Thursday 26 May 2016

DIY Cosmic Festival Flower Crown + Last Minute Hogsozzle Tickets

Costumes are chosen, tents are being checked and supplies purchased- it's two days until festival season 2016 begins!

I spent the last few evenings knee deep in glue and fake flowers. This isn't a DIY really, more of a how-I-did-it, without a completed photo, because I'm saving that for my big outfit reveal on the blog after the weekend! However I hope the mistakes and ideas that I document in this post may be of use to you if you are thinking of creating a magical headpiece for your own costume...




Fake flowers - mine were from a discount store, super cheap!
Glittery Foam Stars
Glue
Silver Spray Paint (not shown)
Wire Cutters (not shown)

If I was doing this project again, I would also make sure I had:

Florists foam
Silver fabric tape
A less funny shaped head.

I started off by cutting the stems off the flowers that I wanted to use, saving a 10cm piece of wire on the end to wrap around the band.


I also cut all the flowers off at the joint on the orchid blossom - the bendy stalk is perfect to create the frame of my headpiece.



I also pulled the leaves off, most of which were just attached by a small plastic ring. I saved the leaves and unused flowers for another project I haven't thought of yet. I realised immediately that I should have purchased some florist foam to stick the flowers in whilst I spray painted them - what a rookie error! Luckily I had a shallow cardboard box lying about which I spiked the flowers into, spaced well apart but I'd definitely recommend the florist foam if you are attempting a similar project.



How cosmic do they look?! I was kind of over-excited at this point because I wasn't sure what the spray paint would look like, or even if it would work.  It had a metallic lid, but the sticker said "This lid is not representative of the finished effect" so I was worried it would be very matt. Actually, it's pretty shiny, especially on the plastic stems and stamen, and the cheapo fabric flowers took the paint like pros. I did three light coats and used one of the discarded long stems to lift the top layers of petals up, so none of their original colour would show through. I also sprayed the ends of the stems on the other side of the box and the long, bendy stem from the orchids.


I taped the bendy stalk round to the perfect head shape for me (I have a weird shaped head. I discovered this today.) and then started twisting the lilies into place, starting at one side.



I added three of the glittery foam stars, they are perfect because the foam sort of molds to the shape you want it to meaning it tucks neatly around my head and hides the joins and the dodgy bits (see below)

Once I'd taped the wrapped areas with thick fabric tape for extra stickiness and to avoid the ends poking into my brain, I wished I'd used silver tape instead of the sticky, plastic, yellow horror that I selected. I had the bright idea to spray paint the inside but the paint did not want to stick to the yellow plasticky areas so I ended up having to rush out and get silver tape for a better finish.




Here she is :) It's not quite done, a few finishing touches to add. I'll have it be-dazzled and ready to shine along with my costume from Tickled Pink Fancy Dress and my spray painted wellies tomorrow night!

If you haven't got a ticket yet, there's just 16 left at the moment of writing. Check this link to see if you've missed the boat for festival funtimes - if your tickets are in hand, see you at the Sozzle!

Katy

P.S

I'm taking over The Turner Brothers Instagram feed as soon as I wake up tomorrow until we pack away the last tentpeg on Monday and wind our hungover way home. I'd love you to join me there! Follow along on their Instagram by clicking here.

Thursday 19 May 2016

Festival Fancy Dress - Pirate Inspiration for Hogsozzle 2016



Following my mermaid and cosmic-space-explorer inspiration posts, I've got some swash-buckling swag for all you childhood dreamers who wished for a future on the high seas!

If anyone can pull off pirate chic, it's my friend Kelly - she's literally the person I know that can drink the most rum, for sure. Here's a little collage of me and her having rum-soaked times, she's a beaut, right?


So, we are thinking, black, skull & crossbones accessories, some sort of sword and some pieces of eight to scatter in her wake :) The web is awash with fabulous pirate dress-up bounty - below I've shared just some of the absolutely incredible steampunk corsets and accessories for sale on Etsy, all sources are linked below the image.



