design a great halloween costume!

it's no secret that i love halloween. in fact, it's probably my favorite holiday. i'm sure that has a lot to do with the fact that fall is the best time of the year (don't you agree?), with leaves changing colors, trips to the cider mill, &pumpkin-spice everything! but aside from all of that, i love spooky things, dressing up in costumes, &of course, candy! one of my favorite things to do around this time every year is to plan out my halloween costume. i prefer homemade costumes over bagged store-bought costumes, any day! my boyfriend &i have gone as pirates on a number of occasions, but sometimes i like to mix things up a bit. this year i'm planning my costume for a zombie walk &a dance party. i won't reveal what my costumes are going to be yet, partly because i'm still planning them out, but also because surprises are way more fun!

here are some of my favorites, tutorials included! (gotta love instructables!)

life-size green army man

 ghostbuster with proton pack!

optimus prime!

kidnapped mermaid

yip-yip costumes, hilarious!

 zombie makeup

lady owl costume (perfect with this diy mask!)

carol from where the wild things are

kid-sized carol from where the wild things are 

pac man &ghosts costumes

kid-sized stormtroopers

wee gnome

toddler-sized sock monkey (i love sock monkeys!)

baby yoshi &baby mario 

toddler-sized flintstone car (amazing!)

thing 1 &thing 2 (perfect for twins! sorry, no tutorial!)

**EDIT**

this one is too good to not add!

roy lichtenstein-inspired comic woman

i hope that was inspiring! feel free to share any creative costume ideas you've seen!

cats, cats, cats!!!!!

to most people who have met me at least once &know that i am a cat lady at heart, this shouldn't be surprising..

i was watching a youtube video on how to tie an ascot (i know, but that's a story for another time!), i spotted some sort of cat pop-art on the wall behind the said ascot-tier. so, naturally, i did what any other sane person would do, &paused-backed-up-paused-backed-up the video trying to find out more about this mysterious art piece.

(credit: expert village)

buuuut, that wasn't quite good enough. no, i had to figure out exactly what was going on with the rest of the canvas, so i skimmed through a couple more videos by the same 'fashion reporter' until, BINGO BANGO! i found it!!

(credit: expert village)

super cute, if i may say so myself. i'm inspired to make some cat pop-art for my wall!*

*for those of you less cat-inclined, you could substitute the cat face for your kid's face, or if you don't have a kid, your dog /neighbor /favorite food. whatever! it's not just the subject matter that counts (not that your kid isn't important!), but rather the repetition of shapes &color that really make a bold, graphic statement. think andy worhol. i wonder if he liked cats..

anyway, i promise i'll take a break from cat-blogging now, since this isn't a cat blog, although i can see how it could easily turn into one! =)

some cool spaces.

 (credit: sorry, can't remember!)

check out this neat lego room! it has the green lego bases attached to the wall, so you can create anything your imagination desires. perfect for kids &adults who are big kids.. my brother would have loved this when he was litttle!

 

 (credit: things i like)

this is the perfect cat lady house! complete with catwalk so kitties fulfill all of their running, jumping, &climbing desires in a small space. hilarious &so cool. i especially love the tunnel!

 
(credit: commonhumans)

sweet 'x-ray' desk! this is what the creator has to say about it:  This is my home made x-ray light desk. My Dad and I made it from an old wall hanging x-ray back light that I found at a university surplus store. All we had to do was buy some wall brackets and mount it perpendicular to the wall and now I use it as a light table rather than an x-ray viewer! The light table really helps when I need to do tracing for graphic or interior design, every designer/illustrator should have one. I recently painted the wall to make my desk pop and now my work station is clean and complete! If you are wondering where store all of my stuff, I have a one drawer filing cabinet and a few storage boxes in my closet, most of my work is on the computer to reduce clutter. This shows the lights off. I uploaded another image showing the desk with its lights on.

enjoy!