Making Use Of My Halloween Pumpkin

I made sure to buy an organic pumpkin this year and carved it with my lovable faux Frost knife....
I don't like being wasteful and could have done better with utilizing my jack-o-lanterns' sacrificed pieces parts...
so here is what I did do, and wish I had done ::::

1. Save the seeds to plant next summer (win)
2. Save seeds to roast & eat (fail)
3. scoop out innards and cook it down to eat (fail)
4. light a candle in it and feel total artistic pumpkin carving bliss (win!)
5. feed the carved pumpkin to my chickens when it's face starts to cave in (future win)

Ya'll have any more ideas??!
xoxox

EcoWeen: DIY Native American Costume

It's Halloween weekend! YAY! Being that I was raised in the Mardi Gras culture down in New Orleans, I get really into costume making, probably more then any other kind of sewing project. Back home Halloween is almost like a mini Mardi Gras and the costumes are always elaborate, lovable, amazing, hysterical and just plain wrong. It's a bar raised too high & it's hard to live up to... but I try.
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This year I decided to make a Native American costume (I am part native american) with a lil' Clan Of the Cave Bear flare (cause I just finished reading the whole entire book series!), but mainly I chose this genre because I have been collecting feathers from my chickens, rooster, the wild turkeys, and a few brightly colored ones given to by my awesome friend Heather....

THE HEAD PIECE ::::
I started making the head-dress first because that was going to be where most the feathers would go and I was excited to use them! I did not use any kind of glue, tape or toxic products to get my feathers to stay in place. I decided to sew them directly (and carefully) to strips of black organic cotton fabric (locally made here in north carolina!)

I attached a small jaw bone to the center front, and hung more feathers and beads from strings that reach all the way past my shoulders. (Gives it major dramatic style!) The construction is really simple, and just ties in the back of the head.

THE DRESS ::::

The first thing I did to make the body or dress part of the costume was to trace a shirt I already owned and fit me well onto some paper, in order to make a pattern. I drew (freestyle) the bottom half of the dress and then cut out the full pattern...

This is the pattern without the sleeves ( you can make it with or without sleeves.) I planned on adding in sleeves because I knew the weather here in the mountains would be cold for Halloween.

I pinned the pattern onto the velveteen bamboo fabric and cut out the back side of the costume...

This is the tedious part:::: I then CUT the pattern into three panels to make the design for the FRONT of the dress.

Each panel will be sewn back together, but I cut them separately in order to tighten up the bodice in the front.

These are all the pieces that need to be sewn together (pic below). I used more black organic cotton fabric as the strips along the front bamboo fabric bodice.

TIME TO SEW::::

I put all the pieces together and then cut out some black organic cotton arm bands to tie onto the sleeves. They are removable and I made it fringed by cutting strips into the fabric and pulling each fringe piece tight.

I also cut fringe strips into the bamboo dress at the bottom of the long sleeves, and at the bottom hemline of the dress!

DECORATION::::

You can never have enough. Period.

Once I got started with the feathers, beads and (real) bones it was hard to stop.

In fact, my cabin looked totally trashed by the time I was done with making this costume!!!!

THE END RESULT IS Fuckin' FIERCE!! ::::::::::::::

Drama, Character. It's what halloween is all about.

HAPPY HALLLLOOOWWEEEEENNnnnnnn!

Xoxoxox

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Fabrics by:::

The Bamboo Fabric Store, see here.

Near Sea Naturals, see here.

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Sustainable Halloween: Carving My Organic Pumpkin

Yay! I love Halloween, you know except for the fact that it's turned into a multi million dollar consumer spree... but the basic elements of the spooky holiday are based on imagination & putting those strange ideas into solid form. I grew some small pie pumpkins this year in my organic garden and decided to carve one up yesterday! I always aspire to do some tedious carving of a horse in the desert or Pegasus flying over the moon, but it always turns into a giant clownish pumpkin face!
(Note: Please excuse my dirty morning hair, after seeing this pic I took a shower.)
First thing I did with my pumpkin was cut open a hole (too small) on the top of it's head and pull out all the pumpkin seeds - I saved the seeds on a clean plate because I am going to roast those seeds today to eat. I am not the most OCD carver, in fact i leave all kinds of horrid strings of goop floating around like an impatient child. :) Especially when I cut the top hole so small I can't fit my tiny hand in there anyway.
Isn't she cute!? This pumpkin smelled REALLY good on the inside, very sugary sweet and yummy - I can't wait to roast the seeds!
AND NoW ShE is SCarY, MMMaaaahhhwwwwwwaaaaa. I think.
Here's some quick tips on 'greening' your Halloween:

