Halloween Goodies

We're a week away from All Hallow's Eve (Halloween) and I decided to share with you my pick list of neat DIY Halloween stuff, to inspire (some of the articles are mine, and some are by Cintia), and perhaps, give you a giggle. So let's get into it, shall we?

First up are simple costume ideas:

{My Poppet Makes: Chat Noir Costume}

{My Poppet Makes: DIY Koroku Mask}

{Kidspot: GITD Skeleton Costume}

{Kidspot: Superhero Costume}

And for costume ideas that are a bit more advanced... in other words let's dip our toes into the world of cosplay:

{My Poppet Makes: Linkle Cosplay}

{My Poppet Makes: Bellatrix Estrange Cosplay by Cintia}

Let's not forget the awesome Halloween decorations that you can make:

{My Poppet Makes: Pumpkin Gift Box by Cintia}

{My Poppet Makes: Upcycled Halloween Wreath}

Last, but not least:

If you're a sewing nut check out the Halloween themed sewing projects listed at Coloured Buttons.It's a smorgasbord of spooky, sewing fun.

Book Week: Rodrick + Luna

Rodrick & Luna: When fictional worlds collide.

What is Book Week? If not a warm up for Halloween. Or an early traipse into a life long obsession with cosplay.
There's a bit of work helping the kids bring their favorite book characters to life. But as stressful as it can be, the end goal is worth the temporary loss of insanity.
This year the kids wanted to dress as Luna Lovegood (Harry Potter and the order of the Phoenix by JK Rowling) and Rodrick Heffley (Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney).

{Pottermore link}

{IMDB link}

A Rockstar is Born
Creating Rodrick was relatively easy. My youngest only wanted/needed a black shirt to be painted with the words 'löded diper'. She wore the painted shirt, jeans, and because it was a cold day she had a long sleeve shirt underneath. Actually when I come to think of it, she was dressed just like me. Anyhoo, we messed up her hair, sprayed it, and applied rockstar eyeliner, because... Rodrick is pure rockstar. 

 

 

Magic-ing up a Witch
Creating a Luna Lovegood costume was much more. Oh, so much more. I was on a tight schedule for this one. The costume had more components, such as a wand, Quibbler magazine, radish (I mean Dirigible Plum) earrings. I got through making this costume with the aid of the My Poppet Luna Lovegood cosplay tutorials. I loosely followed the My Poppet tutorials, with a few variations of my own. For instance, I made the earrings from sculpting and painting clay. I decorated the wand not with yarn, but with pipe cleaner, and I gave it a gilded appearance with a mega load of hot glue, and metallic paint.

 

 

Luna Lovegood Inspiration

Doll making by Melissa Gaggiano

    I am one of the masses who enjoys the Harry Potter universe and for this very reason I constructed a Luna Lovegood inspired textile sculpted art doll.

    I am so proud of the little-big details that went into making this doll. She has wire armature, is sculpted with felt. I've hand painted fabric, needle felted, blanket stitched and even curled yarn to bring this Luna to life.

    This Luna is currently available in my store. Check her out!

Expecto Complete

    The Hogwarts-Gryffindor robes are now complete. I even made a special loop hidden within the robe for holding the wizard wands. The girls are mucho happy with their robes, now if they can only wait till the HP birthday party to wear these.

House of Gryffindor

Handmade Gryffindor badge by Melissa Gaggiano

    I finished making two Hogwarts robes on the weekend for my kids. But that wasn't enough; I wanted to make Gryffindor badges for the uniforms. So that is what I have been working on.

    The kids really appreciate the little details I put in. And they were extra surprised by this new development, because they didn't know that I was going to add the badges to the robes.

HP Mania

    We still have Harry Potter mania in this house. I don't mind though. Harry Potter is a relatively untapped source for the kids, so it makes a nice change to say… Frozen mania.

    The kids will be attending a HP themed party so today I began making basic Hogwarts robes [completely from scratch]. I finished making a robe for the youngest, and since that worked fine I shall repeat the design process tomorrow when I make a bigger robe for my eldest. After all that, if I have the patience, I might try making Gryffindor badges to go with the robes.

    In addition to all that I have almost finished putting together the birthday present for the host of 'said' birthday party. After I made the HP doll I also made a broom stick accessory.

Harry Potter doll making by Melissa Gaggiano

Evolution

Doll making by Melissa Gaggiano

    I am sharing with you a photo wall that shows the overall progress of making an armature doll. This is me taking my doll making in a whole new direction. I'm talking smaller and finer detail. It's an exciting new phase. What will I do next?

Harry Complete

Doll making by Melissa Gaggiano

    I have just finished sewing the Harry Potter doll. Excellent effort, yes! Eyeballs tired, yes! Want to step out and eat hot chips, yes!

