Last Minute Holiday Projects

• DIY Tutu
• Hot Chocolate Balls
• Blackberry Cobbler
• Holiday Ornaments
• Glittery Dinosaurs
• Sculpey Ornaments
• Weeping Angel Tree Topper
• Shrinky Dinks

DIY Tutu (Adult Size)
By: Courtney Patach

I had the pleasure of running my first 5k this past weekend; The Color Run, OMG it was a blast! The website boasted it was the happiest 5k on the planet and I think it lived up to its bold statement. However, this race was the prequel; the race I signed up for is in January. We have a team named Sweating for the Dress. After seeing numerous tutus at this race and a pink sign that read “I LOVE TUTU’s”. I have decided I MUST have one for the next race coming up!

Supplies: 

• 45-50 yards tulle*
• Elastic (enough to fit snugly around your waist)
• Needle / Thread (to stitch elastic together)
• Scissors

Instructions:

Wrap elastic around your waist, measure, and cut. The elastic should fit snugly; you want it to stay put when running, dancing, and straight out shaking your booty! Also measure and cut all of your tulle strips. I used a 27” piece of tulle for each tie to achieve a 6.5 inch tutu.

Take one single 27” piece of tool and fold it in half, like a hamburger bun. Then fold it in half again, only this time, like a hot dog bun. Then fold in half again and create a loop with your fingers and the elastic belt. I found if you stretch the elastic band over a chair back it will hold it in place for you to attach all the ties.

Finish attaching pieces to belt and voila; you have poofy, girly, twirly, tutu! Look out Color Run 2013, team Sweating for the Dress is coming through :D

*Please note, I used 6" pre-cut rolls of tulle (not whole bolts); I used 2 rolls in all.

Hot Chocolate Balls
By: Courtney Patach

Ingredients:

• 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips* (about 2 cups) * I prefer a creamier hot chocolate and will substitute with ½ milk chocolate chips
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Makes about 9-10 hot chocolate balls.

Directions:

In a medium bowl, combine all of the ingredients. Microwave for one minute intervals, stirring often, until the mixture is combined and very smooth and silky. When you first start stirring, after the first minute or so, you'll wonder if this mixture will ever come together. It will look grainy and messy but after it heats thoroughly and is whisked to combine, it will magically become beautifully smooth. Be careful not to overheat as the chocolate can seize. The trick is to stir often since the mixture will blend together even when it looks like the chocolate chips haven't melted completely.

In a medium bowl, combine all of the ingredients. Microwave for one minute intervals, stirring often, until the mixture is combined and very smooth and silky. When you first start stirring, after the first minute or so, you'll wonder if this mixture will ever come together. It will look grainy and messy but after it heats thoroughly and is whisked to combine, it will magically become beautifully smooth. Be careful not to overheat as the chocolate can seize. The trick is to stir often since the mixture will blend together even when it looks like the chocolate chips haven't melted completely.

To make the hot chocolate: pour 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups (depending on how rich you like your cocoa) milk into a microwave-safe mug. Carefully drop one unwrapped truffle hot chocolate ball in the milk. Microwave for about 2 minutes. Stir well until the chocolate is combined with the milk. Serve warm and don’t forget the tiny marshmallows!

Blackberry Cobbler (Pioneer Woman HGTV)
By: Courtney Patach

Ingredients:

• 1 ¼ cups Sugar
• 1 cup Self-Rising Flour
• 1 cup Milk
• ½ stick of butter (melted) and
• Butter to grease pan
• 1 ½ cups Blackberries (washed/dried)

Watching t.v. on a Saturday afternoon, while folding laundry, when this recipe was featured on Food Network’s Pioneer Woman. It claimed to be so easy that it would become a staple in your dessert menu. This is by far the easiest cobbler recipe ever! I love simple recipes; tasty treats made with real ingredients, really fast!

Directions:

1.Start by greasing your pan with the extra butter. If you think you’re using too much butter, you’re not!

