Weekend Adventure: Halloween Horror Nights

So for the past, I dunno, 7-ish years, hubs and I have made the trek down to Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida to attend their Halloween Horror Nights. We cannot get enough.

 Don't hate me, but I as I write this here blog post, I am on this magical and amazing thing called Fall Break. That's right, for a whole week, no more pencils, no more books, no more kiddo's dirty looks. Nothin' but pajama parties and craftathons. That is until hubs and I take off on an adventure to Lalaland. I'll fill you in on that trip in another post. 

In the meantime, here's a slightly belated post on a trip we took a couple weeks ago to Tampa and Orlando. Every October, we travel down there to attend Busch Garden's Howl-O-Scream and Universal Studio's Halloween Horror Nights. This year we also visited Busch Garden's Williamsburg's Howl-O-Scream and I chatted about that trip here. Because we attended Universal's event several nights, I thought I'd share that spooktacular experience with you.

Just like the Walmart Greeters, these creepy dudes met us at the entrance of HHN (because I'm too lazy to type out Halloween Horror Nights, I'm abbreviatin'). They towered over the crowd at about 14' tall.

 So, lemme tell you how HHN works. It takes place at Universal Studios (not Islands of Adventure, aka Harry Potter World). At around 5pm, they kick everyone out of Universal to prep the houses and the scare zones. If people have paid to "stay and scream", as it's called, then they get to hang out in a holding area until the gates of doom are open. Those lucky folks get to enter a pinch early and experience the haunted houses first.

'Bout as friendly as a Walmart Greeter too.

 That's how we did it. My hubs is crazy about going through these houses, so he has our whole route mapped out: skip all of the houses at the front where the crowds head first and run straight for those in the back. There were seven different haunted houses to go through, with lines up to 45-100 minutes long. So it's good to have a hubs with a plan. And a front-of-the-line pass, if you can swing it.

 One of the most popular houses (though not my personal fave) was the Walking Dead. This haunted house was created by the dude behind the AMC show. I've only caught snippets of the first episode online (we don't have a telly) and this house made you feel as though you were walking right through the set. It was frighteningly amazing. 

These zombies were not in the actual haunted house as they won't allow photography. They were apart of something called a scare zone. Scare zones are areas within the park where scare actors continue to frighten people...which means no where within the park is safe. This zombie-themed scare zone was right outside of the Walking Dead house.

We had the most beautiful weather while we were there. During HHN, all of the rides continue to run. Which means you can stop screaming at spooky stuff long enough to go scream on The Rip Ride Rocket or The Mummy.

Only during HHN do they change the sign to read Mel's DIE-IN. Love it.

Most of the haunted houses are in sound stages, meaning they are inside buildings used for filming. Universal Studios is an actual working studio. Those particular houses are usually the best...but lack an outdoor entrance worth photographing. This particular house was designed by the magicians Penn and Teller and was not inside a sound stage. It's theme was that a nuclear meltdown had happened in Sin City. Best part? The casino girl with three ta-ta's.

Alice Cooper also designed a house called My Nightmare. This entrance was hands-down the best. Alice's songs were blasting through this house along with some very nightmarish things.

Me and a super cute Jell-o Shots girl. They sell the shots in those hilariously nasty blood bags.

Did you notice I'm wearing The Horror Flick Dress? We went with some friends and family to HHN and I shamelessly wore the dress Every Single Night. The joke became that the scariest thing about HHN was the smell comin' from my dress. Thank you Jen of Peachy Tuesday for crafting me a matching headband!

Oh, my bad. They were friendly enough to stop for a photo.

 Hubs just looked over my shoulder at these photos and said sadly, "I can't believe our trip came and went so fast." It's truly our favorite thing. If you can't make it to such an event, then get yourself to your local haunted house. You seriously won't regret it!

DIY: Anthropologie Style Part 2

I promise you I'm not wearing some make-shift neck brace for an insurance scam. Our fall mornings have been just crisp enough for a little scarf-age. Of the neck-swallowing variety. Outfit details: belt and hair clip: Anthropologie, sale room (I don't even bother with the rest of the place); boots: Frye; scarf: Germany; dress: Anthropologie-copy made by me!

So I once heard in a meeting that the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. I have many a problem, but my biggest one of all is (drum roll, puh-lease): Starting 5,000 projects. And finishing one. 

I blame it on my begats disease. As in, one idea births, or, begats another. For example, my students are currently learning about how the first hot air balloon flew over Paris. Which begat the (unfinished) Hot Air Balloon Applique Dress. But there were a few hiccups in that project, so my frustration begatted (?) another Halloween dress. Which begat-a-micated a third Halloween dress. This one with a skull fabric. And then I saw these amazing skull flower pots on pinterest which lead to the begatimacation of some Day of the Dead painting. 

