Mod Mischief

I had a terrible time deciding what to wear this morning. There were just too many options! Bearded Lady I think I make a pretty good carnival freak! We won the beard in a draw this year and I found that dress at the Ottawa Vintage Sale a few years ago. The popcorn maker was also a prize, we won that in an Instructables contest. Post-apocalyptic Chick Remember when I was making chainmaille out of pop tabs ? I used it on some inner tube armour that I wore at Burning Man this year. Vampire Sorceress I love that cape. Paired with some fangs and creepy contacts it looks pretty spooky! Zombie Bride I got the wedding dress for $10 from Value Village because it was already stained, so I didn't mind getting it dirty. Shortly after this picture was taken, I went outside and doused it in blood and then dragged it through the mud for the Ottawa Zombie Walk (that post is coming soon!). I've posted an instructable on how I made that exposed brain head wound , if ...

Monster Hunter I love that pith helmet! This safari ensemble features one of our dihydrogen monoxide projectile weapons . Don't worry, I'd never actually hurt Ludo .  Another outfit to go with one of our painted waterguns . Rocketeer You can see more photos and all the instruction for making the rocket pack over on Instructables .

The White Rabbit We have several sets of rabbit ears that we've collected over the years for the Billion Bunny March. Add a waistcoat and pocket watch and you're ready for Wonderland! Hula Girl  Grass skirt, leis and a real coconut bra... if only the weather in Ottawa could be a little more Hawaiian too. 80s Fashion Victim  I wore this outfit for a pub crawl back in university and my mom recently sent it to me when she was cleaning out my old closet. When Chris opened the package he said "ummm... there's a shirt in here that looks like the 80s threw up on it" Roller Town Extra  Another retro ensemble. Don't you just love those roller skates?!? Top Gun Flight suits are awesome; they're like adult onesies. All it takes is aviators and/or goggles to complete a comfy yet bad ass fighter pilot costume.

More from the contents of our tickle trunk, in my ongoing attempt to document all the possibilities of our vast costume collection. pretty in pink One thrift store dress + plastic tiara = instant prom queen. Or possibly beauty pageant contestant, or even Princess Peach with a bit of work... Frodo Chris wore the cloak and sword for Halloween before I met him. His hair is considerably more hobbit-like than mine. Also, his feet are considerably hairier. Thinking of the damage that could result from hula hooping in the living room...  If this circus performer outfit looks familiar, it might be because I lent it to Jess for the zombie movie night at the Diefenbunker last week. The tutu and top are some of my favourite Burning Man clothes, and while you can't tell from the photo, the tutu has little blinking lights in it. Only you   can prevent forest fires We got this great hat from Value Village for 99 cents. It's too bad I couldn't swing a whole...

Tuesday night we went to the Diefenbunker for their screening of Dawn of the Dead (the remake, unfortunately, but still good). I love that a museum, and especially such a cool museum, is embracing the zombie craze. You might remember that the Diefenbunker is actually part of our zombie survival plan. Photo from the Diefenbunker Blog In addition to the movie, they were holding a zombie costume contest, so naturally, we dressed the part. Photo from the  Diefenbunker Blog After the film, we had fun taking pictures with our friends. Oh no! Zombies have broken into the bunker! Is nowhere safe? There's no stopping them! So much for the survivors.... Big thanks to Jess Aylsworth for these awesome photos!

Last weekend we went to the Ottawa Mini Maker Faire . It was great getting to meet so many interesting local artists and talking to them about what they do. One of my favourite maker booths was the one belonging to artist and fabricator Ian Langohr . Ian makes incredible masks out of foam. I hope they do more events like this in the future!

Juniper was a fan of the extra large food dish Unfortunately, Juniper didn't make it to her second birthday (it would have been on the 29th) but she did get to enjoy a few months in the dining room hutch turned rat cabinet. After we got back from Burning Man, we sanded and painted the bottom of the cabinet to match what we'd done to the top . And we added some stainless steel hasps from Lee Valley so there'd be no way for the rats to break out (yes, before we did that there was an escape, but no harm done).

inner 6-year-old released The other day I was telling friends that before they hit up the Halloween stores, they should really swing by our place to see if they can't find what they're looking for in our tickle trunk. I started listing off the possibilities and... wow... we have a lot of costumes. I decided it would be fun to try to put together as many outfits as I could from the contents of our costume boxes. Here are the first few: Kaylee from Firefly  An army surplus flight suit and a parasol are all it takes to be Serenity's mechanic, Kaylee. Shiny! Pirate I wore a similar pirate outfit a few years ago. With all the hats and bandannas in our collection I could probably outfit an entire ship's crew. Superman You might remember this Superman costume from when we tried to break a world record .

It's the most wonderful time of the year! TMNT bad guys Halloween 2011 - photo by  Lasia Kretzel If you'd like to see all my old Halloween posts, you can find them at this link . Full tutorials on how I made most of my costumes, including those pictured above, are over on Instructables .