We Can Live Like Jack and Sally: Christmas & Halloween Forever!

Grüße alle!
This is a real problem, people. How do you satisfy your need for Hallo-mas?

Do you ever find yourself here?

Or... here?

What about both?

If Santa Jack is you all year, I feel you. My internal struggle is dying for it to be Halloween and Christmas, all year long. Every. Single. Year.

Seriously.

November 1st of this year:

Also November 1st of this year:

After the last Bill and Ted's Excellent Halloween Adventure at 

Halloween Horror Nights this year:

Me on December 26 this year:

I realize that it's a lot of countdowns, folks, but this is my internal struggle! If I could just have you both all year long, that would be great. Jack gets it! Anyways, as you can imagine, when you live for two holidays a year, the other 8 months (because let's get real, September 1- December 31 is the time of year that really matters to me!) seem a bit monotonous. I can pretend to celebrate them the other 8 months, at least! ;)
But I face a serious struggle in between my favorite days of the year - withdrawals and new addictions.
Think of it this way, Halloween and Christmas are both drugs. On November 1st, I really want to start the new drug, but the other one is so good, I just want to take them both. Do I suffer the withdrawals from Halloween, or do I just take it with me to Christmas? Well, I choose both. Somewhere, the girl in the taco commercials is having a party, and if you get that joke, I'll just take a virtual bow for the lamest joke ever.
*Thank you, thank you, I have my strange mind and friends to thank for always supporting me!*

Anyways... I'm here to help!

How to satisfy your inner
Santa Jack Skellington

-Watch perfect Halloween/Christmas movie blends!
-Listen to the perfect Halloween/Christmas movie blend soundtracks!
-If you go to an event like Halloween Horror Nights (which you should), compile a list of songs from your event and stick them all on a playlist! The memory centers of your brain will thank you.
-Wear Halloween and Christmas apparel all year long. Let the judgey haterfaces judge with their haterade and you and I can sip on some Mayhem Madness. (if you get this HHN reference, you receive 10 points to your respective Harry Potter House and two thumbs up!)
-Wear scary clowns (like Jack and Chance, perhaps?) and dress up whenever the friggin crap you want to. And if you want to cosplay in the middle of the year, do it! Don't let the haters bring you down! 😜

Movies Perfect for Hallo-mas!

1 - The Nightmare Before Christmas

As if this isn't obvious enough, this movie is perfect for your Halloween and Christmas needs. If you don't know the premise, Jack Skellington is the Pumpkin King and the King of Halloween, and he wants something... more. Then he discovers Christmas and Halloween merges with it, and it's, um, beautiful. If you haven't seen it, please remedy this immediately, and if you have, go and watch it again! There's never too many times to watch this movie.

Get it on Amazon here for $13.72.

(Blu-Ray/DVD)

2 - Krampus

So this one can scare the crap out of you if you don't like horror genre films, but if you do, it's a walk in the park. This movie is actually a comedy-horror, and Krampus, the German Christmas demon, basically comes and wreaks havoc on a family during Christmastime. If you want freaky elves and demon gingerbread men during Christmas, this is for you! ;)

Get it on Amazon here for $12.96.

(Blu-Ray/DVD/Digital Copy)

3 - Harry Potter - umm... all of them.

I know, I know. They're not about Halloween or Christmas specifically. But come on! Freaky shit goes down every year, Voldemort is constantly trying to kill Harry, and when he isn't the Dementors are. And there is Christmas in every film. No really, seriously, all of them. And since Harry Potter is one of the greatest things ever, I'm pretty much going to put this here and there ain't nothin' you can do about it!

Get the 8 film collection on Amazon here for $64.99.

(Blu-Ray)

4 - Corpse Bride

Tell me I'm stretching here... don't care! This movie is basically night of the living dead + tons of snow, and that is good enough for me... boop! On the list.

Get it on Amazon here for $4.99.

(DVD)

5 - Edward Scissorhands

Another Tim Burton film, and this one is a given. There is all kinds of dark nonsense going on in this small town, and whether you think the castle or the horny neighbors are creepy, you're bound to find something that gets under your skin. (Maybe it's all the pastel?) ;)) And everything comes together and falls apart during Christmas, so I can unarguably stick this movie on the list. Check yes.