And when all of that became too overwhelming, I decided to feed my other addiction: online shopping. At which point I stumbled upon the above dress at Anthropologie.com. In the sale section of course. What a dream dress for an art teacher, right? But for $129 (and that's the sale price, people!) I declaired: "I can make that!" and another idea was begat's'ed.

Oh sad, rumbled Target dress. I thrifted you for a mere $7.99 but your boringness put you at the back of my closet.

What's that? You wanna make a Anthro-knock-off? Lemme tell you, it is so stinkin' easy. Here's what you need:

• demin-ish dress. Or really any dress that's drab and just sitting around in your closet unworn
• fabric paint. I picked up Tulip Soft Fabric Paint in Matte Sunshine Yellow, Marine Blue, Turquoise, Chocolate, Linen Matte and Azalea at Joann's. By the way, never go in there without coupons: they have a mailing list (get on it), feature them in the Sunday papers, they take all competitors coupons and they offer 15% teacher discounts.
• paint brushes. Duh.

Now you might recall that this isn't the first time I've tried my hand at replicating Anthro looks. I made a copy of another too-expensive sale dress and a pair of sandals. So much of their clothing has a DIY look about it that it's easy to mimic.

Now I have to tell you, I am not an abstract painter. In fact, not long ago, I took a class on painting abstractly and the instructor laughed at my work. Laughed, I tell you! So I was a little nervous painting on this dress. I attempted to copy the Anthro dress at first...but that was...boring. After I started loosening up, I thought of my amazing kindergarten abstracts and realized: if they can do it, so can I!

I really enjoyed painting with the Tulip fabric paint. It worked just like acrylic. In some cases, I had to brush on two coats but that seemed to add to the dry-brush-stroke look. I used the brightest of colors like yellow and turquoise, for accents.

And then I went all crazy town and splatter painted my shoes. This is, of course, what the students liked best. I used the same fabric paint just diluted a pinch to make it more splatter-able. You can see more DIY shoe madness here , here, and here.

The fabric paint is dry within four hours. After 72 hours, it can be washed. But I was too excited to wait that long. I spent two evenings painting it (I had to allow paint to dry before painting other areas. That slowed me down a bit). Just enough time away from the other 4,999 projects I've yet to finish.

Today a kindergartener said to me, "Mrs. Stephens, your legs are purple!" To which I replied, "That's what happens when you eat too many grapes." Looking at me in horror and taking a step back she whispered, "...really?"

I gotta tell you, painting this dress was a lot of fun. I hope you'll be inspired to do the same! And save yourself $129 while you are at it. Thanks for dropping by!

In the Artroom: Abstract Painting and Troubleshooting

I teach this abstract painting lesson to my kindergarteners every year and each time, these fun and funky paintings remind me of them: energetic, colorful and full of life.

 As the tiniest of artists that visit my room finish these paintings, I thought I'd share them with you. Each one painted is like a little celebration of life. They make me pretty happy. I mean, how can you not smile just lookin' at em?

"Wiggly snakes and a pokey tree." Seriously? I don't even think Picasso could have painted such awesomeness.

 Interested in doing a little abstract painting? It's not just for kindergarters, ya know. Although they sure do make it a lot more interesting. 

We began our paintings with black tempra paint on 12" by 12" squares of paper. We'd spent a lot of time talking about lines, learning their names and even sculpting with them. We chatted about avoiding the temptation of just painting our entire paper black (oh, the lure of the Dark Side) and simply filling our paintings with lines. Because many of the kids where just getting the feel of painting for the first time, we painted two line paintings. The examples above show the big difference between our first and second attempt at line painting.

We were all set to add color to our masterpieces when this happened...

You see that big empty spot on the bottom left? That's a hole in the paint tray. Notice the crack in the red paint spot as well. Yeah, no bueno.

I love to use tempra cakes with the little ones and as I was getting them out that morning, I noticed huge holes in the paint trays. This really bummed me out. The company that makes these cakes sells replacement ones with the idea that you can simply add refills to the tray. Sadly, the plastic they use for the trays is so thin that over time (like, one year) the trays crack and break. Obviously, that wasn't gonna work.

 Not wanting to waste any of the cakes, I had the idea that I could just add the bits and pieces of dried tempra paint to cups with water. My fingers were crossed that by the time the kindergarteners got to the art room, the paint would have dissolved a pinch and be ready for use.

