Elizabethan Doublet Costume Reveal!

My husband needed a new Elizabethan nobleman costume when he performs at renaissance festivals. It is a tricky business because the history geek in me wants to be as historically accurate as possible.

However unlike a living history museum, what we do is historical entertainment. Being outdoors in all temperatures and weather conditions means there are some liberties I have to take in the clothing design,  construction, and preferences of the guy wearing it. In other words, please don’t yell at me historical clothing purists. I know where I did not follow Elizabethan Sumptuary Laws (dress code.) Thank you.

I gave you a costume project sneak peak in Elizabethan Doublet Costume Work in Progress.  I cut the velvet front of the doublet trim larger than my pattern so I could hoop it and spent a 12 hour day doing nothing but embroidering the border design over and over holding my breath every time hoping everything will line up when I finished. Thank goodness it did!

Gold metallic thread would make the embroidery really sing. After a few frustrating test pieces I learned there is a finesse to machine embroidering with metallic thread that I do not have yet. That is a skill to learn for another day.

Elizabethan Doublet Costume Work in Progress

This time of year most folks are looking forward to their favorite fall holidays and pumpkin spice everything.

As much as I hate to see summer slowly transition into fall, it signals one of my favorite times of the year:

Costume Season!

I gave a tiny sneak peak of my latest costuming project on Instagram (follow me @condoblues on Instagram pretty please?) an Elizabethan doublet, breeches, and hat for my husband.  I'm machine embroidering all of the velvet trim like a crazy person.

Not bad for a beginner! #sewing #embroidery #embroideryart #heraldry #costume #crafts

A post shared by Lisa (@condoblues) on Aug 23, 2017 at 7:33am PDT

This eagle will appear on the back of the jacket, flanked by two embroidered flourishes. I bought the killer machine embroidery files from Urban Threads.

How to Make a Folding Cloth Fan

We are in the sweltering hot Dog Days of Summer. Ohio likes to add a little extra misery to the mix with humidity. Hazy, Hot, and Humid is a phrase all Ohioans face with sweaty dread and air conditioning.

Until you have to go outside – yuck.

Fortunately, there is an easy, eco friendly, and cute solution – use a hand fan to keep cool!

 Pin this tutorial for later!

How to Make an Easy DIY Floor To Ceiling Shoe Rack Organizer

The over the door shoe rack similar to this one on the closet door and stackable shoe rack similar to this one worked for awhile. Well actually, it worked for Husband’s shoes rather than mine. My shoes are so small they would often slip through the split shelves and end up in a pile on the floor. (I am including affiliate links in this post for your convenience.)

And after years of wear and tear, there came a time when even Gorilla Tape wouldn’t put our dilapidated shelves back together again. Which, frankly, I only put them back together every time they fell apart because Husband and I have grand plans to make this closet a cedar closet and pimped out with a custom closet organizer system.

Someday.

That keeps getting pushed down the punch list because blah, blah, yadda, yadda.

Does this happen to you or am I the only one?

After two months of shoe clutter barfing out of the closet and not being able to shut the door I had enough. This project doesn’t have to be my perfect dream of custom wall to wall floor to ceiling shoe storage, it just needs to be done. Now.

Shoe Closet Before. I am not proud of this.

Pumpkin Spice Pumpkin Juice Recipe

Halloween is almost here!!!

Husband and I have a tradition with our next door neighbors to sit on our front porches and chat, candy bowls and food allergy treats at the ready for the neighborhood trick or treaters.

It's nice to have a festive drink with us to fill the lull in between Beggar's Night groups and there is no better option than a big glass of Harry Potter inspired Pumpkin Juice!

As all Harry Potter fans know, pumpkin juice is a non alcoholic treat served hot or cold in the wizarding world.

It was one of many things Husband and I couldn't wait to try in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter section of both Universal Studios Florida parks.  Universal set up a test kitchen in England so JK Rowling could select what she imagined when she created pumpkin juice and all of the other fantastic wizard food and drinks that appear in the series.

