Our most studious stalkers already know this - or anyone who happens to be Facebook friends with one of our guests - but the big Labyrinth Christmas party all went down Saturday night. And it was GLORIOUS. You'll have to be patient with me, though, because as much work as the party was - and WOW was it a lot of work - it's another long haul to document it all to show you guys! So while I gather and edit and fuss with getting all the glamour shots just right, here comes the second half of our build photos. This way you'll know how we did everything you're about to see in the Big Reveal posts later! Starting with the surprise crowd favorite of the night, our Bog of Eternal Stench Bathroom. That's more carved pink foam to make the door plaque. John used the Dremel with a pumpkin carving bit to carve the words, but a soldering iron can also work! (Just watch out for the fumes, they're toxic.) The foam is so light we were able to stick it to the door with poster tack. John went Hog(gle) wild with the Bog, so our guests got to experience a full canopy of mossy branches overhead, stones underfoot, and a sound track of non-stop farting and Ludo complaining about the smell. Even the most stoic personality was reduced to helpless giggles after just 10 seconds in there. I realize this looks terrifying, but that's only because it is. (Here's the shower curtain we used. It's the perfect boggy backdrop - there's even a rope bridge!) John built a contraption in the bathtub - essentially a giant T bar of plywood - that holds all the dead branches overhead. Our tree in the backyard is an endless supply of dead branches, so this was a cheap project. BEHOLD OUR PROFESSIONAL SETUP. Ha! The painter's pole in the corner is holding up a green flickering spotlight, which looks suuuuper cool through the canopy. John collected the Spanish moss himself from a nearby parking lot, grabbing whole bags of it to disinfect and dry in the front yard. (Gotta keep those neighbors guessing!) He also bought this rocky contact paper to cover the entire floor: I was HIGHLY skeptical of this flooring - I wanted to cut dollar store doormats into stepping stones - but in the end, it totally worked. I just hope it peels off our ceramic tile OK. o.0 We have lots more fun details in this room, but you'll see the rest in the final reveal! ****** At last year's party I was disappointed we didn't have a proper photo opp anywhere, so this year we overcompensated and ended up with a total of four. Ha! Whoops? The first photo opp is right beside the front door, so I was able to catch people as they came in to get their photos. This one is inspired by the bubble ballroom: We used dollar store plastic tablecloths to make the backdrop, then decorated the tree with strips of iridescent fabric & bubbles inspired by Sarah's gown. We brought out our pool noodle column from the bedroom, since that kind of works for the ballroom feel. Thought you guys might find this interesting: I took this snapshot to draw in the shapes for our branches - the orange lines are for the candles. John used this as a guide to make these: Those are heavy gauge wire bent into shape and covered with tin foil. They're hanging from Command Hooks on the ceiling, which held fine since they're so light. Next John covered the tin foil in large strips of paper mache. Since he used an off-white butcher paper for the paper mache, he didn't even have to paint them; just left the branches a creamy white. This is still a WIP shot, but close to the finish line. We used these battery-operated taper candles, and held them in place with more pink insulation foam cut into disks and hot-glued to the branches. Then we covered the discs with shreddy tulle and fabric, swagged some beads and ribbons around (which took FOREVER, because I am terrible at making things look random), and done! We brought in extra lighting for this area to make sure people could get some decent photos, and then fully encouraged cheesy prom picture poses. :D Here's the tree topper in progress: That's made from poster board, cut with our Cricut. We cut two, glued them together for extra strength, and then glued it to a leafy sprig so it would float over the tree. Our Labyrinth illusion wall is the next big photo opp, of course, and then Junk Lady in the Goblin Room. In case you missed those, the wall post is here, and here's my first Party update. The fourth photo opp was a SUPER last minute build that John started just 3 days before the party. John was still making new things