Halloween 2012 - The Geeky Scientist BEAST

Hello everyone, I know its November now but I just wanted to brag a little of my Halloween costume, which won 3rd place at work I might add. Got a $10 gift card WOOOP!

I was going for a geeky scientist sort of theme, a little less Big Bang Theory nerdy and a little more "Steve Urkel" from Family Matters. If you grew up in the nineties then you know who I mean.

Everyone guessed from the lab coat/scrubs that I was something-somewhere between nerd and scientist so I guess I was successful. Except one sarcastic fool who asked me if I was supposed to be a store clerk. Yes clearly I dress like this everyday for work. I should have given him this confused expression lol.

Did I mention I got a $10 gift card for my prize. FREE LUNCH WIN.

Would you believe I owned all items except the blue top ($3.25 Thrifted) and the bow tie ($1.00 Dollarama Halloween item) So my costume was under $5.00 total. I had the scrubs from a previous Halloween and the lab coat I had used for painting one time. All the accessories I had already accumulated and picked from my accessory hoard. Sometimes hoarding things can be useful in last minute costume preparations.



Both pairs of glasses Ardene, Rubik cube (originally a keychain) Ardene, POW! Hairbow and suspenders thrifted ages ago. Funky ghost and funny pen (not shown) seen in the pocket of first picture were borrowed.

Wish I completed the rubik's cube prior...

I figured this costume out the night before, one hour before stores close. So the moral of the story is when in a last minute rush and work has a contest put on something ridiculous by throwing funky stuff together and you can't go wrong. I love home-made D.I.Y. costumes, they always turn out the best!

After work I went home to hand out candy. I had some time to kill between trick-or-treaters so Buddy became my dress up toy.



Nerdy big nose, smelling the camera



Double sworded Ninja Assasin

Honestly he loves the camera and attention, so don't worry I didn't bother him too much. I think the glasses image is my favourite and is currently my bbm display image. The nose makes it.

Unfortunately we only had 4 Halloweeners this year because of the poor weather (remnants of hurricane Sandy), which was unusual since we usually get much more. Oh well, more candy for us.

Hope you all had a Happy Halloween! Until next time...

ヾ(＾∇＾)

UPDATE

My apologies for my recent lack of submissions lately. Due to some medical issues I have had with my wrists/hands I have been unable to update as I would have liked to in the last month.

Unfortunately, I have probably developed the beginning stages of carpal tunnel syndrome and have been seeing medical professionals/changing my habits up to lesson the strain on my hands. I have been working for about 9 years now a strenuous job with constant computer use, repetitive movements and lifting of up to 30 lbs, which has likely added to my current condition. It was pretty rough at first. My hands were constantly aching and I was waking up with fingers falling asleep. At one point I was involuntarily dropping things! I started wearing a brace to work/bed and I was put on light duties for 2 weeks. Since then they have been feeling much better and I have sought other employment. So now I am a two job beastie, working two shifts a week at my old job and about 30 hrs at my new one which has lighter duties. (︶ω︶) I'm pretty happy about it. Change can be so good!

While I have added additional hours now to my weekly schedule I still plan to update regularly and have been working on a few posts here and there. I plan to finish the Shorts Series and have plans for a post on my first ever decoden-project coming up so please check back in the weeks ahead! ヾ(＾∇＾)

Rainy Sunday Afternoon date

After working inside all week I was dissapointed to see the rain because I had wanted to go to the beach. Every time I have a day off it rains. ヽ(　￣д￣;)ノ Of course it had been raining and cloudy almost all weekend so we hadn't got out much. So instead, Patri and I went for a little adventure to the next town over to get out of the house for a bit. I decided to wear just a new cute summer dress and knit cardigan with white sandals.

The first thing we did when we got to town was check out a local comics, gaming and movie rentals shop. We were hoping to find some new manga to read or something but the japanese comics collection was small and I'm not really into any american comics too much. There was lots of books I hadn't heard of before with excellent prices but alas we left empty handed. Next we went to have chinese buffet.

Chicken balls with cherry sauce, beef and broccoli, noodles, Chicken fried rice, Garlic spare ribs, Eggrolls with plum sauce, Shrimp battered and fried, and Chicken wings in Garlic sauce.

We didn't realize that the restaurant had just opened at 4pm and they were just bringing out the buffet dishes, but this worked out for the best because everything was so new hot and fresh. I recommend doing this if your going for buffet, anywhere. I've had buffet when it was dried out from the heat trays and old as heck and it is just so dissapointing. This was my first time dining at this restaurant though and it was very good. I'm not embarassed to say I had a serving of everything with a cup of oolong tea.

Tea is always perfect on a rainy day.

Also, I had wonton soup.

And finished oolong tea with fortune cookies."It is quality rather than quantity that matters. Do a good job." I'll try to keep this in mind.

Our fortunes shown.

Finally we went to check out the swans downtown. There were ducks sleeping all across the lawn. And the swans were swimming in the pond.

 

 

They swam over to us really close. I think they were hoping that we were going to have a treat for them.

