Spaceballs: The Halloween Costumes - Barf & Dot DIY Couples Costume

DIY Spaceballs Barf & Dot Matrix Costumes

 May the Shwartz be with you!

Brett & I totally wanted to kick some ass this year at the annual Halloween party, and come dressed as the best couple's costume.  We knew since earlier in the summer that we wanted to go as Spaceballs characters - Barf & Dot Matrix were no brainers - hello?! How awesome is that.

I wanted to share what I did, because I think the results are pretty impressive and if I could do it, anyone can!

For Dot Matrix from Spaceballs Costume I used:

• 1 one-piece spandex gold outfit (Amazon.com)
• 16-20 foam board triangles (craft store; 10-pack of kids foam board)
• 2 small Chinese lanterns (general store)
• 1 elastic belt (Wal-mart)
• 1 pair costume boots (Amazon.com)
• 1 blonde costume wig (Amazon.com)
• 1 plain costume mask (Amazon.com)
• 2 cans metallic gold spray paint (craft store)
• 1 metallic gold duct tape
• Needle & Thread

For the base costume, the one-piece spandex gold outfit was essential, and also the most expensive piece - around $40.00.  Hopefully I be able to reuse it as a disco costume or something next year/ down the line.

The poofy shoulders of Dot's costume were tricky because they're such a unique shape.  I cut chinese lanterns to size for this, and added them to the list of things to be spray painted.  To keep them on the costume, I used a few rounds with a needle and thread- but to tell you the truth, they stayed on pretty well on their own because of my arm fat holding them in place ;-)

The skirt was cool.  Cut 20 triangle shapes out of rectangular foam board you can buy at any craft store and spray paint metallic gold.  DO THIS OUTSIDE or in your garage with the door wide open.  DO NOT do inside - your house will reek for hours.  Figuring out how to suture them on the skirt was the difficult part.  Tape or staples won't work on an elastic belt because when you stretch it, they'll fall out.  However, if you use a needle and thread to sew a single strong stitch in the top middle of the foam triangle and sutcher it to the belt, it will stay pretty good.  OR, you can just duct tape the whole damn thing (yes, that happened towards the end of the night).

For the boots, wig, skirt... anything... I sprayed the heck out of it all to make it all the same color of metallic gold.

For a finishing touch, I printed 'Party Alarm' on regular computer paper, and used the duct tape to make a sticker boarder that stayed on the costume.  (Helpful hint: use
the metallic roll of tape as a bracelet so you can fix things if needed throughout the night).

For Barf from Spaceballs Costume I used:

• 1 one-piece tan flight suit (pilot store or amazon)
• 1 costume 80's hairband blonde wig (halloween store)
• 1 blonde costume dog ears (halloween store)
• 4 12" sheets of furry fabric (craft store)
• Bag of cotton for stuffing (craft store)
• 1 pair of adult paw slippers (amazon)
• cheap pallet of face paint (halloween store)
• Glue gun
• Needle & thread

The base costume was easy - the flight suit.  The attention was in the details!  For the tail  I sewed 4 pieces of furry fabric together and stuffed with cotton from the craft store.  I sewed that to the back of the flight suit.  For the hair I cut the 80's wig to appropriate length, then stuck the ears to the appropriate places on top with hot glue.  The face was just face paint, and the finishing tough was the slippers for the feet!  For one last detail, I printed Barf's name tag on just regular computer paper and masking tapped it to the costume as we were walking out the door.

Basically the whole thing was awesome, and I think after this epic couples costume, we may retire.  I mean, how can we possibly outdo ourselves this year?

Happy Halloween!!!!!!!

Mother's Day Gifts for Moms That Never Want Anything

My Mom is IMPOSSIBLE to shop for - my God!
Every year, my sister and I rack our brains, trying to think of what we can get Mom that would make her feel appreciated and loved but more importantly - what she would actually like.
In case I forget all the great ideas we had this year that we won't be able to pay off, here's our list of:

Mother's Day Gifts for Moms Who Never Want Anything

1) Time Together

• Cooking class together?
• Paint class together?  You know there are ones you can bring your own wine to now?
• A ceramics class together?
• We wound up planning an outlet mall trip together and making her decide the date.

2) Dinner/Brunch 

Going out to dinner/ going to brunch is typical, but our mom hates going out when its crowded.  This year, we had the idea of bringing her favorite menu (Olive Garden) to her at home.

You can always cook, but our mom would wind up taking over for sure - which defeats the whole point.

3) Kitchen Gadgets - because she loves to cook
A short lift of cool kitchen gadgets (that she already has, unfortunately):

• Keurig/ Keurig accessories (the K-cup caddy/carousel is awesome)
• Jumbo/mini muffin pans/ novelty bakeware
• Really good knives
• Electronic griddle/ stovetop griddle
• Custom cutting board

4) Personalized Gifts
When we're all feeling super sentimental, my siblings and I do something personalized.  We actually made my stern German mother cry Mother's Day 2010 with a Shutterfly photo book with a chapter of each kid growing up.  Here are a list of great personalized gifts for Mom, too:

• Shutterfly photo book
• photos re-creating childhood moments (hilarious) in personalized frame/collage
• Custom ring/bracelet with kids' birth stones
• Custom mother's day card (plus they're usually less expensive than retail, for real)

What NOT to get for moms who never want anything (or maybe just my mom...):

• Lessons for anything to do on her own
• Spa gifts
• Movie tickets/ DVDs
• Tickets for any sporting event
• Mani/Pedi gifts
• Bath salts or anything bath related
• Clothes of any kind
• Anything technology (printer, photo printer, keyboard, ipad, smart phone...)
• Plane tickets/ destination tickets
• Books of any kind

One thing is for sure, the #1 thing you CANNOT give to a Mom who doesn't want anything... is Nothing.  