2. Next, mix 1 cup sugar, with 1 cup self-rising flour, 1 cup milk, and ½ stick of melted butter. Your batter will be thin; don’t freak out, it’s supposed to be this way.

3. Pour your batter into a 9x13 greased baking dish. Add the blackberries by dropping them on top of the batter and try to distribute evenly. The blackberries will settle, and the batter will bake up around them. Bake @ 350 for 1 hour.

4. Let cool to warm and enjoy with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or your favorite whipped topping!

Holiday Ornaments

By: Victoria Kulig

Recently, Kandis and I spent a weekend at the House of Awesome working on creating our own ornaments for our trees. She has three trees at her house, one of them dubbed the 'Geek Tree', and so she spent time painting ornaments. My own tree was full of cheap store-bought ornaments, so I thought I'd join her in the ornament making banaza.

Glittery Dinosaurs

It really wouldn't be my tree if it wasn't covered in dinosaurs. That sparkle. To make this happen, I purchased some small dinosaur toys from Hobby Lobby and the dollar store, a box of different colors of glitter, some Elmer's glue, screw-in eye hooks, and a Mod Podge spray sealant.

This craft is glitter intensive. Glitter at your own risk. You know what happens when you use glitter.

The first step was to lay out the dinosaurs and figure out where to place the hooks.

Then, using a pair of pliers, I screwed in the eye hooks into each dinosaur. Pay attention to where the bulk of the weight is, so the toys will hang nicely and not upside down.

Once I had all of the eyelets in place, I organized my dinosaurs by the glitter colors I was going to use. I didn't want all of the triceratops to be the same color, so I organized them first.



Next, using a cheap, throw-away paint brush, I painted them all with Elmer's glue, and then sprinkled glitter over them until they were fully covered.

 Once covered, I hung them all on strings to dry, making sure they weren't touching each other. I put a sheet of freezer paper under them to catch any glitter or glue drips while they dried.

Once they were all dry, I took them outside and sprayed them with a Mod Podge sealant - to make sure the glitter didn't drop off whenever they were bumped. Once dry, I simply hung them on my tree - a fantastic, glittery, dinosaur tree.

Sculpey Ornaments

Sculpey clay is just amazing. You can make anything you want, bake it, and paint it. You don't need to be an artist or have any prior experience - just grab it, mold it, and have fun. The Sculpey we used was a bit older so it took a lot of work to get it soft enough to mold just right, but we were able to make some amazing ornaments.

Sharktopus and Two-Headed Shark

Sharktopus

Dalek

Sonic Screwdrivers

Star Trek Emblem

Once molded, we simply baked them according to the directions. When ready they seem to get rubbery, but harden considerably when cooled. We made sure to insert holes to hang hooks before we baked them, too.

Once they're cooled and hardened, paint them!



Exterminate.

Then hang them on the tree and enjoy. Make anything! I think I need to create a Golden Snitch ornament next year.

Weeping Angel Tree Topper

As a huge Doctor Who fan, I felt like my tree was lacking an angel. A certain kind of creepy, stone angel who moved when you weren't looking. The tutorial for making a Weeping Angel has been popping up all over Pinterest, so Kari and I made our own.

There's no need to reproduce the tutorial which is already well written - so here's a link to the original.

We used a generic Barbie-type doll for ours - but at times we wished we'd forked over a few dollars to get an actual Barbie! The dolls we used were so cheap that at times their arms and legs would simply fall out of socket! Our wings are made out of foam rather than clay, and our hair made of hot glue. Additionally, we found a 'stone textured' spray paint - and although it isn't the stone grey we would have liked, the end result was still.... creepy.

Shinky Dinks

By: Nikki Thompson and Priscilla Burgos

Nikki and Priscilla decided to decorate their office tree - with Shrinky Dinks! Shrinky Dinks are wonderful because you can draw anything you like on them, cut them out, pop them in the oven watch them shrink down. They have a tiny tree, so Shrinky Dinks were absolutely prefect!