Get it on Amazon here for $5.00.

(DVD)

6 - Scrooged

The story of the Christmas Carol is universally known as one of the best and most well known Christmas stories of all time, but this adaption takes it to another level. They really get deep and raw, and will Bill Murray as the lead you've got some amazing comic relief. (Not to mention the fantastic performance by Carol Kane, which should go down in the books forever.) After it drags you to hell and back and depresses you as much as it can, you're dragged back into the beautiful and hilarious Bill Murray Christmas spirit! Worth it.

Get it on Amazon here for $5.99.

(DVD)

And a Bonus one:

7 - American Horror Story: Asylum - "Unholy Night"

So, okay, this isn't a movie. But this show is amazing. Seriously, it is so good, and if you haven't seen any of it, you need to immediately. Get ready for it to scare the crap out of you, it's got something freaky for everyone... so fair warning, it's messed up, but it's sooo worth it. And this episode, out of an already creepy-af season, is about as screwed up as it sounds. It qualifies, in my book, to get on this list!

Get the full season on Amazon here for $14.96.

(DVD)

Decorate your heart out!

Well, you could always just rely on some orange lights (or in this case an old set of red, green, and orange lights where the orange was all that has survived) and string it up like this! What's the bonus of having a tree this bare? (With a photobomb Halloween Horror Nights banner in the background!) Well, short of setting your tree on fire it's just about as bare as the one that sets on fire in Sally's dream! And that's a little bit awesome. Not gonna lie.
[Not to mention, Charlie Brown would be proud.]

For real though, you could always fill it up with lots of blinky lights, stick a walker in the background (with red lights for blood, of course), and *subtly* throw in some Halloween Horror Nights references...

And if you're one of those people that really wants to go full out, you could do like these people did...

 

Really, though... if you suffer from Post-Halloween withdrawals, there is help out there for you. There are support groups out there for you (I'm sure somewhere there exists a forum!), and a 24 hour hotline dedicated to your needs. (It's called Google) They will help you with any of your suffering, and give you helpful tips on surviving Halloween through every other holiday. 

Want to have a Halloween filled St. Patrick's Day? I'm sure you have their full support.

Well, you at least have someones support!

Photo credit: http://afletcherkinnear.deviantart.com/art/St-Patrick-s-Town-252727876

For makeup addicts only!

And as a healthy blog bonus, if you're a makeup addict that is obsessed with Halloween, you should really check out the makeup brand Lunatick Cosmetics!
Link: Lunatick Cosmetics' Website
Why? Well, here's why.

Lunatick Cosmetics Hocus Pocus Eyeshadow Palette - Buy Here

All of their eye shadow palettes come with bat mirrors. 

Did you read that right? Bat. Mirrors.

Also, their lipstick is shaped like bullets...

Lunatick Cosmetics Lipstick in Calabaza - Buy Here

And last but most definitely not least, their HD setting powder comes in the shape of a friggin Ouiji Board. 

Look. Just look. Eat your heart out. 

Seriously, go check them out! To see some amazing artistry and products, check out their Instagram! 

Lunatick Cosmetics Instagram

Lunatick Cosmetics HD Pressed Powder - Buy Here

All of the opinions listed here are my own, and I am not sponsored or paid. All images are either my own, found on Google, found on lunaticklabs.com, or credited with the photo.

Bis zum nächsten Mal!

Ray Kay

Visit my Etsy shop!
pretttynerdydesigns is my own Etsy shop where I sell hand made crafts like hand-painted shoes and bows!
www.etsy.com/shop/pretttynerdydesigns

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Surviving the Con: Preparing for Cosplay Part 2 - Cosplay Like You Mean It

Grüße!
So in my last blog entry, I talked about preparing for my cosplay last year. Last year was actually the first year I attempted cosplay, fun fact! I've been to other cons but never in costume. I didn't think I would be able to attempt it before last year you see, because the amount of exhaustion you experience at any con can be very overwhelming. When I attended San Diego Comic Con, for instance, the most sleep I ever got was when I camped outside of Hall H (the largest panel room in the convention hall) in a sleeping bag. I averaged maybe 4-5 hours if I got lucky. If you've been to a con like this before, you can probably relate.