 How I set up for painting: 

• One paint tray, cup of water and "dirty Ol' Sponge Bob" for every two students
•  Above supplies sit on a "messy mat" 
• Messy mat (which is usually just junky newsprint or manilla paper) under each painting

When I demo to the kids, I tell them that their paint brush is like a ballerina, she is always dancing on her tippy toes. We should never see our Paint Brush Ballerina scooting across our paintings on her bottom (you know, when they scrub that paint brush into their painting, ruining the bristles and their work). I also show them how to give their paint brush a bath in the cup of water (where no splashing is allowed) and dry off on Dirty Ol' Sponge Bob before changing to another color. To avoid drip drops, the kids learn to wipe excess paint on the lip of the cup with this little rhyme: "if it starts to drip, wipe it on the lip...(pointing to our own lips) but not these lips!"

We also learn that there are three parts to a paint brush: the bristles (aka Ballerina Toes), the handle (it's called a handle because that's where your hands go. If they called it a foot-le or a nose-le, we'd have a hard time painting) and The Danger Zone (technically the ferrel). We call that metal band The Danger Zone because if you put your fingers there, they are in Danger of getting mighty messy.

 The end result? I think the paint was actually more vibrant than previously. There was also less struggle with the kids when it came to loading their brush with paint. As you can see in the photo of the tray, they have a tendency to gouge out the middle of the paint  and claim they "don't have anymore" when there is obviously paint around the edge.

 Back to the project. When chatting about adding color to our paintings, I asked the kids if they would please add color to the white areas. The areas with black paint were already filled in, so no need to paint that.

 As they finished up adding color, we moved on to adding patterns. This proved to be a great exercise in fine motor skills for the kids. They delicately worked that ballerina brush with stripes, dots and lines.

Love the overlapping patterns.

I absolutely love this painting. This artist painted everywhere, skipped that part about Ballerina Brushes and avoided those fussy patterns. And it worked out beautifully.

Favorite part about this photo? That little red Mary Jane.

How do you know you've had a good day in the art room? Masterpieces on the drying rack and a sink that looks like this.

 And...since we are on the subject of the art room, I have a little something to share with you:

 I have a project idea in mind for all 400 of my elementary students: I want them each to create an animal sculpture out of clay. Once glazed and fired, these sculptures will be sold to their parents for a monetary donation of their choice. The funds we collect will then be donated to our local no-kill humane society called Happy Tales Humane. I really want my students to learn the importance of using their artistic skills to help others.

The problem? We lack the funding. We need close to $200 to purchase 200 lbs of clay and glaze. I'm using DonorsChoose.org to help raise the funds. If you'd like to donate any amount (there is no such thing as too small), you can visit this link. Also, if you enter the code INSPIRE, DonorsChoose will match the amount dollar for dollar. 

Thanks for reading!

A Review: Firmoo Glasses

Collecting leaves for my leaf press.

Well, hello there. I'm here today to review a nifty pair of shades that I was sent by an online glasses company called Firmoo. Firmoo's philosophy is "vision and fashion the frugal way". Guess they heard about my affinity toward all things cheap and chic. And my hoarder ways. This online store has over 300 different styles of glasses and sunglasses to chose from. That's enough to get a collector like me in a whole heap of trouble.

I promise you I actually spent more time than usual on this mop. Steam rollers, teasing comb, the whole nine yards. One moment outside and the Blistery Breeze of Fall undid it all. I like to call this look Unkept Windswept.

Now, I gotta admit, I had a real hard time picking out just the right glasses for me. They have this super cool feature where you can download a photo of yourself and virtually try on every pair glasses. After trying 'em all on, I opted for this pair of sunnies.  I contemplated picking up a pair of prescription glasses but...well...if you must know, my lenses are super thick. Think bottle caps but, like, more bottle-cap-ier. Firmoo calls itself the Global Online Optical Store, so I don't doubt that they could have came through with some featherweight lenses for me. However, I decided to go the sunglasses route.

The customer service was excellent. I received a confirmation email when my order was placed. This was followed by an email when my order was shipped (that same day) and another email that wanted to let me know that if I had any questions, feel free to ask. Shipping is free on orders over $39.

Just a couple days after my order was placed, I received my sunglasses. I was surprised that they arrived with both a soft and hard plastic case as well as a cleaning cloth and a wee little glasses repair kit (not pictured).

The quality of the sunglasses really impressed me. I ordered these in the bronzed finish. Check out that photo, can you believe what beauties these are?

Oh, John Lennon. Did these fab Firmoo sunglasses immediately remind you of him? Surprisingly, he wasn't who I had in mind when I ordered them. While I went through a pretty intense late 60's phase in high school and college (complete with bell bottoms, peasant blouses and some insanely terrible polyester plaid pants), my love for vintage fashion is more '50's thru early '60's. No, I had another 1960's icon on mind...

 That's right: Janis Joplin. I absolutely love her. Everything about her is raw, pure and just out there. Love it or leave it. Even though these shades of mine are smaller than her over-sized round ones, they still remind me of her funky spirit. 