• Create your costume with things you have, borrow or thrift - don't buy new!
• Hand out healthy candy/snacks to children rather then something that makes them sick.
• Get your pumpkins from local or organic growers, and don't forget to eat the seeds.

XoXo

DIY: How I Made My Halloween Costume

All the materials for my Halloween Costume were organic, locally sourced, thrifted and things I already had on hand.
Whether you are making a Halloween costume or a holiday dress, the possibilities are endless & pretty easy... try copying a "pattern" to trace by using something that fits you well that you have in your closet. Make sure to allow a quarter inch extra around all sides for making your seam, and that the fabric's stretch is similar.
I started with a very simple pattern, then added leg warmers & arm warmers by sewing simple tubes.
The bow was from scrap organic fabric, that is also locally woven here in Asheville NC. I only sewed it in two places- one line along each side seam to hold it in place. I added some long sleeves since the weather on Halloween was supposed to be pretty chilly :)
For the paw claw gloves I simply traced a very wide line around all my fingers stretched apart - then made the tips pointy and sewed inside the lines. I LOVE my paw claws!
The finished product below included a wolf hat purchased as a gift for me from a local toy store a while ago, all organic outfit, organic leggings from a local shop, fair wage thigh high socks, fair trade & local lace-y bra, and thrifted 80's pumps!
I was dressed up as HUNGRY LIKE A WOLF, by Duran Duran!
Hope you all had a happy, fun and transformative halloween...

What did you dress up as? Did you upcycle, recycle or reuse?

Voting Early On Halloween!

For Halloween I decided to take part in changing the future - and avoid long lines on election day. If you have an early voting station in your town, get over there right away and take advantage of the easiest voting of your life! Polls are predicted to be pretty crowded this year and Early Voting is a way to offset the crazy crowds that will show up to change the future with you... :)
PS- My costume is called "Hungry Like A Wolf" like the Duran Duran song and was made with 100% locally woven organic cotton, thrift shoes and a wolf hat I already had. Tomorrow I will post about how I made it!

DIY: Halloween Hair With Eggs

Halloween is coming fast and I for one still have no costume. One of the cheap quick and easy ways to transform yourself into your Halloween alter ego is by doing something wild with your hair- but if like me you don't want to dowse your head down with toxic hair spray & gels, there is an eco alternative in your kitchen (unless you are vegan, then it's in your mama's kitchen.) Eggs. And if you need to make Liberty Spikes, you might want to throw in some honey.

Here is hair-do #1, the 80's rocker poof with bangs... just like in 8th grade I can never get my bangs to spike very high, sigh.

#2 is the general sculpting hair-do, where you can do model hair, hair of the decade, or something cute like Beyonce! ;)

#3 -Planning on bride of Frankenstein or some 18th century action? With some bobby pins and a friend you can get that egg to spike it pretty high!

Hair-do #4 is the crimp, which the process is shown below. Didn't save that hair crimper from 1985? No Prob, just put your hair in a bunch of braids for at least all day or overnight...

and if you get bored you can do things like this with it...

The end result is way cheese munchin' 80's-fied awesomeness!!!

Now that is sooooooo 8th grade! Yay baby!

You can use just egg whites, and for heavier and stickier hair add in the egg yellow - for hard core sculpting add some honey too! And send me pics of your eco-do!

Low Impact Living: Green-O-Ween

Haven't made your Halloween costume yet? Scoot over to Low Impact Living to find out eco safe ways to celebrate Halloween, that won't harm the earth or your bank account! Make sure to check the comments section where many readers give their own Halloween tips too &

'Make Halloween Less Scary' for the planet!