*myself in my practiced Inside Out Anger look for Dragon Con this year!*

Despite this, I couldn't take not dressing up any longer. Not that there is anything wrong with not dressing up, but dressing up is so much fun! For anyone that hasn't dressed up in cosplay, just think about how excited you get when you get to dress up for Halloween each year and plan your costume. Now bump that up about fifteen levels, because you're not going to want to stop at your generic costume from a Halloween store. You're going to want elements of the character they don't have, you're going to want this and that, and thus you're thrown into the world of costume DIY. Let me just tell you, it's worth it!
Now, in my last blog entry I told you all not to wait until the last second to plan your cosplay and put all the pieces together. I stand by that. But take my own advise? Pssssssshhh no. So I pretty much had every idea I could muster for my own cosplay just a few days ago. I've been throwing it together since. Mind you, I had plans for only one costume this year - the Bride of Frankenstein. I had the outfit and wig figured out, I've been toying with makeup look ideas... Seemingly I had everything figured out. Well, no, not really... and by not really, I mean basically not at all. I decided that I didn't just want to dress up one day of the con like I did for Dragon Con last year. Time to throw some things together!
Bride of Frankenstein, Dr. Finkelstein (The Nightmare Before Christmas), Anger (Inside Out)... here I come!

Crafting

I got kind of lucky with my procrastination this time, which is great. I had already dressed as Anger for an Inside Out Party I had with friends (most people my age go to clubs and I planned a party to celebrate the release of a Disney/Pixar movie - this is who you're dealing with!), so I already had some of those things together. I was already planning on dressing as Dr. Finkelstein when I attend Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party at Disney Magic Kingdom this September, and the Bride of Frankenstein was always going to happen for Dragon Con this year. But I always want to do more! *I should note, the Inside Out party turned into a combination Inside Out & Avengers party, and these pictures are from that night! Featuring my cat, Sherlock!*

I jumped to crafts and hopped right on that path! I love wearing hair bows, and I love painting shoes, so I decided I would dive in where I could! So, with the help of my always handy acrylic paints & paintbrushes, I set to work! I didn't use any stencils for these looks, but if you don't feel comfortable not using a stencil, I can tell you what I have done before! For some shoes I have painted, I printed out the design I wanted, cut it out, traced it on the shoe in pencil, and painted it in! The shoes I did this time were either straight from my brain or done by using a picture for reference.

I have here my Inside Out Anger shoes, one of which I painted last year, and one of which I painted this year! The Inside Out shoe was used last year in my look for Disgust, so this year I painted an Anger shoe to match the already painted Disgust shoes! Also here are my Dr. Finkelstein/Nightmare Before Christmas shoes, which I loooved painting! Using pictures for reference, I drew on the designs in pencil and used the color scheme as best I could! One thing I do recommend you get if you are planning on matching colors like I did is getting yourself some small paint pots that you can mix your paint in and keep it fresh - this has been super useful for me, especially if I want to go back in and add to them at a later date. The last pair of shoes here are silhouette depictions of Frankenstein and his Bride, from the classic Universal Studios horror films! I used an already silhouetted picture of their faces for reference, and these were by far the most difficult to translate to the shoes! You feel a little crazy just filling in a wavy splotch where a mouth goes, but once the paint goes on, it really comes to life! For the backs of the shoes, I just wrote out "here comes" how it came naturally to me, and for "THE BRIDE" I used a reference photo of one of the original posters of the film!