 Another thing I like about these sunglasses is that they are perfect for fall. The color of the lenses is a light brown which is just the right amount of shade from the not-too-intense sunlight of this time of year. Not only that, but the coloring goes well with my often autumn-hued outfits.

Outfit details: blouse: Anthro, gift from a friend; dress: vintage, gift from a friend; tights: Target; necklace: vintage, my mom's; boots: Seychelle's

The glasses I ordered also come in prescription shades and black. I think the black sunnies would have looked great for a 1940's look.

So, the verdict? I love these glasses and was very pleased with the online shopping experience. And I have entirely too much online shopping experience for my own good, so I think you can take my word. I also just noticed on their website that they are currently offering a free eyewear. And suddenly, I'm in need of some more glasses...

Thanks for dropping by!

What the Art Teacher Wore #38

Tie Dye Tuesday: Yeah, I skipped Monday this week. Oops, my bad. This week marks the third year we dyed in the art room. T-shirts, that is. Our school colors our yellow and blue so I figured if I got dye on my clothing, it'd blend in nicely. sweater: vintage, thrifted; skirt: Anthro, coupla seasons ago; fishnets, tights, blue top: Target: boots: old favorite, be prepared to see them a lot, Seychelles

 Whut up, ya'll? I am currently trying to wrap my mind around the fact that in a mere 5 work days,  my fall break begins! And I'm pretty stoked. We're heading on another Halloween adventure which means I'll get plenty more wear out of my Horror Flick Dress. I just hope the other two Halloweenie/Fall-Themed dresses I'm working on also get finished in time. I've been spending entirely too much time online reading about Henri Toulouse Lautrec and all of his buddies at the Moulin Rouge. Which would explain why I'm sharing more of his paintings this week. I am currently in love with his paintings of Carmen Gaudin. I have a feeling you'll love them as well.

So apparently our friend Toulouse-Lautrec had a thing for red heads. Not only did he create many posters, prints and paintings of the famous red headed Moulin Rouge dancer Jane Avril, but he also painted artist Suzanne Valadon and laundress/prostitute Carmen Gaudin. That's her in the painting above.

Masterpiece Wednesday: On this day one of my third grader girls told me I looked like a masterpiece. How sweet! This was quickly followed up by one of the boys looking me up and down and asking, "Wait, what's a masterpiece again?" When informed it was a really good work of art, he continued to look at me with an "Oh...huh. Hmmm." dress: vintage, thrifted; sweater: thrifted; belt: Anthro, you must check out their mad belt sale going on now; tights: dunno, Target; shoes: Dolls by Nina

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) Carmen Gaudin Red-Haired Woman The Toilette, 1889 The story goes that Toulouse-Lautrec spotted Carmen coming out of a Montmartre restaurant and was immediately struck by her red locks and her hardened been-around-the-block-a-few-times air.

Chilly Fall Temps Thursday: I missed a couple of days of school recently. When I walked out of my room to greet one of my classes, the kids cheered and said, "Where were you?!" Before I could respond, one student said "I bet you were gone getting all of those tattoos on your legs." Yeah, no. sweater: vintage, thrifted; scarf: Amsterdam; skirt: Marshall's for $3!; tattoo tights: I forget; shoes: John Fluevog, my fave shoe designer

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) Carmen Gaudin After having met Carmen, Lautrec wrote to his mother that he was "painting a woman whose hair is absolute gold." I'm guessing he left out the part about her being a prostitute. Lautrec's family were aristocrats and Carmen was definitely not.

More Details Thursday: Since I skipped Monday, I thought I'd share another photo of Thursday's outfit. blouse: Anthro, gift from a friend

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) Carmen Gaudin At Montrouge. 1886-87. I had a copy of this painting on a postcard hanging in my painting studio when I was in college. I love her body language, the pursed red lips and those red bangs that are always in her face. I've always wondered what was on the receiving end of that hard stare.

Rainy Day Friday: The spooky storm started early in the morning and continued on through the day. It made it so hard to get out of bed. But, I'll do just about anything for you, Friday. dress and sweater: vintage, thrifted, DIY applique here; fishnets and tights: Target; Hunter boots: ebay; belt: made by me

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) Carmen Gaudin as The Laundress. 1889 I can't seem to find much more about Carmen online. Despite this, I feel like these paintings by Lautrec tell us so much about her.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) Carmen Gaudin Red-Headed Woman in a White Blouse in the Artist's Studio From this painting alone, I think you can tell she was probably guarded and cautious. I'm sure her experience with men lead her to be that way. Look at those hands. You can imagine their roughness from her work as a laundress. There is nothing dainty or traditionally ladylike about her. Yet she has a kind of unique natural beauty. The kind a guy with a penchant for red heads, like Toulouse-Lautrec, would appreciate.