Horror Stories are so Romantic

I enjoy the theater as much as the next girl....Ok, maybe a little more. (Or a lot) But, because I don't exactly live in a haven of the arts, plays, ballets, and so on tend to be a bit sub par in composition or selection. I'll give things a try but when a high school production rivals a real theater you've got some problems. Things are a little different right now though; I love holidays, especially Halloween and they really get me in the mood to PARTICIPATE. With that as base, I couldn't help being excited when I found out a local theater was putting on a play version of Frankenstein!

The inside cover from the production pamphlet. All the inside was done in style, with cast's pictures drawn instead of photographed. I just about died!

Frankenstein was a book from the Gothic portion of the Romantic period written by Mary Shelley. The romantic period was the same period that produced Cyrano De Bergerac, which is my favorite play of ALL time...Like ever. Really, in spirit, I am right along with the romantic period on so many levels, but I'll spare you the history lesson, yeah? Long story short, I was very enthusiastic about it.
When I go see things, movies or plays, I like to get into the theme. When I went to see the Musical Comedy Murders of the 1940's I did victory rolls and a little pre-greaser style. Since Frankenstein was in the Romantic period I, obviously, went with that. And as it turns out, the Romantic period was rather creative. (I mean, more than I thought it was.)

 Dem sleeves (source)

Doing my best to replicate the nutso sleeves (which I love dearly, but seriously, come on!) I layered a short sleeve blouse with slightly puffy sleeves over a peasant blouse of mine with 3/4-ish length bell sleeves. I used my red bustle back dress, which was a little bit of a jump, but only by about 25 years. I did a braided updo with a flower for a mix with regency, which was also around the same time and probably very close to the Gothic part which was towards the end.This was the result.

Not too shabby if I do say so myself. It also got wonderfully cold when we left the theater so I brought along a cardigan and scarf which also looked really cute if a bit more modern

And after all that, my opinion on the play? OH GOD MY FEELS. There was very heavy if almost entirely well done pathos and a really great set. We had first row seats and when the monster rolled off the table it was all of 5 feet in front of us. I though it might roll onto us!! It wasn't almost anything like the book. The sympathetic characters were different and in fact the entire plot was different, but I think it was much much better of a story that way.
Over all it was a good night, a really really good. I need to see more shows.

Until next time!

How to Make Deer Antlers

Mori has been on the rise among those interested in japanese street fashion and among lolitas, and it has been for quite some time. For those of you who don't know mori is basically supposed to look like a "forest princess". Lots of layers, cluny lace, germanic aesthetics, forest animals, etc. Myself, I have a little pet attraction to it. Totally adore it, but because I'm broke most of the time I have to be more reserved in how far I go with the style. Not because I have to watch my money or anything but because I literally just don't have much to create with.

My first pair of antlers for Frill

Now, it's no secret I am not the craftiest person in existence, beyond a back stitch and a glue gun and you've lost me. But clay is something I certainly have in my crafting pool and I set out at the beginning of the summer to make a mori-esque outfit for Frill and since I still wasn't over the deer fur trend I decided I was going to do a deer themed coordinate. This post is about how to do a part of that after quite a few requests: Deer antlers!
Now, this tutorial is very easy and very adaptable. You can change, mess around with, and embellish as you see fit!
You will need:

• A cup of water (you don't need a huge amount)
• Paper Clay in a natural white color
• Wire
• something you'll be attaching the antlers to like a headband or a garland like above (If using a headband I suggest something stiffer than what I use, like metal)
• Any lace, paint, chalk pastels or other accenting stuff

To start of take a hunk of clay about as big as your fingers when they're curled up plus a little and then another chunk about 1/3 the size of it. Set aside the smaller hunk.

 Roll out the larger one into a thin-ish roll a little bigger than your middle finger. At about 16 cm it's long enough, you can make it a little longer and thinner or shorter and thicker but consider that it's going to weigh when you attach it to the headband.

Decide which end is the outward end and taper it a bit into a pointy tip.

 At this point you may notice some ugly dents, nicks, or empty spaces like below. Get rid of these by wetting the clay with the water you have and rubbing relatively lightly but quickly over the area until it's smooth and uniform.

 It should look like this now: Twist it so that the top 2/3's is curved in an arch afterwards.

Now take that smaller piece of clay and do a much stubbier version of what you did before. It should be around 1/3 the length of the other piece and have a much sharper tapering.

 Now take the flat bottom part and with something stiff and smallish like a tooth pick or a piece of wire rough up it up. Then dampen it with your finger and some water. Go back over it to rough it up again if necessary.

 Curve it so that it arches vaguely too.

 Now assemble the two parts.Attach the smaller point about 4 to 5 cm from the base. It'll look like this when you stick the two parts together:

 Dampen your finger and rub the two parts together pushing them together with your nail and then smoothing it out as necessary

Now take a small amount of clay (very small) and get it really mushy and wet. It should be paste like.

Put it on over the seam where you attached the two parts and rub it in so it blends into the rest of the clay and up into the crevice at the top. Make sure it's covered all the way around. You'll need to do it again with the other side and some more clay to make sure it has full coverage.

Curve both pieces of the antler the same direction, facing inwards.

 Cut out the bottom at an angle (try and lose as little height as possible) that is also facing inwards. This will make it easier to mount the antlers.

Repeat this inverted and you have your two antlers.

Wait a few days until they are COMPLETELY dry. 3 days is a safe bet.
~~~~~~Three days later~~~~
Take one of your antlers and the thing you wish to attach it to and a good length of wire. wrap the middle of the wire around the bottom of the antler. Position the antler to where it should sit on the headband and wrap the wire around the base.

Repeat on the other side

Now you'll either want to leave the wire as is, which is cool, or you'll want to cover it up. You can do this with ribbon, leaves, lace, etc. If you're using a laurel then the leaves should naturally cover it up. I used ribbon for this pair.

The end! Good luck with your endeavors!

Inspiration Central: Gala Darling

In my recent post Urbanite Antoinette (which is my new favorite article, by the way) I mentioned I got the inspiration for the post from  Gala Darling: The pop, primary international playgirl. I found the blog about 5 months ago via my dear friend Mana Starre, the best pinup hime I've ever had the pleasure of meeting, and the blog has rapidly usurped Parfait Doll as my favorite blog.

 The lovely lady herself

Gala Darling, the blog, is a mix of fashion, lifestyle, beauty and inspiration. Gala, the founder of the blog and the radical self love movement, started the blog strictly on fashion but has expanded to quite a few other topics now. Everything from self fulfillment to makeup and back.

My favorite posts are the link carousels which always have the most interesting information on them. You really get a lot of different things to think about or new perspectives to consider. The life articles are also really wonderful. When she addresses real life problem or experiences it helps guide a way of living that isn't directly feeding into the basic model. The life articles are usually hinging somewhere between personal discovery and awareness.

I really love the blog and Gala herself as a source of motivation and inspiration. It helps me find a direction for my blog and offers advice to help me in my personal discovery. The blog and author are both incredibly successful and really very inspiring. Her fantastic articles and success are both great motivators in themselves to improve.