But once I was done with the shoes... Well, I wasn't really done! I decided that since I had finished these relatively quickly, I should move on to hair bows... naturally. Naturally, right? I can't be the only one! Keeping it in this year's cosplay family, I decided to make a bow for all three looks! They'll be pinned into the wigs I wear respectively, which I cannot wait to do! I decided to buy these bows instead of making them since I'm short on time, and I got some blank ones from the craft section in Walmart, so if you want to do the same they should be fairly easy to find! *I also bought some plain cheap shoes at Walmart to make these, and they're really comfortable and a great canvas!* So I used these plain white and black bows and, as usual, acrylic paint! Once you're done, it's important to seal your work off with Mod Podge. I've said this before, but don't apply too much Mod Podge! Your shoes can crack if you use more than just one layer, as can any other bendable surface you apply it to. I only applied Mod Podge to the parts of the bows where I actually used the acrylic paint so that they were still flexible. If your design covers the whole surface of the shoe, use one coat over all of it (the cloth part), otherwise just apply to the painted areas!

Clothes

So since I don't yet know how to sew and I wanted to do a different take on these characters, I started looking for outfits that looked like a modern inspired version of each character. So basically, I wanted to make Anger & Dr. Finkelstein a human, and I wanted the Bride of Frankenstein to be dressed to reflect modern day. Thus I began to plan every bit of my outfits - some even came from things I already had in my closet that I decided to re-purpose! I found everything that I wanted and needed from Torrid, Hot Topic, Fashion to Figure! Torrid and Fashion to Figure have perfect clothes for curvy women, so when I go shopping, generally it's there. The only things I have for my cosplay from Hot Topic were their amazeballs socks. For real, they have all kinds of socks for just about any pop culture you can think of. It's awesome.


Makeup

I love going all in for makeup looks! For the looks planned, I will be using pictures of the original characters, my own ideas, and some inspiration from NikkieTutorials & Patrick Starrr!

Inspiration from Nikkie: 

Nikkie's Film Noir Tutorial

Nikkie's Hunger Games Tutorial

Inspiration from Patrick: 

Patrick's Bride of Frankenstein Tutorial 

I pulled inspiration from the eyes in Patrick's BoF tutorial, and I learned how to contour in B&W from the lovely Nikkie!

Inspiration for the Anger makeup look started with Nikkie's Hunger Games look and evolved into my own creation!

That's it for now, folks! Look for my next blog entry about Dragon Con coming soon!

Bis zum Nächsten Mal!

RayKay

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Surviving the Con: Preparing for Cosplay

Grüße!

So I think the title is self-explanatory, but I'm going to say it anyway - the con life isn't for the weak! ;) Seriously though, it snowballs into more of a stressful affair than you'd think, preparing for a con. Especially if you cosplay! You've got to figure out exactly what you're going to cosplay as (obviously), and then you've got to figure out how in the world exactly it is that you're going to put that cosplay together, and all before your time limit. 

It creeps up on you faster than you think! What outfit should I wear? What wig do I need? What accessories? Is that even allowed at [insert name here] Con? What makeup do I need? You'll find yourself swirling down that vortex really quickly. Funny enough, the reason I found myself in the makeup world is because of preparations for my Dragon Con outfit last year, when I dressed up as Disgust from Disney/Pixar's Inside Out. Thank you, Youtube, for you saved my life last year and sent me on a completely unexpected one that I never thought I would continue.

Side note: Seriously, if you've never checked out makeup tutorials on YouTube, you're missing out. A special mention to a makeup-guru that you couldn't possibly miss or mistake, NikkieTutorials. She is extremely talented and empowering, and I bow down to her skills. She has taught me half of what I know about makeup, and I'll never forget it!

Back on topic, that picture there is me last year at Dragon Con! I was and still am actually very proud of how that turned out, being that my makeup skills were at the 'I don't know what I'm doing and I've watched makeup tutorial videos a few times in the last two weeks' level! My eyebrows were completely green, I got a huge pair of green lashes, and a pair of green contacts, as you can see... Those contacts killed my eyes. Word of warning to anyone who has never worn contacts before, I wouldn't advise trying it out for the first time on a Con day. If you feel the need to, bring the contacts case with you so that you can take them out when the inevitably irritate your eyes... trust me. Just trust in me.