at 2AM the day OF the party, so this was accurate. I was impressed several folks were able to guess what he was building just from that photo! Pretty sure you can all guess it from these, though: You can see this thing is built VERY sturdy, plus John opened the arms up a bit so up to two people can sit in it for photos. After sanding down the pink foam on the arms to form the spiral (told you we used that stuff for everything!) John painted and aged the top rail: Everything else will be hidden by fabric, which is attached at the top of each of the black posts. Since this was extra last minute and we hate spending money, we decided we would only use whatever fabric we could find at our local thrift store. We couldn't find anything the exact right color (the movie fabric is a brownish purple with gold stamps), but these curtains were the perfect Christmassy alternative: Ta-daaa! We even found a matching fur throw for the seat! Both the throw and the drapes cost about $15, and there was just enough to cover the front and part of the sides. Then we used a few scraps of furniture foam underneath to pad the seat. Suki finally found a seat worthy of her. Here's a reminder of what the real throne looks like: John went through a few trials and errors to get the twisted metal rings right. He glued together two pieces of EVA foam, cut them into strips, twisted them like this: ... then had me apply a heavy coat of Mod Podge to seal/smooth the rough edges. After that he spray-painted them gold: Once they were dry he twisted them around the chair rail and stapled them into place. Not bad for a three day build! One of my favorite moments at the party was leading Jareth to his throne and watching him get settled. You guys. OMIGOSH. We got so many pictures, I can't wait to show you. And if you're wondering where we FIT that massive throne: This was still in process, so it's not fully lit or set up, but we arranged the entire deck around it! Even better? Jareth (aka our friend Dana) wants the throne to keep! So it's going to live at his house, and later we can swap the fabric for something more screen-accurate. Somehow in this final burst of productivity we even found time to finish the knocker: We sprayed him a shiny rose gold for a base, then I aged him down with black & brown craft paint: And finally I added a copper teal patina with watered down paint. We hung him on the front door to greet our guests. I've purposefully not shown much for our puzzle room this year: Anything I showed at all would be spoilers for the guests, so I avoided taking pictures as we made things. The room wasn't as elaborate as last year's Harry Potter escape room - a casualty of our late start - but it was still fun to put together, and to gather up all the 80s toys to use and decorate with. Guests had to correctly ID 12 different 1980s toys to get started, and now that it's over I can tell you no one remembers Hugga Bunch dolls except me. (I only remember because the Hugga Bunch movie is seared into my brain. It's on Youtube, too, so I know what I'm watching with my next free hour.) We made two games in addition to the puzzle room. Let's see if you can guess this first one: That's a 2 dollar thrifted doll, and the white stuffed body worked to my advantage! So what sort of game would include baby Toby? TOBY TOSS! I painted the target on more pink foam, then glued lights and jingle bells around the outside edge. John suspended it from a branch 20 feet up in our extremely tall tree. To play, guests had to hold Toby with both hands, chuck him straight up, hit the target, AND catch Toby again on the way down. And of course we played Dance Magic Dance during the game. Stay tuned for hilarious video of that. The second game is vastly more inappropriate (you have been warned!) and involves a life-sized cut-out of Jareth: It's called Jareth's Ball Game, and Eva is just as shocked - SHOCKED I SAY - as you are. Yes, I'll have video of that, too, because it's hysterical. (We are VERY lucky to have a friend with access to a large format printer, because otherwise this would have cost a fortune to print!) And finally, let's talk costumes. He really did wear it all day. John as Sir Didymus is everything you never knew you wanted in your life, so I look forward to showing you the full "lewk." (We had several colorful discussions on what he should wear below the waist, but ultimately he vetoed the furry bloomers.) As for me, I took forever to come up with an idea, so it was a mild scramble at the end: Most folks assumed I was going as Sarah from that shirt, but nope! I actually decided on a mashup of Jareth's final look with his owl form. This is my cape in progress, and it's literally held together with staples and hot glue. I used craft foam to alter the paper masquerade mask, added a few feathers, and painted it with cheap craft paint. It was then that I discovered the mask looks absolutely terrifying on my face, so instead of wearing it I clipped it up on my head like a fascinator. The feather collar/capelet I'm wearing is a little pricey ($22 on Amazon) but it's my favorite new accessory. SO PRETTY. I added flexible wire inside the inner hem line so it holds its shape, and stays put without the ribbon tie. Easily the best part of my costume, but you'll have to wait to see the rest! Phew! THAT'S A LOT. I'm exhausted just typing it all out, can't believe John and I (well, mostly John) did it all in about 3 weeks. I'm running on fumes and sheer fangirling excitement over here, because I know you guys are going to FREAK over my next post: our guests' costumes! Even with over 30 guests, I think we only had two duplicate characters in the mix! Our friends knocked it out of the park, gang, and I was screaming every time the door opened. So much creativity, and every level from pro cosplayer down to simple closet 'bounds, but all BRILLIANTLY done. I cannot wait to show you. And then, of course, I'll show you all the finished sets and decorations! I hope you're enjoying this journey with me, and that our ridiculousness is giving you some smiles during a hectic month. I'm looking forward to finishing all my photo and video edits and collapsing for a few days - thought to be honest, I'm still buzzing with so much inspiration, I already want to start making Cool Stuff again. Stay tuned! ***** If you're gift shopping online this month, be sure to bookmark the Epbot Amazon store front! I have a bunch of themed lists there of my favorite things, which might help inspire you for those hard-to-buy for types. Anything you buy through the Epbot storefront gives a little back to me and John, whether it's on my lists or not, so thanks for helping support Epbot while you shop!
After the success of my 2017 Labyrinth viewing party, I decided that I wanted to make it a yearly occurrence. As a result, I started on my seemingly never-ending quest to make the ultimate Labyrint…
~~*Please note, this is an unframed print*~~ ---------------------------------------------------------------- This gorgeous premium A4 print is inspired by the beautiful and legendary movie Labyrinth, starring Jennifer Connelly and David Bowie. The grumpy, comical door knockers are just one of the many obstacles that Sarah faces in her search for the centre of the Labyrinth... and like most things in the Labyrinth, they have strong personalities of their own! Labyrinth is one of those special movies that has transcended the era in which is was made and captivated successive generations with its world and magical escapism. The messages within are powerful, even today, and the sense of empowerment shines through. Capture a piece of the Labyrinth with this gorgeous print. It would look ideal mounted in a frame on your wall or desk as a reminder that you don't have to beat the Labyrinth to succeed, you just never have to give up, least of all on yourself. *Please note* This listing is for the print only - the frames and ornaments are not included. Postage includes a stiff card-backed envelope to keep your print safe.
For those who aren't sick of hearing about it yet, good news! I finally have all our photos and videos together to show you EVERYTHING John and I made for our big Labyrinth Christmas party earlier this month. And for those who ARE sick of hearing about it: good news! This should be my final Labyrinth party post. So come on in! And here's our big video tour: One thing NOT included there is the food, and I think you'll appreciate our oh-so-punny menu: (We originally planned to serve "Jareth's (Meat)Balls in Junk Lady's Chunky Gravy," but our friends Thom & Jess brought Ludo's Tasty Rock Friends instead, which were indeed tasty, and also more family-friendly, ha.) Our bog punch was delicious, if I do say so myself: We made it with ginger ale, frozen OJ concentrate, a little Blue Curacao, and floating lime sherbet. Then for an extra brackish color we added a drop of red food coloring. Here comes my favorite punny creation: Those are dates stuffed with goat cheese and almonds, and let me