Creating your own holiday cards

By Victoria Kulig

Every year, I love to send out personalized holiday cards to friends and family. I live very far away from my and my husband’s families, and we don’t usually see them. In some cases, it’s been several years since we’ve seen anyone. So our holiday cards are how we send them one picture that showcases who we are.

That’s a tall order, too.  I’m not a professional photographer, but I dabble quite a bit and know the basics of how to compose a decent photograph.

An example of one of my better shots. T.A.R.D.I.S. is a great model.

Now even though I can compose a decent photo, I’m not looking for a photo I can catch. I’m looking for a photo of myself, which is hard to do. I know not all of us out there can afford to hire a professional photographer, so what’s one to do?

Grab a camera, grab a friend, and go some place fun! My favorite photographs are never posed shots! Think about your favorite photographs from your family albums - they’re the ones you caught yourself. The ones of real laughter, the ones showing you playing, being silly, the ones that capture a part of you. Not the ones where you had to pose and force yourself to smile.

I enlisted the help of Nikki, a fellow author, and  headed off to Dinosaur World with two of my dogs, and my husband. I absolutely adore dinosaurs, always have. The park is inexpensive to get into, allows dogs, and is full of life-sized dinosaurs. What better place to capture a photo showing off exactly who I am?

Nikki is plenty capable of using my camera to point and shoot, and my camera isn’t anything special. I regularly use a Canon Powershot, and it works beautifully for my purposes.  It’s absolutely possible to get great photos with any camera, if you just pay attention to what you are doing!

There are six tips I’m going to share that can help you get great shots catching those special moments for a great holiday card.

#1: Composition. You have to identify what the focal point of your photo is - what do you want to draw the attention. Many cameras will try to automatically focus for you, so pay attention to what your camera is telling you! Also remember that the focal point doesn’t have to be dead center in the photo.

Notice how this photo is almost cut in half - the dog on the bottom half. The focus is on his nose and the weed, while the background appears almost blurry, which draws your eye straight to the center of the shot.

#2: Background. Pay attention to your surroundings. Too many times someone takes a photo, not looking at what else is in the shot, sharing it on Facebook and then having someone else point out some horribly embarrassing item in the background. The second thing to watch for is making sure you don’t have items that appear to cut people in half, or grow out of their heads.

This is a case where I didn’t pay attention to the background, and you can see my extremely distracting TV in this otherwise great shot.

#3: Lighting. Lighting matters. A lot. Lighting can create deep shadows or washed out photos. Not enough lighting can cause grainy photos with a lot of noise, too much light can make your subjects squint. Using a flash can wash out the subject or cause lazer eyes in animals and red eye in people.

Almost there - but not quite! Notice the poor lighting in this shot. The background is brightly lit, as is my husband’s face, but the dogs and I are in the shadows.

#4: Use a camera whenever possible, not a phone! Camera phones are great for sharing things quickly, especially on Facebook. But when you’re trying to catch a photo to print, use a camera.

 

This pretty much sums up everything I just said not to do. Photo taken from the phone, with a bright flash causing lazer eyes and glares on the ribbons,  and not paying attention to the background caught this weird cable thing growing out of his back. It’s just fine for a quick photo to share on Facebook, but it’s not something I would want to print or send on a card.

#5: Don’t be afraid to edit it. While a good photo is a good photo, sometimes you end up with a great shot that has a few flaws. As I said, I’m not a professional photographer, so I don’t get every single shot perfect. For those readers who have Photoshop - excellent! For those who don’t - try Gimp. Gimp is a free, powerful image manipulation program that will allow you to easily modify photos that need a little something more. Editing your photos can allow you to crop them down to something more interesting, or brighten up a photo with poor lighting.