When I read the Harry Potter books I imagined pumpkin juice to taste like pumpkin spice. Unfortuantely, JK Rowling's recipe is full of apricot juice adn waaaaaay too sweet.

So I decided to create a pumpkin spice pumpkin juice recipe myself! Pop on over to my food blog Lazy Budget Chef to read the recipe:

Spicy Harry Potter Inspired Pumpkin Juice Recipe

Your taste buds will be glad you did! 

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New Orleans French Quarter Fall Porch Decor

Decorating the outside of a duplex for holidays is usually more miss than hit since neither side coordinates with the other (at least in my experience.)

What can I say? I like symmetry in my outdoor holiday décor.

That’s why I stopped in my tracks when Husband and I passed this sweet yellow duplex in New Orleans last November and took it all in.

Pin this Fall outdoor porch decorating idea for later!

First of all, even undecorated, it is a lovely double shotgun style home. One of many that fills the French Quarter with architectural charm.

DIY Victorian Skeleton Halloween Decoration

I have a thing for gazebos. Like a deep down serious love.  I’m not sure why, maybe it is wrapped up in some romantic notion in the books I devoured as a kid about Victorian England. The history is fascinating and so are the clothes!  Fantastic gigantic hats, dangerous and deadly small waists, dresses with flowing trains – it is perfect Halloween attire!

Or in this case, the perfect Halloween decoration.

I can't tell you how much I love this Victorian skeleton couple enjoying the holiday in an iron gazebo

I met this dashing couple in Hotel Breakers when I went to this year’s Bloggy Conference at Cedar Point (you can read about how I spend last year at Cedar Point Halloweekends looking for park Easter eggs on Condo Blues here.)

Friday Favorites Linky Party - Week 342

I have a round rod I want to paint black and use to organize painter and duct tape in my garage workshop because paint is the great visual equalizer of mismatched things.

I'm too impatient to paint and flip the dowel rod for the multiple paint sessions spray painting a round object will take. I don't have a tree branch I can hang the rod from so I rigged up a 360 degree spray paint booth from two tomato cages and tying an old spindle to them with twine.

 Pin this idea for later!

 I showed my quick paint project hack, now show me yours!

12 Amazing Ghost Decorating Ideas for Halloween

I like to make our Halloween decorations spooky cute instead of scary gory because we have a bunch of little kids in our neighborhood. The last thing we want is to scare the Trick or Treaters so much that they are afraid to come to our door on Begger’s Night. Giving out candy and going gaga over the kid’s costumes (house rule) is one of Husband’s favorite things about Halloween.

The other thing Husband likes is decorating with Halloween decorations that move. I’m all about Halloween lights and décor that lights up.

We like to poke our heads in home décor and pop up Halloween stores this time of year to do some hard core Halloween trend and décor idea shopping.

 Pin these Halloween decorating idea for later!

It looks like ghost decorations are popular this year because everywhere we look we’re surrounded by ghosts. Boooooooooo!

13 Halloween Ghosts

Friday Favorites Linky Party - Week 341

My thoughts are with everyone in the path of Hurricane Matthew. Stock up on hurricane supplies for yourself and your pets and please don't be a hero and ride it out if you get the order to evacuate.

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How to Sew Cartridge Pleats the Easy Way!

I’ve made many curtains for past homes but it wasn’t until I started building Elizabethan Renaissance costumes that I learned how to sew cartridge pleats for curtains by using the same technique to make cartridge (also called gauge or gauging) pleat skirts!

Back in merry old Elizabethan England - way before they had central heating - nobility used heavy fabrics similar to our modern upholstery weight fabrics to make clothing. Dresses had voluminous skirts, small waistbands, and the illusion of large child bearing hips were all the rage.

 Pin this sewing tutorial for later!

Cartridge pleats solved the problem because they allow you to attach large amounts of heavy fabric to a small waist band than typical gathering. Gauge pleats also allow the skirt to stand out from the body a bit to create large hips and a booty (with the help of padded bum or hip roll of course.)

