Halloween Fun

This represents where I live. We have 4 Dollar Stores. 2 Auto parts stores. And Walmart.
I got an email saying there was a Halloween Zumba party at my favorite Zumba class in the Chicago area. The theme...Caribbean. I had things to do in Chicago, but none as fun as a Zumba Halloween party!!!!I needed a costume in a few weeks and knew I had to make it and also that I'd have to use stuff around the house because this is not the area to find a Carmen Miranda costume.

I searched my closet for something I could cut up since I had  little time to make something from scratch. I found a Miranda-ish dress that needed work. It never fit me well, so I was fine cutting it up into a two piece Carmen Miranda costume.

But then there was the headpiece! What to do for a headpiece!? That was Carmen's trademark! I don't even know how to make a head piece let alone find the right materials in the woods over here! I found an old pattern from the 80s in my studio and some old black knit fabric I had stashed in my scrap pile. I made a turban. It had a huge opening in the top. What can I use as a base to stick junk on to make a headpiece?

I searched around the house. A styrofoam cone? A huge jug that used to be filled with vinegar that I cut up?

The base of the vinegar jug fit in the turban opening the best, but it was too tall and needed to be more pointy.

I stuck the styrofoam cone on top and glued it with a glue gun. Too tall still.

I tried the other half of the cut up vinegar jug. Too short and narrow.... and as much as I'd love to put freshly cut flowers in the opening, I knew they wouldn't stay in place, if I danced.

Long story short. I decided to use the vinegar jug with the styrofoam cone glued on top.  I cut it a little shorter and painted it with gold glitter paint that I had lying around. I had to staple gun it to the turban. Then I found a fan from a Spanish dance recital number I had choreographed in the 80s. And all kindsa junk in the house and at the Dollar Store auditioned to be on this headpiece.
Tho it was October when I worked on this, there were many a Christmas decoration at the Dollar Store...and plastic fruit. What's Carmen Miranda without fruit? And there were plastic wine glasses at the Dollar Store....so I glued all this junk on the headpiece. The glass needed wine in it, so I mixed food coloring and resin in the wine glass and let it set overnight.

Letting the resin set overnight, it spilled on the fan, so happy accident had to be covered with a fake rose. This is a pic of the headpiece waiting to go on the plane to Chicago. I am not new to traveling with severely fragile headpieces. It's way not fun! In fact, the bottom of the wine class fell off because Dollar Store wine glasses have detachable bottoms. It's somewhere between VA and Chicago! I had to find a Dollar Store in Chicago to replace the bottom of the wine glass which kept falling off during the Zumba party too.

It took an hour to put on make up. My dress that was covered in Christmas garlands, plastic fruit and cheesy jewelry left a trail of fallen objects all the way to the class party.  It was so cool to see the Zumba participants in their Caribbean costumes! I could hardly dance in mine! Having a fashion design degree, I was ashamed that I spent most the class fixing wardrobe malfunctions....but the class was so much fun! And the people so nice!

A pirate-ess, who's also my most favorite Zumba instructor (Melissa Kerpel) was there, as were Gilligan on percussion and leading dances, Mary Anne, Ginger and many other fun, cool, creative characters and costumes! Halloween is fun when you're a kid, but I had more fun this Halloween than any other! A Halloween celebration that doesn't make you gain weight or get cavities!