Editing can mean the difference between these two photos

#6: Get a quality print job. Please don’t print your own cards at home. Even if you have an extremely high quality printer, the ink is expensive and quality degrades the more you print them. Wal-Mart has decent holiday cards, and can be as low as 28 cents a card - they’ll even do free site-to-store shipping for you. For an amazing job, though, pay just a little more and use a site like Shutterfly. The difference between the two sites is vast - you get what you pay for.

When you put all of those together, you should end up with something you’re proud to share with your friends and family.

Divine Domestics: Thanksgiving Edition

By Courtney Patach, Kandis Hamrick, Kari Baker-Lott, and Victoria Kulig

• Easy, Kid Friendly Crafts
• How to Cook a Turkey
• Easy Pumpkin Mousse Shooters
• Keeping Thanksgiving Safe for your Dog and Cat

Easy, Kid Friendly Crafts (by Kari)

Cornucopia Placemats

As a teacher, I am always looking for easy projects to do with my kids.  For our annual Thanksgiving Feast I needed a cute placemat, but I am completely over the handprint turkeys.  I made these at school with my kiddies (ages 3, 4, and 5) and the children were able to do the entire project with little to no help from an adult.  I printed the cornucopia, fruits and vegetables out on colored paper to save on class time, but they could easily be printed on white and colored.  The children ripped up different shades of brown paper and glued them to the cornucopia to make it look like a basket.  They glued everything down and we finished it off with some craft hay around the border.  We laminated ours because they did eat on them, but if you don’t have access to a laminator, you can use craft laminate sheets from Walmart or a craft store.

Adorable Pilgrim and Indian Centerpieces

I made these with my preschoolers and very soon after beginning the project, I realized that this was not the ideal age for this.  Although my kids were a little young for this project, these turned out crazy cute!!!!  They  painted the  toilet paper rolls for the pilgrims peach.  For the Native Americans, I mixed the peach color with brown paint to get the color darker.  I cut all the pieces out so they just had to glue them all together.  I didn’t have brown yarn, so I twisted pipe cleaners to make the braids for the Native Americans.  Once all the pieces were assembled, we glued the Pilgrims and Indians to a paper plate we painted green and then finished it off with a bundle of hay.

How to Cook a Turkey (by Courtney)

Every year we strive to make the BEST Thanksgiving Day feast and let’s face it, the turkey is always the center of attention. Well unless you’re Vegetarian or Vegan, in that case you get to indulge in all the scrumptious sides!

I’ve been using this recipe for the past 4 years now and my turkey has always come out perfect; golden crisp skin and juicy meat. This is by far the best recipe to date, that I have found on “How to Cook Turkey”!

Easy Pumpkin Mousse Shooters (by Kandis)

A couple of years ago, a friend introduced me to this pumpkin mousse recipe; it originally came from Weight Watchers. It’s super simple and absolute divinity. This a great alternative if you want that pumpkin taste without the heaviness of pumpkin pie. The original recipe calls for vanilla pudding, but I’ve also make it with butterscotch pudding.

You can find mini single-serving graham cracker crusts which will save you some time, or you can use a simple recipe to make your own graham cracker crust. If you want to make shooters you’ll need glasses to put your crust and mousse in. If you’re making your own graham cracker crust, you can follow simple recipe like this one, but then just press the graham cracker into the bottom of each glass. Fill the glass with the pumpkin mousse, leaving a little room on the top to add whipped cream (optional) then sprinkle a little more pumpkin pie spice on top for presentation.

Voila! Now you have a simple Thanksgiving dessert that can be made ahead of time and chilled. Plus, everything will already be portioned into single-servings to save you some time after dinner.

Keeping Thanksgiving Safe for your Dog and Cat (by Victoria)

Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday where everyone likes to gather all around a big table of food with their family, loved ones, and friends and be thankful for their time together. For a lot of families, my own included, this also includes our dogs.

It could be as simple as slipping a piece of turkey from your plate to the dog’s mouth, or clearing your plate after dinner and putting the leftovers in the dog’s bowl. Everyone means well, and the feeling of wanting to include the dog in the festivities is perfectly normal.

