Ghost Costume Project Part 2. (Revisited)

Okay, so I attempted the vinyl yesterday to end up with some not-so-pleasing results. I sort of flew off the handle when the needle continued to get stuck, but I soon realized that the machine wasn't threaded properly so I'm going back again in a short day or two with hopes of finding the machine and the materials collective behavior more satisfying.

On the other hand, if things should not turn out the way I plan I will move on to different materials and different methods, but will likely continue to use the same pattern. Should the vinyl fail to meet expectations I will probably use sheer organza (with tool for structure and shape) with the pearlized sheer nylon underneath for the shimmery wet texture. It will be about 60% transparent, which is close enough to the desired effect.

The pants will definitely be made from a silver lame. Although it's been known to snag a lot and doesn't stretch, it will pose some possible problems. Over that will be the sheer organza in charcoal. Both scenarios sound like they will have very exciting turnouts and will document everything along the way as much as possible.

Ghost Costume Project Part 2.

Where have I been for the past few weeks? Coming up with more and more genius ideas. My progress thus far on the costume is taking great strides. I've purchased all vinyl material for the overall coat/jacket and will actually attempt piecing most of it together tomorrow morning before work. I've chosen a very low gage plastic so that it will drape well on me. However I may add double layers to the chest and back panels while I still have time.

Ghost shoes have been purchased and painted a brilliant silver for effect.

With this pearlized spray enamel, (which I was certain did not exist until last week) I will spray the lining lightly with the enamel at the shoulders and the hem just so the material is not boringly see through giving the appearance that I'm wearing the couch cover. More to follow and more pictures to come.

Ghost Costume Project Part 1.

I have gone to several stores in search of the proper supplies needed to create this amazing costume. I've tested the different ideas in my mind and am confident that it should all work out to meet or exceed my expectations. The skeleton suit I'm making has glow-in-the-dark bones (painted with special glow pain that, when charged, should last for 12 hours) with the base fabric made form a silver lycra material. Lycra is very stretchy material commonly used for making swimsuits and dance costumes (hence, that is why you would find this fabric in the 'swim and dance wear' section of any fabric store.) The silver is very reflective too so it will mirror all light images cast on it, giving an added transparent look. Many of the ghosts inside The Haunted Mansion have the same clear plastic or silver coated frames under their wardrobe to achieve the effect. I could just be over excited and it may not turn out the way I envision it, but I'll make it look good regardless. The skeleton suit is probably the last thing I will be working on as it is the most expensive fabric that will require more than 3 yards so it will have to wait until I get a new job.

Likely the first piece I will be constructing is the bow tie. I have devised at least 3 different fabrics for the piece and will layer them accordingly: silver costume satin under sheer charcoal glitter fabric under sheer pearl nylon.) I know it seems bulky, but it wont be layered loosely.

Next item of business; I've purchased a clear plastic shower curtain as the coat material. There's just some confusion on if I should line the inside of the coat with the sheer pearl nylon material or not. It will be difficult considering this plastic is not really meant for sewing. I wonder if a stronger thread is needed, but I have a theory that a double stitch will also work. Luckily the best way to maintain a plastic coat is by tumbling it in the drier for a few minutes to get rid of wrinkles. Lysol wipes to disinfect and remove spots. A pattern has been purchased for the coat which fortunately includes a top hat pattern so a hat will also be made from the plastic.

Lastly, there are three final pieces left to the outfit which include the vest and pants followed by the shoes (painted silver). Both the pants and vest will be lined with the sheer pearl nylon.

My Newest Halloween Costume!

It's from Disney Worlds "Boo To You Parade". They do it every year for Halloween. These pictured above are the hitchhiking ghosts from The Haunted Mansion on their own float. My favorite ghost is the one on the far right (named Phinneas). That's the one I'm dressing up as.

Well, first of all, I'm buying this highly reflective yarn that I'm going to stitch to the edge of the fabric. The fabric will likely be either clear shower curtain material to give it a 'see-through' effect while a 90% sheer silk material with a slight reflective quality of its own would suffice. When a bright line is shined on it (flashlight or flash camera) it will reflect a spectral white outline to my costume.

I also want to buy a few portable black lights, roughly 6" long (battery powered) and store one of them in an over-sized sheer fabric top hat, larger than shown in the picture above. Hopefully it will make the hat glow and cast a light on the costume as well that will illuminate the glow in the dark bones beneath the sheer fabric. Also the ghost carries a carpet bag, so I'm going to store one in there and hopefully it'll illuminate the etherial bones even more.

But the thing I'm really hoping to do (if I can get enough money) is to put a mini, battery powered fog machine into the carpet bag, attaching a hose to it. The hose will run all over the costume and create a spectral vapor around my body. I'll be walking around in an eerie glowing fog, a skeleton glowing beneath my clothes, and a strange misty, otherworldly outline to my form. Then I'll stop to hitch a ride. Hey, it's what I do. Happy Haunting more pictures and updates to follow on my newest Ghost Costume Project.

Closing the Chapter on 2009.

