Papier Macheniacs: OFF Halloween masks, on!

First day of the sem break and we're already getting our hands dirty.
Thanks to a new game my boys are currently addicted to: OFF. For this weekend's project, we're focusing on the game's lead character Zacharie and his masks. A little pre-Halloween special, if you will.

Pretty nifty, eh?
Unlike our usual complicated masks, these babies are fairly easy and quick to make.

All you need are thick cardboards. We used juice-by-the-10s boxes here. Sturdy stuff. We could've just painted the simple details on, but since we don't like things too easy (Haha!), we decided to put a little 2D spin to them with sculpted newspaper.

Then, it's back to the glue-and-tissue combo for some messy mache-ing fun! Remember to curve the masks in a concave shape after the first layer. You'll need that space for your nose. We did 3 layers for the each mask surface but kept the eye parts at only 2 layers because we'll need to punch peep holes through them.

And that's where Dada came in. Yes, we're definitely recruiting him for most of our projects now. :P Using a metal hole puncher with a wide enough diameter, a trusty hammer, and a few expert hits… BAM! We got peep holes! The straps were, of course, concertina folded newspaper which we also paper mache'd.

A splash of pretty conservative paint colours, and… WE'RE DONE!
Can i just say that I am so digging the swirly cheeks detail? :)

These can rock as costumes-in-a-snap for a Halloween Cosplay. It's pretty cheap, too.
So if you're up to going down quick and dirty, it's time to put your OFF game on!


*Zacharie pic from Devianart.

Papier Macheniacs: Halloween Mask-Making Special

Sometimes our kids choose the most difficult Halloween costumes. Like, this year, my boy wanted to be Ed of Cartoon Network's Ed, Edd n Eddy. Now if you're into this kind of crazy animated humor, you'd know that the Ed, Edd n Eddy show has been cancelled way back. There's no way I'm going to find an Ed mask to go with the simple oversized duds the character wears.

Good thing we have ...Papier Macheniacs Power!!!
KABOOM!

First, we bought a typical bare white mask to serve as the foundation for Ed's features. Aaaand... I'm a little too lazy to cut out eye holes and nostrils on my own, so there.

Second, we sculpted in newspaper.

Third, papier mache time! We made sure we didn't block the holes.

Fourth, we painted it! Ok, keep in mind that the eye holes and nostrils are there for your child's comfort. They're not there to dictate your design. You still have to follow the character's facial oddities and map it into the surface of the mask. Ed's nose is a button high up between his huge eyes. And so, there it stays.
After painting, we aerated. This is the most important step. You don't want your kid breathing in paint and glue residue. You have to make sure the whole mask is completely dry and completely odorless. Got that? Cool.

Bonus tip: Of course, you have to take photos. Shoot down so the holes on the mask are hidden. It would be great if you could get your kid to wear white hypoallergenic eyeshadow, too. :P

Now aren't you just thrilled to take on any character costume your kid dishes out this holiday?
Happy Halloween and Happy Papier Mask Macheing!

Quick and Dirty Creepy

It was such a hectic couple of weeks that I was so sure we wouldn't have time for Halloween this year.  And with our family... THAT IS SO NOT DONE!
As early as September, Miro's already planned to come as Richtofen, dastardly doctor of Call of Duty.  Kenji dilly-dallied a bit but was firm last week that he just had to trick or treat in the ominous persona of the Slender Man.

But work continued to pile up that we barely had time to make costumes.  And with our family... we just have to MAKE costumes.  Geez.

My husband to the rescue!
Thank goodness Jing lives for resourceful creativity and insane deadlines!

In just half a day (hours before the Halloween event I've finally booked for us was expected to start), he's transformed Miro into Richtofen.  With my old coat, his old belt, Alpha's leash, a couple of acrylic aquarium edge guards, and cardboard.  I did try to borrow the office guard's hat for tighter authenticity, but he wouldn't let me. :P
Oh, and we purposely revised the swastika a bit because Miro didn't want any trouble with the government.  Lol!

Now Kenji's costume was a lot easier.  IF we had a suit.  Which we didn't.  So Jing had to modify Miro's old cardigan, borrow a tie, wrestle an alligator for gloves (ok, not really) and then slash a pair of nurse-type pantyhose to make Slender's mask.
To this, Kenji asked, "Do I smell like fart?" :D

But what really made these unprepared costumes work was how our boys worked them.  Every Halloween, these guys just get into complete character as soon as they don their cosplay duds.  Miro, at the Halloween event, stayed shady --because that's what cold-blooded killers do.  Kenji never smiled.  He floated!  Because that's what grim reapers do.