So was this little ducky (below image). The swans chased her out of the pond and after she followed us all the way back to our car. I was sad to leave her ｡･ﾟﾟ･(>д<)･ﾟﾟ･｡ way too cute. Anything that follows me I will automatically fall in love and want to take it home. Honestly though, who has a pet duck in their apt. Maybe Joey and Chandler but I've never heard of anyone else lol (...that was a Friends reference in case you didn't quite catch it).

take me home with you and feed me good things?

Anyway, it was starting to rain again so after I shoo'ed her away from the road we were off for home again to get ready for another work week. So until next time, have a good week!

ヾ(＾∇＾)

D.I.Y: Studded Distressed Dip-bleached Shorts

D.I.Y. EDGY DIP-BLEACHED SHORTS

Hello again, I know this comes a little late in the season, but there is still a month or so left of summer to rock these shorts and it's easy to blend shorts into your fall wardrobe. Do it yourself jean shorts are an easy way to get the style you want without breaking your budget. Not to mention that every pair you make will be completely unique.

If you like shorts that stand out, these Dip-bleached shorts will give you the right edgy look you might be craving. 

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THE DIP-BLEACHING PROCESS

You will need:

A pair of gloves, a bucket, any brand of reg. bleach, a clip hanger, scissors and an old pair of jeans, at least an hour of your time and patients.

To start off you need a pair of jeans that you don't care for anymore and you don't mind experimenting with. I had this old pair of Bluenotes Capri jeans from last summer hiding in the back of my closet that I chose to use. I know they were probably only about a $15 price point when I bought them in the first place, so I had no problem using them. I'm sure I got my dollars worth out of them last summer. Also, they had already come with some "distressed" patterns on them. So it worked well with the vision I had for these shorts. Cut your jeans at approx. 2 inches or so away from the your desired length.

Front and back views from the beginning.

This is so you will have the extra fabric to work with during the D.I.Y. process. Bleaching too long can eat away at fabric and distressing takes away from it as well. Better to play it safe with extra fabric then end up with falling apart short-shorts at the end (unless that was what you were going for?).

The next step is to dip-bleach your shorts. The few items you should look for is a clip hanger, a bucket and some sort of rack or place that  you can suspend your shorts from. Keep in mind that it is important to have your shorts suspended straight and at equal length in your bleach. Bleach runs and if your shorts aren't suspended equally at the start, you might end up with a wonky outcome in your dip-dyeing process. I used this common plastic clip hanger.

Because bleach is a strong chemical I chose to do this process outside. If your unable to, I would suggest trying this in your bathroom tub, but with an open window or ceiling fan for ventilation (bleach has strong fumes). After filling the bucket to about an inch deep of pure concentrated bleach, hang shorts with bottom edges IN the bleach.


I used a drying rack to suspend my shorts over the bucket. 

It's important to remember that BLEACH WILL RUN UP THE FABRIC. This is why I only used an inch deep of the stuff. If you fill the bucket with bleach up to the spot where you want your shorts to be bleached IT WILL GO HIGHER. You'll end up with shorts bleached all the way to the top.


As you can see, the bleach has creeped its way up the shorts fairly quickly. They haven't begun to fade the dye out yet.

Leave the shorts in for about a half hour checking every 10 minutes. Remember that bleach can EAT material when left in too long. Since my jeans are a thin stretch denim I recommend no longer than this. If your using a thick regular jean then you may need to go longer.

After 10 minutes in the solution you can see the dye begin to lighten up. :D

20 minutes in.

At the half hour mark I took my shorts out. You couldn't see much difference in the bleaching, but don't worry about that, they are! After the washing you'll see the difference! When removing them from the bleach put them straight into a bucket of water.

Since I did mine outdoors I had a bucket and hose ready.

Get rid of the bleach left over and refill the basin with a half vinegar - half water solution. Vinegar is important because it acts as a stopper to the bleach. It makes the bleach quit turning your shorts and it will prevent any left over bleach from eating any unwanted holes in the fabric or from continuing to degrade the material. Leave them in it for about another 5-10 mins.


Notice that you can see the bleaching now?!

 After this you can simply run your shorts through a cycle in the wash to get all the vinegar/bleach out and have a look at you finished product.


Taa Daa! Tri-colour? What a surprise!

 I found it really interesting that they turned out with the bottom, which spent the ENTIRE time IN the bleach, managed to remain a darker colour than the area where the bleach ran up the fabric. Maybe it has something to do with the quality of dye in the jeans? I don't know but I kind of like that it turned out the way it did.  Also have a look at the bleach that turned pee-yellow while I was bleaching them! WTH?! (◎_◎;)


ode'de urine

And that concludes Part One: The Dip-bleaching Process of my first D.I.Y. shorts project. Check back for part two where I will show you how I distressed, studded and finished these shorts.

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Finally, I just wanted to add that D.I.Y. projects, to me, are like an experimentation. I have a plan and an idea of the outcome I want in my head. But I know I will run into problems along the way. I plan to write about the outcomes completely and give you my best recommendations for your own projects. If you have any questions. Please leave them in the comments below and I will try to help you out. ヾ(＾∇＾)