Boxycharm 03.15

    I'm a little late in sharing this month's Boxycharm goodies and a few of my thoughts about the products, but it's better late than never. 

   Or at least that's what I tell myself...

A Lazy Girl's Cosplay

You poor, unfortunate soul.

   
   Today at work, we had a themed day where the kids and staff could dress up as a Disney or Super Hero character. Last year, I went as Snow White, which was very fun but very cutesy. Another aide and I decided we would dress up as Disney villains, so I decided to dress up as Ursala. 

   Long story short, I took it a little too far and went to work in full on cosplay. Needless to say, I was the only person present who was that dressed up. Not even my fellow villain went as far as I did. Not even the kids got as dressed up as I thought they would! So I walked around work looking and feeling like a fool. However, I am pretty proud at my wicked quick/lazy cosplay skills. I managed to pull together this entire getup together for under $15 and in less than three hours. Would a more serious cosplayer look at my work at be appalled? Probably. But I was pleased with the outcome. Therefore I felt like sharing. 

   I made the tentacles out of a heavy black cotton fabric and used fabric glue to attach the purple and turquoise mottled fabric to the back. The effect was really cool and from afar the pattern almost looked like suction cups. Almost. I attached these "tentacles" onto a black dress I already owned using a hefty supply of safety pins. I made Ursala's necklace from some cardboard which I cut out and stacked to look like a three-dimensional shell. I then coated it with Modge-Podge and after that dried, painted it with varying mixtures of silver, gold, and black all surface paint. I then attached the back of the shell onto some black chord that I could tie around my neck. I used a pair of white tights to cover my arms so that I wouldn't have to paint them white. Everything else after that point is just body paint, makeup, purple tights, and a lot of patience. 

   A few things I learned from this lazy, last minute "cosplay": first, hair spray and baby powder work way better for making one's hair white than the dumb colored hair spray. Don't waste $3+ on it. Second, never ever ever use grease paint. Take the extra time and spend a little extra on some legitimate water-based body paint. (My high school drama teacher would have been so disappointed in me.) Third, if you're going to paint on new brows, don't be lazy-take the time to cover your real brows. It will look a lot better in the long run. Lastly, don't apologize for going all out and having fun with a theme. I may have walked around feeling a little ridiculous, but everyone loved it, and deep down, I actually really enjoyed it too. Now I'm pumped for Wondercon in two weeks, which I will be cosplaying for as well. But not as Ursala.

   Hope you're all having a great week so far! 

Stay weird guys.

Love, Little Mouse

What a Week

   This week has been rather hectic, to say the least. Between car problems to celebrating my five year wedding anniversary, along with other schedule interruptions, it feels like I never had a moment to really stop and catch my breath until today. I had several posts planned for the week, but seeing as I got none of them up, I thought it would be nice to play a little catch up.

Setting Small Goals

   So many changes have come about in the last few months. To be honest, I became completely derailed from a good schedule and disenchanted in all the things I had been working towards and the goals I had set. I keep hearing that it's normal to experience that after going through a traumatic loss. Whether it's "normal" or not, it is what I've been going through.

   I've been allowing myself to grieve and feel hurt or numb. It's gotten to the point now that I'm tired of spending unproductive hours binge watching Youtube and on Pinterest, using the excuse that "I'm sad, so I can't do anything." Doing this leaves me feeling more anxious and unfulfilled than if I were to just get up and do something. I cannot be happy with myself unless I'm doing something, anything, that is forward momentum and I think it's a healthier way to deal with grief than to give up on everything. So it's time that I get back into a consistent schedule and set some new realistic goals for myself.

One-Liner Wednesday 05

My last post was quite emotional. I thought it would be good to get back into the habit of sharing some silly things the kids at work have said that make me laugh.

These ones are all from a second grader I'll refer to as Dale. He is a very clever little kiddo, and he says some pretty hilarious things.

"I don't have to take my medicine anymore, I'm free!" (I asked why he wasn't eating his breakfast)

"If you call people fat, it's not nice." (correcting his friend's inappropriate behavior)

"At the end of the day, we're getting married right?" (to the little girl he has a crush on)

(And my most favorite quote from him yet...)
Me: "Can you give me a sentence using the word beautiful?"
Dale: "What's that?"
Me: "Beautiful is a word we use when something is very, very pretty."
Dale: "Oh. Well then, you're beautiful." 
        {Let me tell you, I almost cried in front of this kid. So sweet.}

Till next time.

Love, Little Mouse

Let Me Tell You a Story...

   It was a rainy, autumn night. I was going over to my grandparents' home with my tiny, sea foam green Hello Kitty sewing machine, a bag brimming full with royal blue, corduroy material, and my sewing kit in tow. I was looking forward to my evening: my grandmother was going to teach me how to properly use my new sewing machine, a wedding gift, to make the full skirt of my dreams. 

   I thought it was going to be the easiest thing. Ever.