How to Make a Reusable Light Up Teal Pumpkin for Halloween

Handing out Halloween candy and ooh-ing and ah-ing over every costumed person who comes to our door is one of things Husband enjoys most on Beggar's Night.

That and testing our Halloween candy for Quality Assurance while waiting for the Trick or Treaters to come to our porch. That was one of my favorite parts of Halloween until I because a card carrying member of the Food Allergy Club. Sad face.

It is a bummer to find almost everything in the candy aisle at the store is something I shouldn’t eat but has to worse for a kid on Halloween.  The minute I found out about the Halloween Teal Pumpkin Project I added allergy free treats for the food allergy kids to what we give out on Halloween.

The only thing missing is a teal pumpkin to let food allergy kids and their parents that we have their back this Halloween.

 Pin this Halloween craft idea for later!

A Quick and Easy LED Teal Jack o Lantern Tutorial

Renaissance Noble Dress Part 1: The Design

I need to replace my current Elizabethan noble costume with a new one.

Unfortunately I am my own worst client because the only thing I know that I want in my new princess type dress is this list of vague demands:

1. Make it different than what other women will most likely we wearing.
2. Use massive amounts of embroidery to help with Number 1 and give me a Sofa Time With Lacey project.
3. Use as much of my beading, trim, and costuming stash as possible. It should also help with number 1 but really I just want to put some of the weird amounts of stuff in my studio to good use.
4. Bling that sucker out to be a pretty, pretty princess of more is more epic proportions – as one does as an Elizabethan noblewoman. I realize this is not in line with being a simplistic budget minded green DIY blogger. But it is totally in line with being a person who spends most of her workdays covered in paint and sawdust while wearing yoga pants and a ratty t-shirt.

Pin this post for reference later!

I let the fabric I found decide my costume’s color scheme since many of the accessories I have will work with almost any color. The color specific items I have  need to be replaced anyway.  I was hoped I could find a green brocade or damask because I look smashing in green.

How to Get Rid of the Rubber Smell from Latex Halloween Masks

Husband and I couldn’t wait for the Guardians of the Galaxy movie to come out last summer. Of all of the Guardians, it is no surprise that our favorite is the smart aleck little guy Rocket. (I am including affiliate links in this post for your convenience)

It was decided long before the movie came out that Husband and I would be Rocket Raccoon and Groot for Halloween. We only waited until this year because we hoped Marvel would release costume pieces because I didn’t know how to fabricate the character heads.

 Pin this post on Pinterest for later! Share it with your friends!

How to Make a Mini Top Hat

I made a super simple fluffy tutu (read my no sew tutu tutorial here) for a costume. I’m going for a kooky Dresden Dolls, Steampunk, Katy Perry, retro, vaudeville kind of vibe. I need one more thing so I can pull off the look: a little top hat fascinator.

 Tiny top hats make Halloween costumes more fun!

Instead of running to the store to buy top hat making supplies, I bought the materials by treating myself to a cup of take out coffee. That’s right!  I made my ring leader’s hat from a disposable cup.

The steps in this tutorial are very forgiving. You don’t necessarily need to do the steps in the order I have them listed in this tutorial with the exception of assembling the hat pieces.

How to Make a Top Hat Out of a Paper Cup

10 Handmade Halloween Costumes for Adults

I am ALL about the costume on Halloween. I don't decorate the house much because I'm usually working on costumes. I start thinking about my costume a least a month or two in advance. I want my costume to be something clever or different or just plain crazy - hopefully all three. Last Halloween's Little Edie from Gray Gardens costume fits the bill. It was super easy to make too. Yay for easy!

 

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STAUNCH!

"Easy for you Lisa," you say, "You know how to sew. I can't sew. I can't make a Halloween costume. I'm just gonna to buy one at the pop up Halloween shop."

Stop right there! You do not need to know how to sew to make a great Halloween costume! Last Halloween I went to a party. I saw tons of clever homemade costumes. Some were home sewn but most, like the Little Edie costume I made were not.

Nine No or Low Sew Halloween Costumes for Adults