Some Little Touches to our Costumes

Dragon*Con is only eleven days away, so I am already getting our costumes packed and adding a couple little things to the costumes.

Blaze helped me paint a base coat of black Krylon Fusion Spray Paint for Plastic on two toy guns, a Nerf Maverick for me and a Buzz Bee Toys Blaster for Blaze.

This is what they looked like before the paint:



After the base coat was dry, I went over both guns with antique gold and silver Rub 'n Buff. I wanted my gun to look aged, so i applied the Rub 'n Buff very lightly, letting a lot of the black show through. For Blaze's gun, which I wanted to look more modern, but abused, I applied the Rub 'n Buff more heavily and then scuffed it up with sand paper.



The reason I like the Rub 'n Buff for projects like this is because it's waxy consistency, mean it doesn't peel off.

The finished toy guns:





I also made an ankle holster for my Maverick out of some scrap leather and a leather belt that Blaze wore when he was a toddler. It was a pretty good demonstration of how much he has grown, because I only had to add two more holes to the belt to make it fit snugly around the calf of my leg.





I also burned holes into the sleeves of a new shirt for Blaze's airship pirate costume. I wanted it to looked charred around the holes, but when I washed the shirt, all the charred marks washed away. The discoloration around the holes is now from rubbing a used tea bag in the areas I wanted to look burned and then rubbing coffee grounds in random spot on the tea dyed areas, to add a more natural multi-toned look. These stains have survived washing.





I only abused the sleeves of the shirt, because that is the only part of the shirt that will really show once he is wearing the vest.

The Artist at Work

Ring Park

Since I didn't have to work today, Blaze and I were able to go get some exercise and have some fun at one of Gainesville's many parks. Alfred A. Ring Park had been closed for a couple months at the beginning of the summer, but it just reopened near the end of July, with newly constructed board walks in many parts of the walking trail.









It was a very hot day, so it was nice to go walking in the woods, where there was constant shade. The Glen Springs Run and Hogtown creek meet in the park. They are both really shallow, but were nice for wading and cooling our feet.







This barred owl flew over us three or four times while we played in the creek and was once perched directly over Blaze's head.



This is not a very clear picture of the Pileated Woodpecker, because it was busy pecking at the time, but I had to try. They are such cool looking birds and when Blaze was little he thought they were dragons.



The picture that Blaze took of me when we sat down to rest:






Pretty fungus:


It had started to sprinkle a little by the time we left the park, and by the time we got home there was thunder and lightning.



I'm so glad we went when we did!

Science

New Pictures of Blaze the Airship Pirate

Blaze has been going through a big growth spurt. A couple days ago, I had him try on every pair of pants and shorts he had and we ended up giving away a garbage bag full of clothes. This meant he had also grown out of the pants I had planned to have him wear for his airship pirate costume at Dragon*Con. I found him some cool looking striped pants on a clearance rack for $3, but then I had to replace his shirt, because the shirt I had for the costume was also striped. Yesterday, we went to the Mission Resale shop and found a plain white shirt for $1.50. I cut off the cuffs and used a lighter and a bucket of water to give it the distressed (battle-worn) look I was going for.

So, here is the revised airship pirate costume:

A Look into My Day Job

Trilogy School, a small private school in Gainesville, Florida is my employer. The school has children who range in age from first grade through high school, but I mostly work with the elementary students. That's why, when I was asked this summer to start a school blog, I focused mostly on the elementary program. Once the new school year gets started, I hope to include more about what is going on in the whole school. Until then, I hope people will enjoy some of the scenes of past field trips, school plays, and classroom preparation that I have posted so far.



http://trilogy-school.blogspot.com/

Mini-Terrariums or a Decorative Way for the Mad Scientist to Display his Specimens

Supplies:

Large, clear, glass Christmas balls ( purchased at the craft store during the after-Christmas sales)



Tiny plants (the Venus Flytrap looks nice)

potting soil, sand, pebbles, and tiny shells

one piece of paper (to make a funnel)

a chopstick or pencil (for poking things)

strong glue



The box lid made a very good stand, to hold the glass ball upright while it was being filled with dirt, sand, or water. A funnel made from a piece of paper made it easier to get the dirt and sand into the ball with minimal spillage.



A single plastic chopstick was the only tool I needed for this project. It came in handy for poking roots through the small opening in the glass ball and for rearranging things once they were inside the ornament.



I did not use any glue on the caps of the two terrarium balls, because the clip that holds the cap on was strong enough for the light weight plants and dirt. They also may need to be opened in the future for watering. I did glue the lid in place on the ornament that contains only sand and shells, because the sand is very heavy and there is nothing living in that one.