So there's our Quick and Dirty Halloween costumes.  Our boys say it was a success.  
After all, if there's anything this family knows how to pull off even in such short notice with very little to work with, it's Halloween.

Nickelodeon's Planet Scream of the crop!

"This is the best Halloween ever!!!", Kenji exclaimed as soon as we got in the car to go home.

Those sincere words easily canceled out the 45 minutes we spent lining up at the entrance of the Nickelodeon Planet Scream open grounds gates, the 30 minutes we spent running and hiding out under a tiny awning when the sudden downpour of rain had everyone scampering for cover, the 2 hours we spent standing on wet ground all throughout the Planet Scream event since all the seats were already taken by those who came prepared with umbrellas. 

It was all worth it.  We've been to a number of Halloween events for years and Nickelodeon's was so far the best of the bunch.  Laid out like a fair, the event was packed with activities.

There were food booths.  Kenji wasn't leaving without his pretzels!

There were gigantic photo ops.  Miro just had to have one with Nickelodeon's top Sponge.

There were toy and candy booths where the boys scored treats.

There was the film showing of Spongebob Scaredypants which naturally captivated every kid.

And there was the horror house Scream Room!

While kids went in and out these booths, the show played non-stop on stage.  Spongebob and Patrick had 3 numbers.  REAL dance numbers --with costume changes.  Yeah, I'm talking to you, Chowder!

In the end, wet, sweaty, exhausted, with blisters on our little toes ... we decided as a unit that in all things Halloween this year, Nickelodeon's Planet Scream was definitely worth screaming for. 

Best Halloween to everyone!

Super Mario and Luigi Costumes How-Tos

This, save for the uber complicated hats, would be our easiest homemade costumes to date!  I thank the stars for that.  Originally, Miro wanted to be Ganondorf and Kenji wanted to be Thomas the Tank Engine.  And you know us... we don't buy costumes.  We have a rather masochistic streak.  :P

To get the look of these super gaming icons, most items you can score just about anywhere.

1.  If you can find a worker's jeans jumper, that's half the problem solved.  But my husband loves challenging himself so the jumpers had to be made from scratch.  The big yellow buttons added the cartoonish feel to the pieces.

2.  Red and green long-sleeved shirts.  You can get this from any clothing store.  Ours, we got from the boys' stash of old Filipiniana costumes. :)

3.  Gloves, of course.  These, we had to buy.

4.  Mario and Luigi wore thick worker boots in the game.  Those would be hell painful when the kids do their rounds at Trick or Treat.  So we ditched going by the book here and opted for comfy shoes.  Rule of costuming kids --ok, it's nice to look at, but can your child move in it?

5.  Mustaches --the handiwork of my eyeliner set and crafty hand.

6.  Ah, the hats.  These came in 2 versions.  Yesterday's hats' letter details came out wrong because we were rushing for a Halloween event.  But I did book us for 2 parties this year, and the real big one was the Nickelodeon Planet Scream party.  So we had time to revise when we got home.  Because these hats HAD to look like the REAL thing --Miro demands it!

The challenging part about the hats was the shape.  It was difficult to get the cartoonish bumps that they had on the video game.  Finally, we settled for a page boy hat shape and just added some folds to create bumps on the sides.  Miro gave the finished products a once-over.  Then after a few beats, "Ok, ok... not bad." --Really!

7.  Bring a lot of attitude!  The secret to making a costume work for you is to work with the costume.  My boys were in character the whole time.  In fact, a couple at the Nickelodeon Planet Scream event actually asked Mario and Luigi to pose with their kids for a posterity shot.  Oooh!  Just like celebritiiiiees...  Haha!

Miro and Kenji felt super cool about that.  Authenticity achieved!  Whew!
Have fun making yours!

It's us... Mario and Luigi!

Boy, am I glad I planned 2 Halloween events for the family this year.  Because the first one we went to didn't do it that much for us.  It may have been fabulous for others, but yeah --we weren't huge fans of tedious promo mechanics and dragging activities.  But like I said, that's just us. :)

One cool thing that came out of yesterday though was the massive attention the boys got for coming as Mario and Luigi from the Super Mario legendary video game fame.  Random comments like "Hey, it's Mario!", "Mario!  Luigi!  Here we gooo!", "Mommy, look, it's Mario and Luigi!" really got Miro and Kenji pumped.  Professional photographers took shots of them, too.  Yep, there was my boys' 15 minutes of fame.  Haha!
It was totally worth the sleepless night and panic time my husband and I devoted in crafting the costumes.  Well, my husband worked.  I panicked.  Lol!  Our boys' smiles beaming like beacons while kids all over greeted them excitedly totally washed all that away.