It is important to note however, that many of the foods we enjoy over the holidays can be very, very dangerous for our dogs - and cats too, in some cases. So here are a few tips that can help keep the family pets involved, but also keep them out of the emergency room.

To start with, limit who is allowed to feed the dog. While everyone is eating, it’s best to crate the dog, put them outside, or in another room. This prevents everyone from slipping things under the table, or the dog from stealing from the children’s table. This way, at the end of the meal, you can determine what goes into your dog’s bowl based on what is safe for the dog.

Safe is also a fairly relative term. What is safe for my dog, may not be safe for another due to allergies. I know my two little dogs seem to have cast iron stomachs built to handle anything - but my old Shepherd is sensitive enough that  the wrong foods cause him to break out in hot spots. I have a friend whose dog’s allergies are so sensitive that he can’t have any treats that aren’t specifically homemade for him! Not letting anyone else feed the dog is key, especially if you have one with allergies.

It is also important not to stuff the dog. Even though it seems tradition for us to overeat and bask in the food coma all day, over stuffing the dog can lead to vomiting and diarrhea, and that isn’t pleasant in the best of times. It is really important to limit how much the dog is allowed to eat to prevent an upset stomach.

In addition to allergies - there are a lot of foods that are fine for humans that are extremely dangerous for dogs.

Cooked turkey bones. These are extremely brittle. If a dog bites into them, they can easily splinter into tiny shards, which can cause serious damage to the dog’s mouth, throat, stomach and intestines. Note that cooked bones in general are dangerous for this reason, but poultry bones are extremely brittle.

Onions and garlic. Onions and garlic are toxic to dogs.

Avocados. The entire avocado is toxic to the dog. If you have other fruits on the table, do not let the dog have the pits. Most fruit pits contain cyanide.

Raisins and grapes. Raisins and grapes affect a dog’s kidneys and have been known to cause renal failure.

Ham. Cooked ham, or any other foods with high salt contents.

Cooked food, please. Unless your dog is already on a raw diet, raw meat is very likely to upset them. Additionally, don’t feed any uncooked doughs to them. It will rise and expand in their stomach and that can be very painful on the dog.

Chocolate. No chocolate for dogs, ever. Although the amount of chocolate a dog can eat before becoming ill varies, why risk it?

Anything sugar-free. Many sweeteners that are sugar-free use xylitol, which can cause liver failure.

Alcohol. Never, ever, ever give a dog alchohol. It’s bad for humans, it’s awful for dogs. The difference is you know the consequences, the dog doesn’t.

Avoiding the above foods can help make your Thanksgiving incident free. So what can you give your dog?

Go ahead and let the dog eat some turkey (no bones!), some mashed potatoes or sweet potatoes, green beans, carrots, and foods that aren’t heavy in sugar or salt, and foods free of the above items. Remember to go easy and not to overfeed the dog, or you still might have an upset stomach to contend with.

As for cats, be aware that their dietary needs are even more strict than dogs. All of the above foods should be off limits for cats well, but don’t forget that many cats are lactose intolerant and giving them milk can make them very ill. Turkey is one to be very careful about as well - while some cats can tolerate a little bit (it is a bird, after all) - many times we cook the turkey with items like garlic and onions, or even brining them, which can make the cat very ill. Some cats may have very sensitive stomachs and may not be able to tolerate the change in their food. It might best if you purchased a treat specifically made for cats, to be on the safe side.

Halloween Costume Extravaganza

By Kari Baker-Lott, Kandis Hamrick, and Victoria Kulig

• Dalmation Costume
• Wonder Woman
• Mulan Costume
• "Big Tony"
• Olivia

Dalmatian Costume (by Kari)

As a preschool teacher, Halloween is a big deal around my classroom.  This year I decided to make a costume I could wear for our Halloween Parade, which meant that it needed to be cool and comfortable since I have to walk around in the middle of the day in HOT HOT HOT Florida with 40 three and four year-olds.