tell you, gang, they were DELISH. Considering we made them purely for the pun, I was delighted by how quickly they disappeared. And finally, the star of the table: These stunning peach cookies tasted as good as they looked! Our friends Kevin and Katie made them using this tutorial, then hollowed out each half slightly so they could fit more peach jam. Now let me throw some pretty detail shots at you from around the house. Starting with the Bubble Ballroom Photo Opp: This area was especially dreamy in low light. Here's a reminder of how it looked while we took photos: If you missed it, be sure to check out my post on all our guests' costumes here. Most of the front room wasn't very Labyrinth-y, but I want to show off my Christmas decorations anyway: Now let's head through the wall into the Goblin Room, which is very VERY Labyrinth-y: We had real pots hanging inside the fireplace, so the fire illusion was pretty convincing! The throne room clock with its dagger hands is overhead, and there's a crystal ball inside the garland. There are more of Jareth's crystal bubbles in each of the two window wreaths. Here's a daylight shot so you can see them better: Those are just glass Christmas balls with the tops removed, hot-glued together to form a pyramid. The goblins' Christmas tree has eyeballs like the Labyrinth's eye lichen. It's decorated with a cannonball goblin topper, swords, daggers, helmets, and lots of Jareth's necklace pendants: The weaponry and armor are all kids' sized Halloween accessories from Walmart and the dollar store: The tree is sitting in a giant cauldron - the same one we usually use for our Harry Potter party: On the other side of the room is our goblin suit of armor: And of course in the back of the room is my beloved Junk Lady, Agnes: I completely understand that she's nightmare fuel, but I love this grumpy gal more than I can say. Thanks to her John and I met Karen Prell and Brian Henson, and before that we won Best in Show at MegaCon, which has to be one of the top ten moments of my entire life for sheer joy. She represents all good things to me: love and laughter and hard work and falling on John's neck crying happy tears. So yep, I love my dear Agnes, and it made me so happy to have her out of the garage and whole again for this party. Right, moving on, here's a tiny detail I think maybe one person noticed: "It's so stimulating being your head." This back table has a color-changing potion, a Skyrim goblin(?) dragon, and a mosaic lantern: The hashtag lives! Now let's head through the french doors onto the deck: I took some shots at dusk so you could see it better. Because we had about 35 party-goers (and a 1400 square foot house!), it was essential that a lot of folks were out here at all times. The deck could comfortably seat about 20 people, so it worked out really well. I love this shot. Beauty pics of Jareth's throne: (The throne now lives at Jareth's house, btw! I'm so glad; it would have been awful to tear it apart.) Here's the setup at night: It never got cold enough for a fire, sadly, but the twinkle lights were lovely. These next two are not my photos; I stole them from some of our guests: I'm actually still editing a lot of our guests' photos, since we took so many! Eventually I'll post them all in my Flickr gallery, so watch that space. I haven't shown the Toby Toss target waaaaaaay overhead in the purple tree's canopy yet, which was all lit with green flicker lights: "Toby Toss" was a hilarious hit, pun intended. We required everyone to actually catch the baby on the way down, so there was minimal fall-out damage - and Toby only landed on the roof 2 or 3 times. :D Our other party game inside was just as hilarious, but more NSFW: Yes, you had to throw the blue balls into Jareth's... pouch. Which was stretchy. (HI MOM & DAD! See what you missed?) Ahem. Speaking of general hilarity, let's head into our Bog of Eternal Stench for a few detail shots: Ludo's Rock Friend is made of stacked pink insulation foam: On the walls we have Sir Didymus' favorite sayings: As well as a portrait of Didymus himself with his noble steed, Ambrosius: (That's an original James Hance I've had for years, y'all. Of course it has a place of honor!) Over the toilet I made this official certificate: "Prince of the Land of Stench, as decreed by Jareth, King of the goblins, in punishment of an unwarranted act of friendship" Over on the cabinet we have a boggy Christmas tree, a giant toad, and a leafy bog monster: This is a handmade plush from The