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This weekend I had some much needed down time. Last week was insane at work and I couldn’t seem to get a moment to work on anything blog related much less see my kiddos. In the midst of the errand running and general hanging out with the family that I did, I also got to spend a couple of hours prepping for Halloween. Our comic book themed Halloween party is starting to come together! (Now that my Felicity Smoak costume is complete I’m moving on to party decorations.)

My week/weekend in snapshots:

I had to add in this photo because it is just too fun. Our work had our yearly conference this year in which I take a big part in putting together. We always go ALL OUT with our theme and this year’s theme was Rock and Roll. I pretty much want purple hair and a tattoo sleeve now.

Punk Rock and Roll Costume - A Well Crafted Party

 

The party prep has involved cutting up a lot of old comic books I found while thrifting. We used the comic books to decorate tags, cups, juices, and more.

Comic Book Party Prep - A Well Crafted Party

 

The biggest project I tackled this weekend was creating LARGE paintings of comic characters. I utilized a projector to help guide the paintings. I first drew the outline and then painted in the large sections of color and then finished the details. My son even got in on the painting!

 

Comic Book Party Prep - A Well Crafted Party

Comic Book Party Prep - A Well Crafted Party

Comic Book Party Prep - A Well Crafted Party

Comic Book Party Prep - A Well Crafted Party

 

I got a lot done this weekend, but I still have lots more to do to be ready for this next weekend.

 

Are you ready for Halloween? If so, what are you planning on doing for the holiday?

 

 

This Halloween DIY post is sponsored by Deseret Industries. Portland’s Deseret Industries Thrift Store and Donation Center is located on SE 82nd Street six days-a-week. I created my Felicity Smoak costume out of materials from my closet, the craft store, and items thrifted from Deseret Industries. All opinions are my own. To learn more about my posting policies regarding sponsored posts please visit my policies page. As always, thank you for reading more about the companies that help support this blog. 

Can you believe that Halloween is just around the corner? I feel like the month has flown by and suddenly the holidays are here! Over the past eight years my husband and I have hosted a Halloween party. Some years the parties are more elaborate than others, but it is always one of my favorite parties to plan each and every year. This year’s theme is Comic Books and I’m having a blast coming up with decoration and costume ideas for the party. I’ll be sharing several projects between now and Halloween. So, check back for all the comic book party ideas which will work for Halloween parties or really any comic book themed event year-round.

I knew I wanted to be Felicity Smoak for this year’s comic book Halloween party. I basically live in a pony tail and glasses and am always glued to my screen so I pretty much fit the bill. My husband is going to go as the Green Arrow. My oldest son is going as The Flash. My youngest as Roy Harper/Arsenal/Red Arrow. Our little cast of comic book characters required a hodge podge of different items to create our looks. The Flash costume (affiliate link) was affordable and easy to find via Amazon but, the rest of the costumes I created using a combination of purchases from Amazon, the craft store, my closet, and our local Deseret Industries thrift store.

Halloween Prep - Cell shading my comic book themed costume

My visit to Deseret Industries Thrift Store in Portland was fruitful! I have been surprised in the past at how expensive thrifting in Portland is (being trendy and all) but at Deseret Industries I was happy to see the pricing be more in line with what thrift stores in my past have been like. I was able to get several comic books, comic-book themed masks, and clothing items to use for costumes all for less than $50. In my haul I grabbed a couple of business attire type items to see which would work the best for the Felicity Smoak costume.

I love thrifting for costume elements. However, if I hadn’t gone in looking to MAKE my costumes I would have been fine to find a pretty wide selection of Halloween gear. There were several racks of Halloween costumes and accessories in the store.

DIY Felicity Smoak Costume

 

Attire: I ended up working with the blue shirt (looks purple above due to poor lighting as I worked on my costume at midnight!) and black pencil skirt to create the look. I then used a black paint marker to cel shade the shirt so it looked more like a drawing.

Tips for Cel Shading a shirt: In order to cel shade the shirt I first ironed out all the wrinkles. I then went through and outlined all of the seams in the shirt. This gives a good general outline that you would see in any comic. The hard part, of course, is creating the shadows that you would see when someone wears the shirt. I looked pretty hilarious as I was wearing the shirt and shading in the natural creases as I was wearing it! Once it was all said and done however I was pleased with the results!

 

DIY Felicity Smoak Costume

 

Accessories: I paired it with a handmade name badge utilizing a comic book picture of Felicity Smoak and an old lanyard and badge holder I had from a previous work conference. I finished off my look with a blonde wig put in a pony tail and a tablet.

 

DIY Felicity Smoak Costume - A Well Crafted Party

 

Makeup: I wear business attire most days and didn’t want to just wear my hair in a pony tail and have on pink lipstick. It wouldn’t really get across the idea that I was the Felicity Smoak comic book character. So, I continued my fun with cel shading and did comic book inspired makeup. I shaded in my eyebrows and the edges of my face. I also created the comic book dot look with white paint. (Check out this tutorial for tips on creating this Felicity Smoak make-up look!)

 

DIY Felicity Smoak Costume

 

The kiddo and I had so much fun taking photos dressed up for Halloween. I can’t wait to break out the costume again for our Halloween party and see it all combined with other members of our little comic book crew!