Plus, yesterday gave us one of the coolest family pictures we ever had!  Complete with Alpha in a navy seal harness and little shy Ziva in an army ranger harness.  And me and Jing in dark, huge eyebags.  Happy, Happy Halloween indeed!

Up next... Nickelodeon's Planet Scream!  Wooooooo!

Halloween for Free

The boys joined an online contest for the first time.  And... THEY WON!  WOOHOO!!!

It was for the Nickelodeon Planet Scream Halloween Event at the Mall of Asia.  The contest was pretty simple.  Simply email Nickster what makes you scream and why.  My boys were pretty candid with their answers.  Smart, too.

Miro:  "Homework makes me scream.  Because I have to work fast and well or I'll miss my favorite Nickelodeon TV shows."

Kenji:  "Halloween parties make me scream.  They're all scary.  But if Spongebob is there, I'll have fun and won't be scared at all."

What did I tell you --smart, eh?  :P

They won 4 tickets each, baby!  That's 8 tickets!  I can't wait to sell extras at the gate.  Haha!
We picked up the tickets at the Nickelodeon office today.  So our Halloween is pretty much planned for us now.  In a good, fun, free way.

Yay for online contests!  My kids so take after me, I swear.  Lol!

Night Fury meets Night Furry

Why didn't we think of this sooner?!!
If we had, we would've taken Alpha to the Hobbes and Landes HOWL-o-ween Party for Dogs last October... and we would've slayed!

Well, there's no such thing as too-late-the-hero in this household.  So we still went with making Alpha's costume, for future reference.

Now one tip when putting on a costume on your dog for the first time:  If your dog --like ours-- is used to running around au naturel, there will be some grief dressing him or her up.  So work with what's already there.  Think of a costume that would take into consideration the color of your dog and the bare minimum of only wearing a leash with simple and light add-ons.  Accessorizing is the best you can go with a first timer.

In Alpha's case, we went with How to Train Your Dragon's Night Fury.  The costume is so easy and cheap to make.

All we needed was a roll of electrical tape, some barbecue sticks, and a couple of old black stockings.

The wing skeleton is a little tricky.  Let electrical tape save your day.

Then, we just slid the skeletons into each stocking and made sure the stockings clung tautly to the shape of the frames.  Electrical tape did the job again in binding the loose ends of the stockings so it was easier to wrap them around the leash.

The tail is the easy part.  We just took the left over part of one stocking and twined tape around it.  The knotted loop at one end is important.  That's where Alpha's stubby little tail goes.

And  --it's done!  Alpha was a little fussy when we started putting it on her.  But later on, she got comfortable and totally forgot she even had wings!

So I guess it's a date next HOWL-o-ween?

My Jane Addiction

I know, I know... I said I wouldn't blog about Halloween anymore.  Sue me for allowing Halloween to have a special place in my heart.  But this beauty came in as a late entry, and believe me when I say it is so blog-worthy.

Presenting Jane-in-the-Box!

Like most Jack-in-the-Boxes, she came in a wonderful tin box decked with lovable kiddie images of blocks, ponies, duckies and warmth.  The artwork held some kind of old world charm.  It reminded me of those old tin lunch boxes and summers at the beach.

Like most Jack-in-the-Boxes, the tin also had a crank on the side.  However, instead of the expected clickety-click tune of Pop Goes The Weasel, what comes out is a series of eerie moaning.  That's when things start to get pretty dubious.

And then... BAM!  AAAAHHH!!!!  Pop goes Chuckie's bride in sleepwear!!!!

Ah, yes, this is Jane.  Her beautiful face is made of smooth vinyl made lumpy by her scars.  Her eyes are mismatched for some odd reason.  Her hair is the scraggly Barbie-type hair held in futility by a tiny band.  Her dress is shiny, shimmery satin.  Her arms, cottony felt, for easy folding back into the box for reusable wet-your-pants fright sessions.

Jane-in-the-Box's shock factor is awesome.  You don't get that with any other kind of halloween toy.  Usually it's all blood and guts out in the open.  Jane has subtlety and the element of surprise and the huge possibility of nightmares for many years to come.   A nifty gift idea (for Halloween or not) that promises ...you will be remembered.

Go out and find her.  Before she finds you.

Mascotophobia

Yep, I just made up that word.  It means, according to my vocabulary, the fear of mascots.  I've always had one.

It dates back to the time when as a toddler, Goofy insisted on having me sit on his shoulders --much to my utter tear-filled dismay-- as my father took picture upon picture.

It extends to my grade school days when Kirby Koala thought it would be amusing to chase me around the aisles of National Bookstore.

Soon after that, Suzy and Geno hugged me at the same time, crushing my tiny frame in between them that all I could see and smell was the smothering onslaught of polyester, cotton, and spandex.  I thought I would die.