Monster Cafe - I think it's called a Tiggy Willow? Seems appropriately swampy, right? And she's sitting on another pink insulation rock. And last but not least, can't forget our monstrous Christmas tree! His face cracks me up every time. Believe it or not, there's still a little more, gang. o.0 While not as elaborate as last year's Harry Potter Escape Room, we did put together a Sarah's (Escape) Room challenge. Here's a look at the playing area: It was fun filling out the shelves with all our 80s-era plushes and toys! We only had to buy a few things at the thrift store; most of this we already owned. (I joked with John that it was a little too easy to turn his game room into a 14-year-old girl's bedroom. :D) The other side of the room: It's not Labyrinth themed, I just thought you'd like to see. :p Here's the Firey plush we made using Kristi's free template: And of course we had the Hogwarts mascots tucked around the room as an Easter egg from last year's party. Rather than walk you through it with photos we put together another quick video, have a look: Like I said, it's not super elaborate, but given how quickly we had to put it together I'm pretty pleased. Next year I hope to start a lot sooner, so we can do more! And that, my friends, is finally a wrap on our Labyrinth Christmas party. Thanks for being patient and coming along for the ride! I hope it gave you as many smiles and giggles as it did for us. Now, do me a favor, and always remember: You remind me of the babe. ***** This is far too appropriate of a time to link one of my favorite tees: Babe with the Power t-shirt
For those who aren't sick of hearing about it yet, good news! I finally have all our photos and videos together to show you EVERYTHING John and I made for our big Labyrinth Christmas party earlier this month. And for those who ARE sick of hearing about it: good news! This should be my final Labyrinth party post. So come on in! And here's our big video tour: One thing NOT included there is the food, and I think you'll appreciate our oh-so-punny menu: (We originally planned to serve "Jareth's (Meat)Balls in Junk Lady's Chunky Gravy," but our friends Thom & Jess brought Ludo's Tasty Rock Friends instead, which were indeed tasty, and also more family-friendly, ha.) Our bog punch was delicious, if I do say so myself: We made it with ginger ale, frozen OJ concentrate, a little Blue Curacao, and floating lime sherbet. Then for an extra brackish color we added a drop of red food coloring. Here comes my favorite punny creation: Those are dates stuffed with goat cheese and almonds, and let me tell you, gang, they were DELISH. Considering we made them purely for the pun, I was delighted by how quickly they disappeared. And finally, the star of the table: These stunning peach cookies tasted as good as they looked! Our friends Kevin and Katie made them using this tutorial, then hollowed out each half slightly so they could fit more peach jam. Now let me throw some pretty detail shots at you from around the house. Starting with the Bubble Ballroom Photo Opp: This area was especially dreamy in low light. Here's a reminder of how it looked while we took photos: If you missed it, be sure to check out my post on all our guests' costumes here. Most of the front room wasn't very Labyrinth-y, but I want to show off my Christmas decorations anyway: Now let's head through the wall into the Goblin Room, which is very VERY Labyrinth-y: We had real pots hanging inside the fireplace, so the fire illusion was pretty convincing! The throne room clock with its dagger hands is overhead, and there's a crystal ball inside the garland. There are more of Jareth's crystal bubbles in each of the two window wreaths. Here's a daylight shot so you can see them better: Those are just glass Christmas balls with the tops removed, hot-glued together to form a pyramid. The goblins' Christmas tree has eyeballs like the Labyrinth's eye lichen. It's decorated with a cannonball goblin topper, swords, daggers, helmets, and lots of Jareth's necklace pendants: The weaponry and armor are all kids' sized Halloween accessories from Walmart and the dollar store: The tree is sitting in a giant cauldron - the same one we usually use for our Harry Potter party: On the other side of the room is our goblin suit of armor: And of course in the back of the room is my beloved Junk Lady, Agnes: I completely understand that she's nightmare fuel, but I love this grumpy gal more than I can say. Thanks to her John and I met Karen Prell and Brian