Doll making by Melissa Gaggiano

Harry Hurry Hurray

Doll making by Melissa Gaggiano

    These updates are coming in fast. As I'm on the home stretch it feels like I'm getting faster at making each piece that is attached to the doll. Suddenly I can see Harry in this doll.

    Next step is to design and make Harry's quidditch (note to spell-check: this is not 'quid' 'ditch') cloak. Then hopefully a broom and maybe a wand next.

The More He Becomes

Doll making by Melissa Gaggiano

    The Harry Potter doll: The more he becomes, the closer he is.

Boots n Things

Doll making by Melissa Gaggiano

    And so the progress journey of the Harry Potter doll continues. Today I have been working on making boots, and limb protectors for the Harry Potter doll. As can be seen here. Stay tuned for more updates...

Harry Pants On Potter

Doll making by Melissa Gaggiano

    Harry 'pants on' Potter now has his… pants and his glasses on. Fun isn't it? Watching a doll being built up bit by bit, sculpting, one section at a time.

The Glasses

Doll making by Melissa Gaggiano

    What is Harry Potter without those glasses. Using the armature wire I have shaped these glasses for the boy who lived. But I'm not finished there. Next I will be wrapping the wire in black thread.

Doll making by Melissa Gaggiano

Harry's Uniform

Drawing by Melissa Gaggiano

    I began my day with a uniform concept board for the Harry Potter doll. Even though there are many movie photos that I can go by, I still need to see the costume in my own hand to make the design process easier.

Constructing Harry

    Following on my progress for the Harry Potter doll, over the past few days I have built up his body bit by bit. The doll as quite thin limbs, but once the clothes are added he'll have quite a bit of bulk to him.

    Next step is to sew the head and neck together. Then… the clothes. And I while I'm thinking about it, I might do more with the hair - more fringe, and more on the sides… Stay tuned.

From this...

and this...

to this.

♥ Harry Potter

    I have started another doll project and it is completely different from any other doll I have ever made. This new doll has armature. I can hardly believe I am actually making a doll with bendy limbs.

    The new doll will be a birthday present for a little boy. His new favourite theme is Harry Potter, so naturally the doll will be… Yep! You guess it - Harry Potter.

© Melissa Gaggiano

    At the moment the doll is at a very basic stage, so it looks like a stick thin Egyptian mummy. Tomorrow I will construct the head and sew on the fabric skin of the doll.

    I am thinking of designing a doll outfit based on Harry's quidditch team uniform. And if I have time (and the talent for it) I'll construct an accessory broom.

    I have already made an accessory Marauder's Map, which has been an easy starting point for this birthday present. I found a DIY Marauder's Map here, which I printed on a single A4 (Yep, this is to be a miniature). I printed the map B&W, and later I dipped it in coffee water to give the paper that aged look. It is an amazing effect.

Marauder's Map miniature

    Stay tuned for more details of my progress (or tales of woe, depending on my success).

Friday Release

    Thank god it’s Friday! You know, I have yet to watch that film, though it is a phrase I have thrown around for many years. I use to flick through my Dad’s vinyl collection and I loved looking at the funny cover art for that movie soundtrack. I want to see that film if for nothing else than to watch Donna Summer perform.
    I am so looking forward to the weekend and just relaxing with my husband and daughter. Only have one week to go with the pregnancy, so anything can happen now.

Crumble Cake

    I have such a hankering for something sweet to eat. Might even try baking a cake this weekend. This crumble cake looks promising.
    Right, well I'm off now to read a little. I am now on to Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.

Books or Door Stops

Listen, people, those rectangular slabs you're using as doorstops… they're books. Careful, the first time you open them, they'll crack a bit. Don't be alarmed.

Professor Edward Alcott [Greg Kinnear], film Loser

My brain is fried! It has been quite an active week for me, both physically and mentally.

I think I’ll just stop now, eat a biscuit, drink tea and read the latest issue of Frankie and some Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. No doubt husband will come home from work and find me passed out with book open. This happens on occasion, when I am extra tired.

Have a great weekend everyone, with whatever it is you do.

My Creative Space

My scarf notes.

Inspiration: Harry Potter scarfs.

Today I shall begin knitting myself a scarf. I have been inspired by the long scarfs, which were worn in one of the Harry Potter films. The colour scheme I have chosen is inspired by another blogger’s jumper knitting, which also used black and pink. As soon as I saw these two colours together I just knew how my scarf project would be.

Yesterday my daughter and I made a small trip to the local wool shop. I am so lucky it is only a two-minute walk. I chose my knitting yarn for my scarf, plus some pink ribbon for Gwen [the ribbon became a lead for a certain Barbie car, so that it can be pulled along.].