I found some dalmatian print fabric and I already had a dalmatian hat, so I decided to make a simple dress out of the fabric.  I started by cutting the fabric.  I have a very simple dress pattern that is comfy and quick.  You can find lots of easy patterns at fabric stores.  I used a McCall's pattern (M6465) that has no zipper, which meant less sewing time.

I sewed the sides and shoulders using a french seam.  This is a simple way to finish off a seam and limit the amount of fraying.  I then added the sleeves and the facing (facing finishes the neckline without having a visible stitch).  I hemmed the dress with my machine, but for clothes I know I want to wear more than once, I would do I hidden hand stitch such as a catch stitch or a slip stitch.  I finished off this costume by painting black dots on a pair of white tights and adding the adorable dalmatian hat!

Wonder Woman (by Victoria)

In my attempts at being healthy and figuring out how to be the best possible person I can - I came across the realization one day that I am pretty much Wonder Woman. Ever since realizing this, and figuring out there’s nothing I can’t do - I started referring to myself as it a lot.

So it’s no surprise that for the upcoming Savage Race I decided I wanted to wear a Wonder Woman costume. I realize that there are a plethora of costumes available for purchase, but they all seem to run along the theme that Wonder Woman doesn’t like to wear clothes. And okay, admittedly, her original outfit is kind of skimpy.

However, I’m not that body shape or type, nor am I comfortable wearing such a revealing outfit, so I decided to create my own version.

I started with the top. I’m running a race, so I want to wear a comfortable top and t-shirts generally make good workout clothes. They also hold paint pretty well - so I picked up a plain red t-shirt at Hancock Fabric’s for $3 on clearance, then used my Cricut to create a stencil and paint it onto the shirt.

For the bottom I wanted full coverage. Although I try my best, I’m still a pretty big girl and I like to keep parts of me hidden from prying eyes. So I decided to wear running shorts underneath a skirt.

I found at Hancock’s a beautiful blue fabric with white stars - and it was shiny. It was also a costume fabric, meaning it’s fragile and not likely to hold up well to a lot of abuse. In that case, I wanted to avoid cutting into and creating a lot of seams.

Kari however, owns a serger. A quick drive over to her house and a description of what I was trying to do later, she helped me figure out how to create a circle skirt.



To make the circle skirt, we measured my waist and added an inch and a half to the diameter to allow the fabric to stretch with the elastic.  Then we divided by 6.28 in order to get the radius we needed to cut the fabric.  We marked the fabric where we needed to cut for the waist and then measured the length of the skirt.  Because it was a short skirt, I was able to cut the entire thing in one piece.  We folded the fabric in quarters and cut the center circle of the skirt.  We used http://www.danamadeit.com/2008/07/tutorial-the-circle-skirt.html as a reference for the measurements.  This is a great, easy to follow pattern and explains things simply.

Once it had been properly measured and cut, she kindly threaded her serger for me and explained how to use it. I serged the inside circle, and the outside circle - ensuring that the fabric wouldn’t fray and giving it a finished edge.

Next, I took a wide band of elastic (3 inch wide) and cut it to my waist. I sewed the band closed, then, stretching it out as I went, attached it to the circle skirt. This gave the band some elasticity, helping to keep it in place.

After I tried it on the first time however, it became clear that I didn’t measure it just right and it was a tad big - so I pinched the whole skirt in an inch, and gave it a seam, to tighten it up.

Then I went down to Spirit, and I found an accessory kit, saving me the extra effort of making armbands and a headband. All together, I feel it’s a pretty modest, comfortable outfit to run a race in! Hopefully it doesn’t get completely destroyed after...

Mulan Costume (by Kari)

 

A friend of mine from work was talking to me about Halloween costumes for her daughter.  She was looking for a Mulan costume but was only finding very poor quality costumes for 50 or more dollars.  She told me that she needed a little "divine intervention" for this costume.  We went shopping at Goodwill because that has the largest selection where we live.  I was able to find 3 skirts and a blazer for around $20.  Then we went to the fabric store and got the sheer blue for the wrap, and the purple ribbon trim for the top of the "robe."  We got the fabric on sale and spent $5 there.  I had some blue fabric left over from another project, which I used to make the blue waist wrap.