Henson, and before that we won Best in Show at MegaCon, which has to be one of the top ten moments of my entire life for sheer joy. She represents all good things to me: love and laughter and hard work and falling on John's neck crying happy tears. So yep, I love my dear Agnes, and it made me so happy to have her out of the garage and whole again for this party. Right, moving on, here's a tiny detail I think maybe one person noticed: "It's so stimulating being your head." This back table has a color-changing potion, a Skyrim goblin(?) dragon, and a mosaic lantern: The hashtag lives! Now let's head through the french doors onto the deck: I took some shots at dusk so you could see it better. Because we had about 35 party-goers (and a 1400 square foot house!), it was essential that a lot of folks were out here at all times. The deck could comfortably seat about 20 people, so it worked out really well. I love this shot. Beauty pics of Jareth's throne: (The throne now lives at Jareth's house, btw! I'm so glad; it would have been awful to tear it apart.) Here's the setup at night: It never got cold enough for a fire, sadly, but the twinkle lights were lovely. These next two are not my photos; I stole them from some of our guests: I'm actually still editing a lot of our guests' photos, since we took so many! Eventually I'll post them all in my Flickr gallery, so watch that space. I haven't shown the Toby Toss target waaaaaaay overhead in the purple tree's canopy yet, which was all lit with green flicker lights: "Toby Toss" was a hilarious hit, pun intended. We required everyone to actually catch the baby on the way down, so there was minimal fall-out damage - and Toby only landed on the roof 2 or 3 times. :D Our other party game inside was just as hilarious, but more NSFW: Yes, you had to throw the blue balls into Jareth's... pouch. Which was stretchy. (HI MOM & DAD! See what you missed?) Ahem. Speaking of general hilarity, let's head into our Bog of Eternal Stench for a few detail shots: Ludo's Rock Friend is made of stacked pink insulation foam: On the walls we have Sir Didymus' favorite sayings: As well as a portrait of Didymus himself with his noble steed, Ambrosius: (That's an original James Hance I've had for years, y'all. Of course it has a place of honor!) Over the toilet I made this official certificate: "Prince of the Land of Stench, as decreed by Jareth, King of the goblins, in punishment of an unwarranted act of friendship" Over on the cabinet we have a boggy Christmas tree, a giant toad, and a leafy bog monster: This is a handmade plush from The Monster Cafe - I think it's called a Tiggy Willow? Seems appropriately swampy, right? And she's sitting on another pink insulation rock. And last but not least, can't forget our monstrous Christmas tree! His face cracks me up every time. Believe it or not, there's still a little more, gang. o.0 While not as elaborate as last year's Harry Potter Escape Room, we did put together a Sarah's (Escape) Room challenge. Here's a look at the playing area: It was fun filling out the shelves with all our 80s-era plushes and toys! We only had to buy a few things at the thrift store; most of this we already owned. (I joked with John that it was a little too easy to turn his game room into a 14-year-old girl's bedroom. :D) The other side of the room: It's not Labyrinth themed, I just thought you'd like to see. :p Here's the Firey plush we made using Kristi's free template: And of course we had the Hogwarts mascots tucked around the room as an Easter egg from last year's party. Rather than walk you through it with photos we put together another quick video, have a look: Like I said, it's not super elaborate, but given how quickly we had to put it together I'm pretty pleased. Next year I hope to start a lot sooner, so we can do more! And that, my friends, is finally a wrap on our Labyrinth Christmas party. Thanks for being patient and coming along for the ride! I hope it gave you as many smiles and giggles as it did for us. Now, do me a favor, and always remember: You remind me of the babe. ***** This is far too appropriate of a time to link one of my favorite tees: Babe with the Power t-shirt
Last week little Clementine turned 3! She decided she wanted a 'Toby' party...she loves that Babe with the Power from Labyrint...
Free printable Reschool Maze Dino Labyrinth coloring page from Dinosaur Maze category to download in PDF or to print and color! Choose the color that speaks to your heart and let your creativity flow.