Off-the-shoulder top - Zootzugarb
Pirate Wench Dress - TimJan Design
Pirate Cat Corset - EmeraldAngel
Tricorn Pirate Hat - Blackpin
Black Brocade Corset - SilverLeafCostumes
Lace Up Arm Warmers - ZenandCoffee
Waist Cincher- Dredmorsplunder
Renaissance Corset - PeriodCorsets

Woman make the best pirates, obviously. At the end of the 17th century, pirating was primarily a male occupation. Women weren't allowed on long boat journeys in case the men fought over them (or, I imagine, with them) so if they wanted a life on the high seas, they had to pretend to be male. That makes it pretty hard to track down authentic female pirates in history, but I did find this diva, rocking some serious piratey garbs, about to get shot in the head.



Anne Bonney, apparently on the left although I think they both look quite feminine. She obviously dreamed hard about becoming a pirate, because after stabbing a servant girl with a table knife and marrying a small-time pirate, James Bonny, Anne was disowned by her father. She moved to New Providence in the Bahamas, where she met Jack Rackham, captain of the pirate ship Revenge, and became his mistress - what a life eh?

*edit- I just had mail from Sara at PeriodCorsets, who inform me that the second lady, on the left, is another famous female pirate called Mary Read. She also told me a hilarious pirate fact - the reason their breasts are shown in this picture is because during battle, while dressed as men, they would rip open their shirts revealing their breasts to distract those they were fighting. Thanks Sara! 

Here's what Tickled Pink Fancy Dress, the official fancy dress partner of Hogsozzle, have on offer along the pirate theme - I think my favourite thing about these is the snarling on the men's faces, I can just imagine being told to go "Aarrrrggggg!"



Below are some pirate-themed pieces from around the web to spend your dubloons on, I love the idea of wearing a cute but practical themed outfit as well as going all out with fabulous fancy dress :)



Striped Wellies - Joules
Headscarf - LittleKTM on Etsy
Coin Bag - ASOS
Fishbone necklace - Tatty Devine

Finally, what pirate would be ready to give someone a good keelhaul (that's scraping a traitor back and forth against the barnacle-crusted bottom of the boat, in case your pirate-language knowledge in't up to speed) without a bottle of the very best rum? We met the guys that make Pirates Grog last year at a little festival called Rumbellion and it's stayed my very favourite. Grab ye' self a bottle and get three sheets to the wind...here we are soaking up the sunshine and enjoying the grog :)




Have a great rest of the week! I'll be back tomorrow with that Turner Brother summer gig guide I've been promising and some last-minute fancy dress ideas - 8 days til we go festival fancy dress crazy at Hogsozzle, I'll share all our groups outfits after the weekend!:)

Katy x

Tuesday 17 May 2016

Festival Fancy Dress - Cosmic Space Explorer Inspiration for Hogsozzle 2016



Hogsozzle kicks off in two weeks time and we are getting pretty excited :) The Turner Brothers are playing on the Friay night and all our plans are swinging into action! Today I want to share some inspiration, links and fabulous festival fancy dress wear from around the web for my own costume, which is going to have a seriously cosmic theme. My Childhood Dreams (read more about the theme on the HogBlog here) had me imagining other worlds, creating imaginary alien friends and  dreaming of distant galaxies. I try to be as cosmic as possible in my adult life...


When I started gathering inspiration, I knew I was going to go with a silver/purple dress from Tickled Pink...I don't want to spoil my big reveal so I'm not going to show the full get-up here, but I did share a little hint picture over on Instagram so I don't see the harm in posting that here also...


The first thing I came across when I started looking up cosmic clothing creations was the Valentino  Fall 2015 line. I do not condone wearing £7,800 coats to muddy festivals, but a gal can dream, right? I'm not ashamed to admit that while I don't currently have the funds for couture, I'd probably sell a minor, slightly disapproving distant relative for that galaxy gown.



You can see my little awkward face at the top, half covered with galactic facepaint at a recent night in Watford. I will boldy go where many have gone before, according to Pinterest, and slather my face with as much cosmicness as possible!



All of the original sources for these make-up looks are available here 

I also knew from the outset that I was going to want wings. Light up, easy to carry, look super-cosmic glittery festival wings. I'm really hoping to be able to make them myself in the next week or so and perhaps even share my method here. I'm kind of aware I'll need wire, some way to attach them to my person and a hell of a lot of sequins and glitter but I've never taken on a big fancy-dress DIY project before so I'm determined to get it right. Watch this space! Here are a couple I will be taking inspiration from around the web...


This DIY by Lauren Conrad is for angel wings, but I like the construction and I think they would hold LED's well.I have to think about fitting them into my friends car too, so these small ones would probably be stellar!


