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Showing posts from 2018

Happy Batman Day! DIY Joker and Harley Quinn Costumes

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To all the superheroes in the Justice League and all the supervillains in the Suicide Squad, Happy Batman Day! In anticipation of Batman Day 2018 on September 15 , here's a look back at my DIY Joker and Harley Quinn costumes from Halloweens 2014 and 2015. DIY Joker and Harley Quinn Couple's Costume Inspiration  Why so serious?  Our costumes came pre- Suicide Squad and Justice League movies, meaning before Joker and Harley Quinn were reduced to Hot Topic cosplay characters. Instead, our DIY Joker and Harley Quinn couple's costume inspiration came from sources including Tim Burton's Batman movie, Christopher Nolan's  The Dark Knight movie,  the original Batman TV series   and the  Batman Arkham Asylum video game, among others. Thrifting and Crafting Batman Character Costumes We used second-hand clothes and basic craft materials to create our Joker and Harley Quinn couple's costume. By thrifting and crafting our Batman character costumes, we spent under

DIY Leopard and Gorilla Couple Costume

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For many years, if you asked my husband the material things he most desired, he would list video game systems, an air conditioner in his truck, an MP3 music player ... and a gorilla suit. Why? Because doing things in a gorilla costume — driving, playing an instrument, holding a kitty like Koko — is hilarious. But quality gorilla costumes are not cheap, until they are. Last Halloween, I found a $100 gorilla costume for $20 on Craigslist. Aaron's costume was set. I scoped out thrift stores for coordinating inspiration. Once I came upon leopard leggings, it was decided. For Halloween, it was DIY leopard with gorilla for our couple costume! Cheap DIY Leopard Halloween Costume For my cheap DIY leopard costume, I bought leopard print leggings at Atlas Thrift Store in Carmichael for $1 and a fuzzy, leopard print pillow sham at Goodwill in North Highlands for $0.99. I also spent $2 at CVS for Wet n' Wild eyeliners in black and gold. (Cheap and cruelty-free makeup FTW.)

Adventures in Bicycling: Riding the American River Parkway

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Bicycle! Bicycle! Bicycle! I want to ride my bicycle ... I want to ride my bike! I rode my bicycle past your window last night ...  Queen and The Dollyrots (covering Melanie) run through my head a lot lately. I recently started riding a bike again after a good 20 year absence. It all started with a 2016 family vacation in Lake Tahoe. We rented a home that came with bike use. Although all of the loaner bikes were big for me, and I had very possible just broken my toe, I joined my stepfather and husband for a ride around the private lake community. To my surprise, that old saying rang true. I never forgot how to ride. I peddled and balanced like a pro. I did have tingling and pain in my old lady hands, but otherwise, the ride was pretty easy. I thought I might like to do this bike thing again, but I wasn't going to rush out and buy a bike. The next summer while browsing Craigslist, I came across an ad for free bikes. One of the bikes was a Huffy Cranbrook beach cru