Fig. 343 - Designs of labyrinth-gardens in the seventeenth century in D. Loris' book 'Le Thresor Des Parterres De L'Univers' (Geneva, 1629). Loris worked as a court physician in Montbeliard (France). KERN, Hermann (1982). Labyrinthe: Erscheinungsformen und Deutungen; 5000 Jahre Gegenwart eines Urbilds. Prestel-Verlag. ISBN 3-7913-0614-6 --- Fig. 343 - Some designs of labyrinth-gardens in the seventeenth century as given in part three of Daniel Loris' book 'Le Thresor Des Parterres De L'Univers' (Geneva, 1629). Loris worked as a court physician in Montbeliard (France). Note that all plans have a unicursal character - without choices - which was typical for the classical and mediaeval mazes. Fourfold symmetry is predominant in most design, although some three/six divisions are present. Loris made a three division in his book consisting of the ‘Parterres Allemand’ (pp. 1 - 122), ‘Parterres Francois’ (pp. 123 - 176) and ‘Labyrinthes’ (pp. 177 - 200).
How to DIY your own Labyrinth Party. I Show you how to put your party together and where to get everything you need to make it look amazing!
A gorgeous whimsy wedding inspired photo shoot at Up the Creek Farms based on the movie, Labyrinth.
The Chartres labyrinth has many qualities. It allows several variations, among others through the reduction of the number of circuits. So I can derive a 5-circuit labyrinth from the 11-circuit orig…
Download the Black and white dental care maze for children. Preschool line dentist clinic activity or coloring page. Help the Tooth Fairy get to the tooth. Mouth hygiene labyrinth for kids 3757956 royalty-free Vector from Vecteezy for your project and explore over a million other vectors, icons and clipart graphics!
Maze Svg, Maze vector, Labyrinth Svg, board games svg,eps, png, party games svg, valentine svg, mystery games svg, svg cut files,simple maze,murder mystery, riddles This listing is for an INSTANT DOWNLOAD. You can easily create your own projects. Can be used with the silhouette cutting machines or other machines that accept SVG. You will receive: *** 1 SVG File *** 1 PNG File *** 1 EPS File *** 1 DXF File • Instant download • vector file *only black and white files HOW IT WORKS ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Once your order is complete, you will automatically be emailed a link to an Etsy download page where you can download your digital file(s). The email will be sent to your Etsy registered email box. If you need further help with your download, check the official Etsy download guide. https://www.etsy.com/help/article/3949?ref=help_search_result • If you do not receive your order, please contact me. • Files only for personal use and small commercial use. • DO NOT share or sell these files. If you have any questions, please send me a message. Thank you so much for visiting! Annie.
I generally hate sharing process photos before a cosplay is finished, since I'm semi-convinced it jinxes my ability to ever finish the thing, BUT... I think the time has come. So let me walk you through the life-consuming project John and I began about three weeks ago, on the very day we learned there was going to be a Labyrinth Ball during Dragon Con this year. (A moment of sadness, however: the Ball tickets went on sale a few hours ago, sold out in less than 2 minutes, and we didn't get one. S'ok, though; this has been way too fun to let that get us down.) As with all our previous cosplays, John and I wanted to do a character that's never - or very rarely - been done before. We also wanted a challenge we could both work on, which meant both structural elements for John and more creative, free-form elements for me. Plus it had to be something really over the top. I think you'll agree this lovely lady fits all those criteria: So. Let's begin. First, a quick PVC frame: With mandatory "head" jokes GALORE. (Just look at that grin.) John continued work on the junk pile while I took over for the head. It's a big a Styrofoam ball, so I covered it with masking tape before re-attaching it to John's ingenious neck pivot: She won't be a puppet, but she WILL move. Hopefully enough to seriously startle some unsuspecting con-goers. ;) Then I sketched in features: It's Balloony from Phineas & Ferb! Adding crumpled tissue paper and more tape to rough out the more prominent features: The eyes are a ping-pong ball, cut in half. A coat of paper maché for strength: Which we placed outside to dry and/or scare the neighbors: Now on to sculpting with paper clay, since weight is a concern: My only sculpting tools are from a $2 plastic cake decorating kit: a small spatula and a few pointy sticks. I think I'm ready to spring for something nicer now. I only covered the visible areas with clay: her face and a little of her neck. Next, paint! I base-coated her with a sickly pale flesh tone, then stippled on areas of pink and lime green. (All of my paints are the 89 cent acrylics from the craft store.) At this point she's looking pretty zombie-like, but we're not done yet! Next, aging: A watered-down wash of brown really brings those wrinkles to life. At this point I'd been literally nose-to-nose with this lady for maybe a week, and wasn't particularly phased by her nightmarish visage. Then I added the eyes. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIEEEE The eyes were done using the exact same method as my eyeball roses, minus the veining, so check out that tutorial if you're curious. I ordered an enormous curly blond wig from ebay, then spent an evening destroying it with a comb and flat iron: I used spray paint to add sections of browns and grays to further dirty it up. Frankly, I'm a little annoyed that it STILL doesn't look all that bad up top. As with everything cosplay-related, you have to go BIG and over-emphasize absolutely everything to really make an impression. You can tell Junk Lady loves her new 'do: "Are those... bangs?!" Testing her position on the new rolling frame: She and her junk pile are removable from the rolling base, giving John and I the option of either wearing her on our backs or shuffling along inside the PVC frame. A lot of this will depend on just how heavy the finished product ends up. I'd hoped we could use some latex zombie gloves for hands, but the Halloween ones we ordered were enormous and completely unusable. So, more sculpting for me: The hands have a base of coiled wire covered in newspaper, masking tape, and paper maché. The tubes are place-holders for her rope straps we'll be adding later. Veins and warts. Those veins were what finally made them look like hands to me, though of course I'm still not 100% pleased with them. (Discovering I friggin' LOVE sculpting, though. Who knew?) Another test fit: I'm completely ignoring all of John's work at the moment, I know, but you can see his progress on the junk pile here. I will say we are striving for complete screen-accuracy, and John is building nearly everything: every chair, every satchel, every giant drum and toy abacus, completely from scratch. And what we aren't making from scratch we're finding at thrift stores and aging up with paint and sand paper and whatnot. It's been an incredibly fun scavenger hunt, both in studying the film over and over to figure out what's IN the junk pile*, and then trying to find or make an exact copy here in the real world. That rug beater was an $8 find, and you'd think we'd just won the lotto with it. Ha! (We're also striving to keep the cost at "dirt cheap." So far, I think we're succeeding.) [*FUN FACT: there is a live rat in there - can you spot it? Ours, however, will be a stuffed toy.] I'll also say I've never seen John have this much fun with a project. EVER. Me: "John, that toy desk-organizer with a built-in abacus on the back of her pile is barely visible even with the TV brightness set to max. Do you REALLY need to build one from scratch? John: ".... " [already in the garage building one from scratch] Though we're striving for total screen accuracy, John and I will also be hiding some Easter Eggs from the movie into the junk pile - and I am SO EXCITED about this part. I've decided Junk Lady is 30 years older now, so of course she's picked up more things from around the Labyrinth, right? I won't spoil them for you yet, but suffice to say there will be plenty of mementos from other scenes for fans to play I Spy with when we're done. And finally, I recently discovered Brian Froud has a similar Junk Lady in his Goblins of the Labyrinth book named Agnes, but it's unclear if this is the same character. So hey, anyone out there friends with Mr. Froud? Because I would love - LOVE - to ask him to name our Lady. I mean, c'mon, Mr. Froud, how could you resist DAT FACE? :) K, that's all I have for now. Next time I'll show you guys some build photos for a few of the dozens of props we're finding/building for the junk pile. Also, believe it or not, we are planning to debut Junk Lady in less than one week at MegaCon. She may not have all her Easter Eggs installed by then, but she should be loaded up and ready to party regardless. Now, just cross your fingers she'll fit in our friends' van... and will fit out our front door. Ha! 'Til then, as the Dread Pirate Roberts would say, rest well, and dream of large, scary junk pile women.