These 'Isis' wings are all over the festival scene,  this is the best DIY I could find on adding lights to the simple design. Image from here.


I think I could easily knock up something like this, with some lights along the arms and maybe a little deeper.

And if I can't have hair like this because I once over-ombred my poor straw-like locks...



...I'll probably go for one of these perfect-looking, no-commitment wigs from Tickled Pink:



I can't wait to show you my full outfit and the rest of our groups Childhood Dreams fancy dress after Hogsozzle - ten days to go!

Katy x

p.s. Just a little space joke I found whilst researching this post :)

"How do you throw a space party?"

"PLANET!"

Wednesday 11 May 2016

Festival Fancy Dress - Mermaid Inspiration for Hogsozzle 2016



What were your childhood dreams like? Floaty and hard to remember? Vivid and packed with sights and sounds from your everyday life? Did you dream about living a completely different life? In space or under the sea?

We did :)

Carrying on my mission to get more involved in festival fancy dress this year at Hogsozzle, I've roped some of the girls in our usual troupe into dressing up. We have a mermaid, an alien, a red Indian and possibly a pirate so far - I'm still working on the others! One of my very favourite friends Hayley will be making waves in a mermaid-themed outfit. She's always been the most difficult to convince into a fancy dress costume, but I was shore the lure of festival fun times would get her donning sparkles and diy-flower crowns with the rest of us - and she's taken to it like a mermaid to water.



Any mermaid worth her salt knows the power of a beautiful found-objects crown. These are all from Pinterest - I've linked the sources below but the web is rife with DIY's and inspiration for creating your own unique, perfectly tailored hair-piece. I love the ones that have used tumbled sea-glass in blues and greens, I bet they look beautiful in the sunlight.


Seashell Crown via PolyvoreShell Crown - Chelsea Flower Crowns on Etsy, Dreamer Mermaid Crown - Wild & Free at FreePeople, Shell Hairpiece - CDeityDesigns on Etsy, Casting Spells Mermaid Crown - Wild and Free Jewelry, Shell Tiara - BigSkyCharm on Etsy (no longer available), Gypsylight Mermaid Crown - source unknown, Starfish & Shell tiara - DIY here by Running With Sisters, Seaglass Crown - Loschy on Etsy,  Steampunk Octopus Tiara - Angelyques on Etsy, Single Shell Tiara - from here, Dreamer Flower Crown, as before, Sea Queen Mermaid Crown - ScarletHarlow on Etsy, Shell Crown, Freepeople as before, Pink Flowers & Shell Crown - GardensOfWhimsy on Etsy.


Whilst I was doing research I came across some absolute treasures - how about these as the crowning glory for your festival fancy dress outfit?



This beautiful tiara is the style of branches and berries is housed at the Victoria & Albert Museum. It was gifted to the museum in 2003, but dates back to 1860! I would love to know the story behind this beautiful piece, this clearly has the power to make the wearer feel like a real mermaid princess. Find out more here.

Then, I came across this beauty:


I couldn't find a huge amount of information about this, other than it is a coral tiara housed in the Museum of the Jewellery in Vicenza. I think my Hayley would look just magical with one of these priceless beauties perched on her waves - might have a save up a little first though...

If you are into ocean-themed history, the British Museum has over 200 mermaid themed items for you to browse - go here to dive into some really magical treasures.

Of course, dressing up as a mermaid is about a lot more than wearing shells in your hair, here are some of my favourite ocean-inspired pieces from around the web.




Mermaid Leggings - Amazon, Shell Cross Body Bag - ASOS, Mermaid Platforms - Dollskill, Mermaid Bodysuit - New Look, Earrings - SparkJewelers on Etsy, Mermaid Sunglasses - Lyst , Aquarium Effect Nail Polishes - Barry M


I'll share all of our outfits after Hogsozzle, if you want to see them before you are going to have to come along - there's still tickets available here. Don't forget if you are stuck for ideas, Tickled Pink has plenty of ready-to-rock festival outfits for every Childhood Dream imagined, I'm shore you'll find something...(okay, I'm finished with the mermaid puns now!)

I've got more fancy dress inspiration posts lined up this week! Please feel free to share your festival fancy dress inspiration with me on Twitter, or in the comments below. 

If you are an event organiser or festival-business, I'd love to work with you this summer, get in touch by emailing me here.

FIN. :)

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