 

This is what you give me to work with... well, honey, I've seen worse.

The next step is to cut the old pieces apart and make new ones.

I cut the bottom tier off of the orange-coral skirt and used that to make the wrap belt.  I folded it in half and finished the edges with a machine stitch.  I left it intentionally long so it could wrap multiple times around her.

Next, I pinned the purple trim to the blazer.  I quickly sewed it on and cut about 6 inches of fabric off of the blazer so it wouldn't show past the belt.  I also took the shoulder pads out to prevent it from looking so 80's!

Then I made the middle piece of the costume. If your fabric is wide enough, you can simply fold it in half; I was using fabric I already had and it wasn't wide enough so I had to cut two large strips of blue fabric and sew them together. I sewed down the long sides of the two strips to form a tube of fabric. Then used iron-on interfacing that I secured on one side. Then I flipped the tube of fabric so the right sides were out and ironed the whole piece flat.  I then folded the ends in and finished them with a straight stitch.

I made the shawl with a single yard of fabric.  I cut it in half lengthwise and used a serger to finish the edges.  I then sewed the two pieces together at one end to create one large strip of fabric.

I then layered the two skirts, the blazer/robe, the blue waistband, and the wrap belt.  I finished her costume off with a flower for her hair and a pair of black flats.

“Big Tony” (by Kandis)

I'm going to take a moment (as my dear friend Lynz would say) wear my geek on my sleeve. This Halloween, my friends and are having a themed party where we will be doing some Live Action Role-Playing (aka LARPing). My amazing friend and roommate has created his own Tabletop RPG and we each have our own character. It would be far too difficult to explain the whole RPG universe and characters, so I'll just briefly summarize "Big Tony".

He’s big and rough around the edges and isn't afraid to use brute force to get things done. He's an NYPD Detective, but he's also...connected. As in mafia. Oh, and he's a werewolf.

Step one in this transformation was to add a little muscle, so I bought a padded muscle shirt from a costume store in town. I had to add snaps to the back closure because the velcro it came with pulled apart too easily.

Next, Tony needed a holster for his gun. I had some black vinyl remnants on hand so I decided to use this; the back of this material was white felt material (I think the fabric was originally meant for tablecloths). I was able to lay my gun on the white side of the vinyl and trace its outline. I added about ½” seam allowance all the way around and cut the pieces out. There was a little trial and error involved here. I’ve made a PDF pattern (based on this gun which I found at my local Spirit Halloween store) that you can download here.

Since I used vinyl, I didn’t finish my edges. If you’re using a thinner material you can easily sew the pieces with right sides together and then turn it right-side out but you’ll also want to add interfacing to give it more stability.

I put the gun holster on a belt I already had and put it all together. Then I added some gold jewelry, including a sweet pinky ring to finish off the mafia look. “Big Chris” from Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels was definitely an inspiration.

Olivia (by Kari)

This costume is for the party that Kandis mentioned above; my character is a very New York woman who happens to be Tony's partner.  I wanted to go a little over the top with this costume so I went to thrift stores and fabric stores looking for things I could use.  I found some fantastic animal print fabric that I used to make a shirt.  I also found some awful pleather pants at a thrift store.

The thing that made this costume was the accessories.  I found a huge gold cross and big hoop earrings at Goodwill.  I had a few big rings and bracelets that I used as well.

I needed a belt where I could keep the gun and knife I got from the party store.  I followed Kandis's pattern for the gun holster and I made a knife holster by tracing the blade and adding a 5/8 inch seam allowance on either side.  I attached it to the belt with a loop on the back of the holster.  Once I had the belt completed, my costume was ready.  I added a big wig, lots of make-up and, of course, some tall heels.