The Potter & His Clay: Nerds/Ewok Costumes & Ghost Cake

My 3rd favorite holiday has arrived!! Halloween! Last year my dad and I made Lego people costumes for Matt and I to wear to a Fall Retreat for the Jr High at our church (Matt led music and I just went along for moral support). We had a costume party! This was a few days after Halloween so we actually had 2 costumes last year. We couldn't reveal this one until after Halloween.

This year I made...wait for it...a Nerds costume! I saw it on Pinterest and knew that that was our costume. Matt didn't say yes...but he didn't say no either. When I was done he loved it (or at least he said he did). How could he not?

What you'll need:

2 pieces of foam core board

2 boxes that will fit around your body

Light purple acrylic paint

Darker purple acrylic paint

Dark purple acrylic paint

Hot pink acrylic paint

Light pink acrylic paint

White acrylic paint

Black Sharpie

Mod Podge

E-6000 glue

Hot glue

Scissors

White yarn

Nerd glasses

Pink shirt

Purple shirt

I free-handed this onto the foam core boards. After I was finished I Mod Podged the whole thing to protect it a bit.

I went to Michaels and they had a cart full of boxes. It was raining the day I was looking for little boxes so all of the ones outside were wet. These were inside and just what I needed. I asked an employee if they were going to throw them away. She said yes so I asked her if I could have some and she reluctantly nodded yes. I was getting them off the cart when another employee came over and asked if she could help me (NOT in a nice way...she seemed mad). I told her I had permission to do what I was doing and she, again, reluctantly said it was fine. Then ANOTHER employee came up to me and did the same thing!! I felt like I was in trouble but I asked if it was ok! It was garbage! So just letting you know...be prepared when getting boxes from Michaels. It was totally worth it, though. They were the perfect size! Heh.

I cut the boxes so one side attached to the foam core board and then the other 3 sides wrapped around my body. I painted the sides the deep purple.

I love this glue! It does wonders!

I left one side larger so it could keep the foam core board steady. None of the other sides had writing so they were so easy to paint over.

I attached 2 strands of rope to both sides to sit on the shoulder. I attached it with duct tape, hot glue, and E-6000 glue. It's pretty sturdy.

I had to make sure that they sit on the same spot on Matt and me so that when we stood next to each other they were even. I love how this costume turned out!

Add some nerdy glasses and pink/purple shirts and tada!! You're officially a nerd.

I got the pink shirt for me at Burlington for $7 and the purple tshirt for Matt at Target for $4 (it was on sale...yay).

I got the glasses here for $3.98 (including shipping):

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002BPUKUM/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00

Matt is already a nerd and just wore his Raybans that he wears everyday. I didn't have to get him any.

In addition to our costume, I made our dog Elphie a costume. I couldn't leave her out!! Last year she was mustard (although I didn't make that one). At our first Halloween event last year we went as a hotdog, ketchup, and mustard. Here's a pic of our happy family:

Believe it or not, I got that hot dog costume for FREE at a garage sale. We got there when they were closing up and they just gave it away. Best find ever! The red tshirt was the best I could do with Matt...and by "best I could do" I mean that's all he'd wear. Oh well...me and Elph looked good.

Anyways...this year she was an Ewok!! I made this costume out of materials I got at Hobby Lobby.

Here's a real Ewok:

Shih-Tzu's are known to look like Ewoks and Matt loves Star Wars. I thought it was too funny not to make!

Here are some pics of her at her first fitting. Hahaha. I let her hair grow out from then until Halloween so she'd look more Ewok-like (I definitely made this in the summer).

Who could resist that face? Hahaha...love that dog.

And here are some pics from Halloween when her hair grew out!

Of course, in addition to our costumes, I had to make a delicious goodie!!

About a year ago I had a Muddy's (yummm) cupcake that I just fell in love with. It's called "Hot Chocolate". It's a chocolate cake with 7 Minute Frosting and a little piece of Hershey's chocolate. They only have it during the holidays, though...so sad. Anyways, it was love at first bite. I had never had 7 Minute Frosting before and my taste buds jumped out of my mouth and went and had a party. Their time had finally come. I knew I had to make it!! It only took me a year to get around to it.

When looking for delicious Halloween goodie ideas, I found a picture of a cute ghost cake, also on Pinterest. I needed a light, fluffy icing that held its shape (and I wasn't sure that my buttercream would do the trick). I then remembered my love for 7 Minute Frosting, found a recipe on Pinterest (as usual) and decided that this was my perfect chance!

Here's the link to the recipe:

http://www.marthastewart.com/275274/classic-frosting-recipes#/284551

THIS STUFF IS SO STICKY AND MESSY!!! Let that be my warning to you. Twas, however, TOTALLY worth it. I've never had to cook my icing before, but there's a first time for everything! I put the icing in an icing bag with a 12 tip to make the ghosts and used nonpareils for the eyes.

It tasted perfect with my chocolate cake!! Here's a pic!