Happy St Paddy's Day 2013

This year I grew up.  Instead of going downtown to Cleveland, Ohio's famous St. Patrick's Day parade to barhop dressed festively all in green, I went to noon mass then stayed home with the exception of going on a drive to get a McDonald's Shamrock Shake and a delicious Reuben sandwich from Fathead's Brewery.



Do I miss going crazy and drinking green beer, chased with Irish Carbombs?  Yes and no.  I miss being able to go crazy and drink without feeling like hell for the next 24 hours after waking.  I don't miss what I felt like after last St. Patrick's Day, for sure.  I spent hours on the couch with a cold wash cloth on my forehead barely able to take down sips of Gingerale without gagging.  I do not miss that.

This year, I was trying to be responsible.  However irresponsible for my new years (now Lenten) diet.
Here are the facts about how many calories I consumed today:

Large Shamrock Shake: 800+ calories
Giant Rueben Sandwich: 500+ calories
Total: ~1300 calories

In reality, had I went downtown to barhop, I probably would have consumed at least the following:

7 Green Beers (Bud Light): 770 calories
2 Irish Car Bombs: 460 calories
1 shot of Whiskey: 72
Total: ~1300

Amazingly - I literally consumed as many calories as I would have barhopping - that is AMAZING.
The good news, at least I'll feel a helluvalot better in the morning.

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

Sale Christmas Cards - Best Personalized Christmas Card Sales 2012

I ordered my Christmas cards this year online - personalized with a photo of my husband and myself of course!  It was the third year I decided to do personalized photo Christmas cards, and this year I HAVE to say that the deals are A-MAZ-ING!

It took me a while to find the perfect deal - and (spoiler alert) - it looks like www.cardstore.com has the best Christmas card sale this year. 

Here's a quick comparison for you so you can see who exactly I compared - but these are legitimate cart totals after coupon, after tax, from 50 of the first-picked card on each site (first picked, low price option card).

Sale Christmas Cards Break Down:

As we get closer to the shipping cut-offs for each of these websites, it's probably going to get even better.  The cut-offs are most likely around the second or third week of December.

Full disclosure- it should have been super easy for me to pick out my own Christmas cards (and it really, really was) because I am an employee of Cardstore.com.  I think I may legally have to tell you that.  On the other hand - you don't have to be an employee of Cardstore.com to see they have the best deal.  Totally black and white up there.  

So - You're Welcome!  And, Merry Christmas!

5 Easy Cheap Outdoor Christmas Decoration Ideas

If you're anything like me, you love the holidays but hate spending a lot of time and money decorating for them.  Halloween just passed and I had a ton of ideas to make my house frightfully festive, but sat and ate candy instead... every night.

Christmas will be different - I actually have some great ideas for easy and cheap Christmas decorations for the outdoors that do not require a porch, expertise at hanging fixtures, or a large budget or span of time.  Perfect, right?!

Top 5 Easy Cheap Outdoor Christmas Decoration Ideas I'll be Using This Christmas:

#5: Easy Personalized Wreath for the Door (Monogram Wreath)


I LOVE THIS because I love my initials.  You can find large cardboard letters at Michael's or Pat Catans. Or, if you're cheap like me, you could cut out 3 identical bubble letters of your initial from an old large box your mother likely has lying around the house (or in the garage/attic).  Line them up and then wrap dollar store garland around them until you have the entire thing wrapped.  Take some large ribbon and string a beautiful big bow on top to hang it from and you're done!


#4: Candy Cane Lane Driveway!

Easy as it sounds - line your driveway with the cheap giant candy canes you find at Dollar Tree.
You know which ones I'm talking about - you probably have a few in your Christmas storage already.  Why not go all out and make candy cane lane?




#3:  Christmas Spotlights (Red, Green, Blue - Whatever)

My Dad does this every year and I always thought it was a great idea.  Now he only does this (he's getting older) and it still looks great!  Take two giant spotlights for the outdoors and get red or green light bulbs (yes, again sold at the dollar store or Discount Drug Mart). Aim them up a few large trees if you have them in the front yard - or criss cross them at your garage door.  It's definitely effective - and it takes up so much space on your house that you barely need anything else.  Simple and classy!


 
#4: Garland Door Hanger

Can you believe that they sell garland door hangers and arches for over $100?  I saw door arches for almost $500! Come ON! Ridiculous.  Again, all you need is a discount or dollar store that sells 'fake' Christmas tree garland.  Or, another trick - go to one of those places behind the malls that sell live Christmas trees and ask if they have any branch piles that you can pull from and string your own garland (yes, that will take more time, but that's real & free).  Either way, placing some nice tree garland around your door with or without lights is a nice touch that doesn't over-do it.








#5: Poinsettias, Poinsettias, Poinsettias

Not the real ones of course - because they'll likely die.  And you probably guessed it again - your local dollar store will have a TON of these floating around come November.  I say stock up on a good half dozen and put them where your planted flowers used to be.  There's no law that says you cannot have them outdoors as well as indoors, right?  Plus, they're just so pretty. 


When I get around to decorating this November, I'll post my finish project so you can see all of these easy & cheap outdoor decoration ideas in action.  Until then, let me know if you have any to add.

Thanks & Happy Decorating!