 

DIY Felicity Smoak Costume - A Well Crafted Party DIY Felicity Smoak Costume - A Well Crafted Party DIY Felicity Smoak Costume - A Well Crafted Party

 

What are you wearing for Halloween this year? There is still time to pick up last minute items!

 

About Desert Industries: Deseret Industries is a national non-profit thrift store that provides employment, sponsors refugees and offers vocational and professional training for its associates. The stores collect inventory from individual local donations, enabling associates to process and recycle that inventory to fit others’ needs — a circular strategy of service and learning that benefits the entire community. For more information, visit www.deseretindustries.org

 

Check out other Halloween Posts from A Well Crafted Party here!

This past week I got to celebrate Mother’s Day with a cheeky Mother’s Day picnic. The really cool thing about being a blogger, especially a blogger that loves celebrations, is that I get the opportunity to celebrate many holidays multiple times. Posting about my Mother’s Day celebrations after the fact will not allow for any one to use any of the fun ideas. The really interesting thing about being a mother is, well, things don’t always go to plan.

 

I received complimentary paper goods from Cheeky to use in my blog featured events. Additional product was purchased by me because I love it. Designs were inspired by the Cheeky Home product line. 

 

Cheeky Mother's Day Picnic - A Well Crafted Party

 

We planned a nice picnic outdoors with wine, cheese, bread, assorted snacks and, of course, chocolate after the kids went to bed and before the sun went down. Everything was ready to go, the blanket sat by the door along with my basket of goodies and my camera. (I’m a blogger after all.) Big kiddo went to bed with no problems. Baby on the other hand hit his witching hour with gusto and did. not. stop. crying.

Once we realized that we lost the light we nearly decided to stop and wait for another day but—after an hour (off and on) of trying to calm a fussy baby— the wine and chocolate was calling our names. In-door picnic it was! Baby hung out with us as we enjoy a little snack and a relaxing glass of wine. There was at least fifteen minutes of pure bliss. And, thanks to Cheeky sending me cute paper goods, I didn’t have to wash a single dish afterwards!

I created some free printable designs to help make the Mother’s Day picnic just a little more special and a lot more “cheeky.” Tongue-in-cheek says and fun little quips cover these free printables that coordinate with the Cheeky paper goods.

 

Cheeky Mother's Day Picnic - A Well Crafted Party

Cheeky Mother's Day Picnic - A Well Crafted Party

 

Ingredients of a cheeky Mother’s Day picnic:

These ingredients can be mixed and matched to make the perfect picnic for the mom you are celebrating in your life. This picnic was definitely perfect for me!

  • Cheeky paper plates, napkins, plasticware and cups. The cups were from the recent DesignLoveFest collaboration while the rest was from their party ware. I found the cups in the section of Target with the paper towels and boring paper plates.
  • Oh Snap! pickles – First time having these and they were AMAZING.
  • Harvest Snaps Snapea Crisps
  • Tillamook cheese slices individually wrapped
  • French Bread
  • Sparkling Water
  • Canned Pinot Noir wine (Union Wine Company – an Oregon wine!)
  • Moonstruck Dark Chocolate with Almonds and Sea Salt (Moonstruck is my favorite chocolate.)
  • Cutting board and knife
  • cheeky Mother’s Day free printables
  • Basket

Nearly all of the items I got were from Target… not because Target sponsored me in any way, but because I shop their weekly.

 

Cheeky Mother's Day Picnic Printables- A Well Crafted Party Cheeky Mother's Day Picnic Printables- A Well Crafted Party

 

Included in the Cheeky Mother’s Day printables:

 

  • Circle Tags— to affix to gift (Happy Mother’s Day), wine (Wine is better than Whine), Pickle Package (Mom, You’re the Real Dill), Snap Pea Snacks (Ah snap mom, you’re the best!), paper plates (Mom, I’ve got the dishes today), cups (Drinks on me, ma!), and cheese (Call me cheesy, but I love you!).
  • Bread label — Long label to be cut, wrapped around bread and affixed with tape.
  • Chocolate Wrapper — Wrapper to be cut out and wrapped around a chocolate bar then affixed by tape.
  • Wine or Sparkling Water Tags— Tags to be cut out, folded and hung on a bottle of wine or sparkling water

A Well Crafted Party free printables are for personal use only.

Click here for your free Mother’s Day Picnic Printables

And, just in case you were wondering… this is what we looked like at our Mother’s Day picnic. Just a tad tired, hanging with a needy baby and enjoying some wine. It was one of those funny and happy moments in parenthood.

When baby interrupts your Mother's Day Picnic

 

More about Cheeky: Cheeky is a paper goods brand that is committed to fun designs for every day products such as paper plates, plasticware, cups, napkins and travel coffee cups. The coolest thing about Cheeky? And, no, I’m not talking about the awesome partnership with Design Love Fest. The coolest thing about Cheeky is that with each purchase the company donates a meal with the Feeding America Network. Learn more about Cheeky on their website: www.cheekyhome.com and shop for Cheeky at your local Target.

I received complimentary paper goods from Cheeky Home to use in my blog featured events. I also purchased a few Cheeky products that I had been eyeing at Target along with some tasty snacks. The Cheeky products inspired my free printable set of Mother’s Day printables. All opinions, photos and designs are my own. To learn more about my policies visit my policy page. Thanks for reading A Well Crafted Party and supporting the companies that support this blog! 

 

Have you ever planned a celebration to have to change things up at the last minute? Tell me about it below!