Later, as an adult, my Mascotophobia transformed into something more perverse.  Fear turned into rage.  Triggered at Kenji's 5th birthday party when Jollibee reached over to paw at my son's babysitter.  How unnerving!

Funny, not even then did I ever think that mascots had real, hot-blooded humans manning them from within.  I never thought of mascots as costumes.  But rather... as monsters. 

A few days ago, I had my latest run-in with yet another mascot.  This time, it was Cartoon Network's Chowder during a huge Halloween event.  He didn't run after me, abuse me, or molest me in any way.  Instead he just stood there!  Waving his fat chubby arms in what he had hoped would pass as a dance number.  'Lame' could not begin to describe his stage presence.  I paid for a goddamn performance and now --after all these years of taunting me with his ilk's aggression-- he held back?!  This mascot, as passive as he was, actually conned me!

Mascots.  Evil, unnaturally huge buggers.

Trick or Trick?

Word to the wise.

These are not Halloween candies.  They're regular candies.  They're not special.  They're not seasonal.  You can give them away anytime of the year without labeling them as 'Trick or Treat' paraphernalia.

These, on the other hand, ARE Halloween candies.

And to a rather disturbing, criminally insane extent, so are these.

They follow a theme.  They're unique.  They only come out during the full moon when creepy crawlies and ghoulish ghouls take over your usual days.  They're around only once a year... Halloween.  And like any other candy, they are delicious and cavity-inducing.

So I'm just wondering why people can't do the simple initiative of putting a theme into their Halloween treats.  I know it's more tedious that way.  But that's the right way.  On-strat and in-theme.  The kind little Tom, Dick, and Harry would be excited for during one of the year's most exciting occasions.

Sadly, out of my sons' hoard this year, this was the only treat that got 'it'.  Oh well.

And with that, I close my final blog on Halloween --(at least for me) the most wonderful time of the year!

Enter: Blurb Hunt

Nido Science Discovery Center came in as a late runner for our Halloween 2010 options.  It was a good entry though.  It was even cheaper than Cartoon Network's halloween event and undoubtedly more unique than all the other halloween events combined!

It's like a space explorers trick or treat that totally broke the usual mould of halloween activities.  Each child is given a galaxy map and must traverse through all the scientific galleries of the museum (and there are a lot), facing challenges and puzzles, which will ultimately --if the kid is smart enough-- lead him to the mystery alien.  Finding the mystery alien wins you prizes.  There will be treats given away per gallery, too.  There's no Best in Costume thing going on.  But kids are expected to wear space monsters and aliens costume, which would've been da bomb if we had the time and the resources.  But we already spent on the boys' Last Airbender costumes. Having a new set made for this one halloween party alone will be completely idiotic.

But the activity would've totally floored Miro who, as you know, is a big science freak.  I'm not sure if Kenji would've liked it though.  But hey, it's a museum!  Every child loves the museum!

What's in the running now is Cartoon Network's House of Halloween (because it's cheap) and Nido Science Discovery Center's Blurb Hunt (because it's cheaper).  LOL!  And yeah, we did run out of tickets for the Nickelodeon Scarenival.  THAT would've been DA REAL BOMB!  

How to Extend Halloween

A successful Halloween night almost always means candy overload.  Followed by candy fatigue.  And then the dreaded stale candies that sit in a box until the turn of the year.  Goodbye, Halloween treat!  But I know a trick to keep those leftover sweets interesting before they lose their worldly luster.  How?  Sweeten the deal, of course –with a unique cake recipe.

I’m all for mixing Halloween treats with healthy eats.  So my personal choice of candy-to-cake resuscitation is the Butterfinger Banana Cake.  Easy and fun to make, the kids can even join in.

Ingredients:

·      18 1/4 ounces package yellow cake mix

·      2 medium, ripe bananas, mashed

·      3 NESTLE BUTTERFINGER Candy Bar, chopped, and divided

·      16 ounces container prepared white frosting

Directions:

·      Preheat the oven to 350° F.

·      Grease and flour a 13 x 9-inch baking pan.

·      Prepare your cake mix batter according to package directions

·      Stir in a banana and 3/4 cup of chopped Butterfinger. Pour the mixture into your prepared pan.

·      Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until the wooden pick you insert in center comes out clean.

·      Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.

·      Have your kids frost the cake with their own brand of creativity and sprinkle with the remaining chopped Butterfinger.

·      Lick your lips and serve!

The good thing with this candy-to-cake brainchild is that you can experiment with a variety of sweets and fruits combos.  I’ve tried an M&M Cherries Cake, a Reese’s Lemon Cake, a Kitkat Pineapple Cake. The possibilities are endless!  And Halloween never really ends.