Season of the Witch - My Homemade Ursula the Sea Witch Costume

Being a princess is fun, but being a villain is better.  This year I decided to go out as The Little Mermaid Villain, Ursula the Sea Witch.  You know, this fabulous white haired lady, octopus, bad guy, you get the picture:

Image Courtesy of Enchanted America

Making Tentacles:

Took two pairs of old pantyhose, drew on tentacles using fabric paint ($8.49, and I have plenty left over for other winter crafts), let it dry, stuffed them with cotton stuffing that my mom generously donated, and used some craft wire from Dollarama ($1.49) to curl them up at the end.  I then secured them to a thin belt I already owned with safety pins.

Tentacles in progress

 For my hair I teased it up on top of my head secured it in a bun, and used a bunch of white Halloween hair spray ($5.99 Value Village).  I then topped it off with a crown ($5.99 Value Village), and the legendary necklace Ursula wears when she steals Ariel's voice ($1.99 for the necklace, glue gunned to another old necklace I had, and painted yellow with basic craft paint)

Ready for my evil close up

Here's where I failed, the make-up department.  I purchased cheap ($1.99 white Halloween face make-up, and purple $1.99) to mix together and wear on my face, chest and arms.  Since it was $1.99 product, I got what I paid for and it went on really splotchy, so I had to take it off and start all over again.  See my epic fail below.  Bought the blue eyeshadow from Shoppers Drug Mart for $4.99 and used Mac red lipstick, eyeliner for my brows and trademark mole, and baby powder to lighten my sea witch skin.

I've been told a primed would have helped with this, but it wasn't worth the time for me so I just started again.

Here is the final product, and I'm pretty proud of it $29 without make-up fail, $33 with (plus applicable taxes).  Add in a trident, or some potions, or her sidekick pet eels if you want to get some extra accessories with your costume.

Happy Halloween!

Go the Distance

In the past few years I have spent a lot of time in two places: work and alongside the minions.  What this means is that I have read an alarming number of children's stories and seen an obscene amount of G rated movies.  Since toddlers like to watch things over and over again I have had plenty of exposure to a handful of their favourite films.  I have a ton of commentary on the Disneyfication of our youth, however repeat exposure to Walt and his successor's works has sparked a great deal of debate between Chris and I surrounding Disney and Business.  Walt was a great creative mind, but his empire was also a business.

Below are 8 lessons about business that are brought to you by Walt Disney, the letter B and the number 3.

From The Little Mermaid.

1. Always Read the Fine Print
   The devil is in the details was one of the major lessons that Ariel learned when Ursula the Sea Witch came to collect on her contract to make her temporarily human to pursue her love.  The same can be said of vendor contracts, employment contracts and pretty much anything you sign in business.  When in doubt have your lawyer look it over.
2. Treat Everyone with Respect and Dignity
   My sister got her first job as an assistant to the president of a major corporation in part because she was the only candidate that was kind to the receptionist.  In Beauty and the Beast the prince was turned into a horrible Beast after turning away a beggar woman because of her looks.  
3. It doesn't matter what your intentions, you will fail if you can't work together as a team
   In Sleeping Beauty, Princess Arora is sent away under the charge of the three good fairies (Flora, Fauna and Merry Weather) who are completely incompetent at every day tasks, they undo each others work, attempt tasks that other players are masters at (like cake making and sewing) only to fail, flounder and argue.
4. Know Your Team's Talents and Utlize them well
   Alternately once they are able to use their magic, the three good fairies are able to give Prince Phillip the Shield of Virtue and the Sword of Truth for the final fight with Maleficent, the sword enabling Phillip to destroy Maleficent and her evil with one well-aimed blow.
5. Sometimes your Allies and opponents are obvious...other times they aren't
   In Frozen the gentleman from Wesleton is obviously looking out for number one whereas other people are better at hiding their ambitions.
6. Everyone needs a Champion...or Fairy Godmother
   Look for allies in the work place and beyond to vent to, bounce ideas off of and talk you up as your personal sponsor to help challenge you and provide great opportunities.  The fairy godmother only needed to give Cinderella until midnight to change her life forever.
7. Hakuna matata or Let it Go!
   It means no worries, You can't control what other people say or do, only how you react to it.  Sometimes you need to take a deep breath and move on.
8. Have Faith in yourself and you can accomplish so much!
   Because all it takes is faith, trust, and a little bit of pixie dust!  Hard-work and sticktoitiveness also helps!

I have been nominated for Voiceboks 2014 Multiple Parenting Blog Awards - If you have a moment to spare: Click Here Now and cast your vote for Multiple Momstrosity #27, it's the little heart icon that pops up in the top right hand corner that registers a vote NOT clicking on the photo.  If you follow any of the other blogs or enjoy them like say HDYDI (#21) you can vote for them too - you can vote for up to five different blogs daily.