DIY Conspiracy Board Photo Display

     Brian and I are coming up on our 10th Halloween together.  I thought it might be fun to put up a photo display of Halloween seasons past in honor of this milestone.  To make it more fitting for Halloween, I decided I would do it in the style of a conspiracy board.  I glued photos over a map of the area and used some variegated embroidery floss and push pins to write out the number 10.  Also, you may notice that there's an empty spot in one corner.  That's where this year's Halloween photo will go.

Materials:

*Foam board (optional)
*Map
*Photos
*Push pins
*Embroidery floss
*All purpose adhesive

Directions:

*If you're using foam board (it gives the project a little more stability), glue the map to the foam board.

*Lay the photos atop the map.  Once you're satisfied with their arrangement, glue or tape them to the map.

*Use the embroidery floss and push pins to create some sort of design.  You can connect random points to give it the standard conspiracy theory board look, you could connect points that are meaningful to you, or you could create a number, word, or symbol.

DIY Astrophysicist Barbie Costume

     When I was little, I loved Barbie.  I would generally get a new Barbie for Christmas each year, and my dad (or Santa, I forget which ;)) would often give me dolls that aligned with my career interests.  I remember receiving Dentist Barbie (I wanted to be a doctor, but I don't think Doctor Barbie was available that year, and Dentist Barbie still had a medical coat), Teacher Barbie, and Working Woman Barbie.  If Scientist Barbie had been a thing, I probably would have gotten her too, since my parents were always getting me cool science kits, but alas, 90s Barbies did not spend much time in the lab.
     As an adult, my feelings toward Barbie are more complicated.  Nonetheless, when I learned that Mattel was releasing Astrophysicist Barbie, I couldn't help but be excited.  Sure, I'm not an astrophysicist, but I doubt Mattel is coming out with Theoretical Physicist Barbie any time soon, so Astrophysicist Barbie is probably the closest thing I'll see to a Barbie like me for a long while.
     Barbie turns 60 this year, so I thought it might be fun to put together a Barbie costume, and of course Astrophysicist Barbie was the obvious choice.  Originally I wanted to try to replicate her outfit more closely, but it turned out to be harder than I thought it would to find a long sleeved galaxy print top.  So I went for a Barbie inspired look rather than an exact replica.  It's certainly not the most recognizable Barbie look, although if you brought the doll with you, I'm sure people would get the idea.

The actual Astrophysicist Barbie

Me as Astrophysicist Barbie, with my handy star chart.

The wind was really bad the day we decided to do the photo shoot.  I don't think we got a single photo where my hair was still.

Materials:

*Galaxy print top/romper/dress
*Black leggings
*Black booties
*Star chart (such as these free printable charts)
*Astronomy related backdrop

Notes:

*I opted to take my pictures in front of the observatory at UMaine since I don't have a telescope.

*Since my outfit wasn't spot on, I tried straightening my hair for this to look a little more like the doll.  My hair, however, had other plans.  The unrelenting wind didn't help matters any.

*This is one of those times when Barbie's outfit choices are actually suited to her profession.  I've worn almost the exact same outfit as the one I wore here in my duties as a physicist.

DIY Freddy Krueger Inspired Nails

     Tomorrow is Friday the 13th, so I figured, why not celebrate with some horror movie inspired nail art?  Now it might seem more fitting to do a Jason Voorheese inspired manicure for Friday the 13th, but I've never really gotten into the Friday the 13th movies, so I figured I'd do a Freddy Krueger inspired nail art tutorial instead.

Materials:

*Nail polish base coat
*Red nail polish
*Olive green nail polish
*Crimson nail polish
*Nail art brush
*Fine detail nail art brush

Directions:

*Paint nails with a base coat.  Let dry.

*Using a nail art brush, paint nails with alternating red and olive green stripes.  Let dry.

*Once nails are fully dry, use a fine nail art brush to draw crimson slash marks across the nails.  Let dry.

*Seal with a top coat if you would like.

The 'Burbs Ricky's Girlfriend Costume

     One of my favorite movies growing up was The 'Burbs, the 1989 horror comedy starring Tom Hanks, Carrie Fisher, and Corey Feldman, among others.  One of the characters in the movie is a teenage boy named Ricky, played by Feldman, and he has a girlfriend, played by Heather Haase, identified in the credits only as "Ricky's girlfriend."  When I was rewatching the movie a few years back, I took note of Haase's outfits and thought that it might be fun to recreate one for a costume.  I chose her outfit from the movie's finale.  Below is a screenshot of Haase's look followed by my own costume.

     I have written this tutorial around the process I used for making my costume.  However, depending on the articles of clothing you use, you may not need some of these steps or may need to make additional modifications.  If you buy the appropriate pieces, you may be able to get away with only having to make the belt thingy that I think might be part of her top.
     I bought all of the clothes for this costume from Forever 21.  I've linked to the ones that I could, although unfortunately most are no longer available.

Materials:

*80s bow earrings from last week's post
*Neon green tube top
*Pink miniskirt or minidress
*Biker shorts (optional)
*3" wide black elastic
*1/2" to 1" wide black ribbon
*Fabric shears or rotary cutter
*Sewing machine or needle and thread
*Pins or safety pins
*Pink ribbon

Making the Belt

Directions:

*Take a section of elastic and wrap it around your waist so that it sits snugly.  Trim to that length, leaving a little extra elastic to sew the ends together.

*Place ends together and sew using a sewing machine or needle and thread.

*Cut off two lengths of ribbon that are long enough to go from your waist, over your shoulder, and down your back to your waist.

*Slide the elastic band you created around your waist and pin the ribbons to the band to create straps.  Make sure that the straps sit tightly enough that they will not slip down your shoulders.

*Sew the straps to the band using a sewing machine or needle and thread.

Making the Top

The top as it was originally.  The straps were way too large for me.  Otherwise I might not have cut them off.

Directions:

*To make the top, all I had to do was cut the straps off of the neon green top that I had.  If you buy a green tube top, you won't even need to do this step.

Shorts to Wear Under Miniskirt or Minidress

The biker shorts went from this ...

to this

     While I appreciate the aesthetic of a miniskirt, I very much like to keep my underwear hidden, and miniskirts are not always great on this front.  To alleviate this, I decided to take some biker shorts, which are tight fitting and should not really show under the skirt, and crop them so that they fit under the skirt without showing.

Directions:

*I began by removing the waistband from my shorts so that it would not show under the miniskirt.  However, since you'll be wearing a belt over your waist, it probably won't make a difference for the look whether you remove the waistband or not.  If you do remove the waistband, hem the raw edge.

*Put on the shorts and skirt and mark on the shorts where the bottom of the skirt falls.  Cut off the leg pieces below the markings.

*Hem the raw edges.

Putting the Costume Together

Directions

*Put on the shorts (if desired), miniskirt or minidress, and top.

*Pull the belt over your waist.  Depending on the length of your top and skirt, you may need to sew or pin the belt to the top or skirt to keep it from riding up.  This may be less of an issue if you opt for a minidress.

*Add earrings.

*Put hair in a high side ponytail and secure with a hair elastic.  Tie a pink ribbon around the hair elastic.