As for my makeup here, I took inspiration from a Poison Ivy makeup tutorial on YouTube. If I were doing Disgust this year, you could bet you would see more than the simple makeup I did last year, but I digress. There are many more tutorials out now that are specifically about Inside Out characters, but since there weren't then, Ivy saved my life! Probably not a coincidence, as she's my favorite female DC villain! If you want to go for not just face makeup but body, I recommend MadeYewLook on YouTube. She is beast.

As for the rest - putting this all together was a ball game, let me tell you! You start head to toe, and if you're anything like me, you want to make it as perfect as you can. Long green wig? Check. *Warning - not for the faint of heart - the heat and the weight of that wig, they get to you!* ;) Contacts? Lashes? Makeup? Check. And let me tell you, picking all those out, though they may seem trivial, can take hours each. Should I get neon or forest green? It feels a little like picking out paint colors. Have you ever done that? Whatever choice you make, you always doubt it. I went through at least 4 different lipstick shades before I chose red. I was going to do lilac but didn't think I could pull it off at the time. Fast forward a year and I wear purple on my lips like it ain't no thing! *This look here was one of my makeup tests for Disgust!*

But you can't stop with makeup! I wanted to have an outfit that represented my girl, but I also don't know how to sew yet, so my sister and I had to get creative. Luckily, I had a green dress already that worked really well for Disgust, but my sister was to be Joy, and she had nothing. You wouldn't believe how long we looked for a dress that would work with no results. So we finally turned to... that's right, folks, dying some fabric! For this, you need a giant pot, and I do mean that, some good fabric dye, and just the right amount of mixture for your color. (We used Rit Dye for ours, and you can find whatever color you want and how to achieve your desired look on their guide here.) You can only keep it in the water for so long to get the color you want, and God help you if you spill the color! But do I recommend? Heck yes! This was so much fun. And since I couldn't find a pair of shoes I wanted, I turned to a favorite of mine - shoe painting! I cannot for the life of me find a picture of the Disgust shoe I painted, but I made an Inside Out shoe and an Anger and Sadness shoe! For this you need any old canvas or fabric shoe, acrylic paint, and Mod Podge. Use as much acrylic paint as you want, but only do one layer of Mod Podge, or the shoe cracks and your work can easily be destroyed!

Another project we found ourselves working on was the accessories that the characters carry around with them, and myself, my sister, and our friend Bogdana (and she has an awesome blog about all the books she reads that you should check out!), landed on carrying around their memory orbs. Although Joy also carried around a backpack, so we bought a plush Bing-Bong and a plain canvas bag that we dyed purple with the same Rit Dye and that I then painted over with the acrylic paint and Mod Podge that I mentioned before.

We made the memory orbs with ornament balls that open up from Hobby Lobby, and we got some standard school glue, foam paint brushes, glitter, and shoelaces. First, we lined the inside of the ornament balls with glue using the foam brushes, then we dumped some glitter inside, closed the ball, and shook! We just did this with each color until we were satisfied with the glitter coating. When those were dried and done (we left them sitting open overnight to dry), we closed them up and stuck some shoelaces that we dyed the appropriate color through the loop at the top of the ornament and fashioned it into a bracelet of sorts. See, we knew we wouldn't necessarily want to hold on to them all day, so we tied a good knot at the base of the ornament loop, and when we were ready on the day of the Con, we tied the other end around our wrists. It was lightweight and portable, and it gave us something fun to play with all day while we waited in the lines for panels! We're really just kids at heart, after all! In these pictures, you can see Sadness holding up her memory orb and Joy holding hers and pointing to Bing-Bong!

We had loads of fun at Dragon Con and took a ton of pictures of amazing costumes there - some of these people just knock it out of the park and blow me away! Like all of these guys that absolutely killed it!

 

 *top left - Cosima & Delphine cosplay from Orphan Black; top right - Sherlock & Irene cosplay from BBC Sherlock; bottom - Thranduil & Tauriel cosplay from The Hobbit

I hope you guys like what we did or maybe picked up some ideas at the very least! Enjoy the nerd life, everybody!
Oh, and if you get anything at all from this... Plan ahead! It's worth it in the end and usually really fun to put together!

Bis zum nächsten Mal!
RayKay

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