I've been out of the Disney Company for about two-three weeks already. Seems longer than that. What are my feelings about it, you may ask? I'm doing well having all this free time to just be my own artsy self painting and whatnot, but something has me distracted. Viewing these photographs I uploaded to my Facebook, watching videos on YouTube of all the 2009 events of Walt Disney World during the holiday season when I worked as a pirate brought back lots of fond memories. I'm definitely considering going back, but it would require a lot of work and money. Time is especially important. Would I consider abandoning another Christmas without the fam'? Can I begin to think about how this would bleed me dry of all money in my savings account as it did the previous year? And the last thing I worry about is where I'll end up. I dream about returning to the Magic Kingdom and working at my favorite attraction of all time, The Haunted Mansion. Nothing would make my year quite like working as a Butler alongside my favorite 999 happy haunts. Well I'm signing off now. I'll hopefully continue writing in a few minutes, but I will definitely try to keep with my updates on this blog as much as possible before I join the ranks of the employed.

Keep Moving Forward.

I can't believe that it has been nearly two months or so since my last blog entry. Every time I try to write something down I find myself at a loss for words and forget so many important details. I'd just say "oh well", and move on to doing something else. I prefer not to write at all if I'm not accurate. Even when I talk to people who ask me 'what's new?' it ends up being so awkward. But here is a bit of my life in Disney World.

In the past few months alone there have been some interesting changes. Friends have come and gone. A very good friend of mine moved back home to Long Island, New York for her own reasons. Not entirely sure what those reasons were but I won't go blabbing about her personal life. I've met some new interns who have recently come out of training, all of them from Brazil. I love meeting new people, trying to find a connection but eventually (as it is with most cases) we run out of things to talk about. For instance I have very little else to say to my roommates except for how much I disdain them and everything they are about. Parties, sex, slang, underage drinking, and tollerance of underage drinking. I should have expected something like this when I signed up to merge my life among the other nameless college students. What a generation I am in. (Takes a moment to sigh) Not just the American students but all students of my age group seem to make absolutely all the wrong choices. Why can't we just go a day without smoking? Why can't we just go to the party without knocking back a few? Is it wise to light up a joint during your break with still a full six hours of work left? The answer to all of these questions is incredibly simple. 'No'. But if my roommates were asked these "opposite of difficult" questions they would quickly respond in the predictably wrong way. I am utterly tired of their ingnorance.

Now what awaits me is only 3 more weeks of this and I will be back home in frigid Iowa. Missing Christmas with the family like I did with Thanksgiving and my other favorie holidays. Parents sent me a Charlie Brown Christmas tree and I think I'm going to keep it forever. My paycheck sustains me. I can't seem to save much money, but the way I see it...now is the time for living to the fullest and doing whatever I feel like doing. In the near future there may not be enough time. I will have to live for others. The bulk of my paycheck has gone to buy suveniers for myself. Does that make me selfish? Ofcourse it does. But when will I get another chance like this? I don't want to dump all these Mickey-shaped gifts and knick-knacks on family and friends. I'm afraid it will seem like I'm gloating. But I want to get something special for each. I think I've managed to find a few things for a few special people. Even considered getting something for a couple of my pirate friends. I never thougth about getting too close to these great people because it would make separation easier. There are so many places to visit now because of this program. Long Island, New York; Nashville, Tennessee; 'Somewhere', North Carolina; Chicago, Illinois; London, England; Nice and Paris, France (the final three I am most anxious to visit).

Well I've officially run out of things to talk about. Will return later with a renewed passion for blogging.

In Your Dreams, Kid.

Okay. I found that I have atleast one reader out there (it felt like I was talking to myself for a while). :-) Wouldn't be any different from the norm, meaning having no one to talk to. I figured that with the much appreciated time off I'd update my blog as I wait for my lunch of mac 'n cheese to finish cooking. I've found quite a few 'quick foods' that I'm rather fond of, which are all relatively cheap and easy enough to find. I fell in love wish "Nissen Chow Mein" boxes. It takes 5 minutes to cook and tastes great, plus it's stored dry at room temperature so I've stockpiled over 20 of them in my shared kitchen easily. Every day I go to work I grab one from off the counter before leaving the apartment and I've got lunch for the day. Of course there's the tride-and-true Easy Mac and Ramen noodles that every college student has heard about. I've got those. I've found that anything microwavable is best to have around the apartment, so there's really nothing of a 'home cooked' variety here.

I'm excited about this year's Not So Scary Halloween Party at the Magic Kingdom. I have Halloween off and it would be the first in many years that I get to enjoy may favorite holiday. 80% of the reason why I joined this program was to be a part of Disney's Halloween celebration. 10% would probably be the sheer joy of spending every day at the Magic Kingdom for 6 months, and the other 10% is for the high marks on my resume and achieving a 'rehire' status on my Disney employment record. Once this program is completed, if I obtain a rehire status at the programs completion it should be much much easier to once again rejoin the company should I ever need/want to. It's a very tough job I've got but I have no choice. I must say it's not all bad. The guests tend to get quite angry with me and shout obscenities towards me and the other pirates when the ride breaks down and we have to evacuate the building (trust me it's usually never EVER as serious at it may seem). People are quick to judge us humble pirates. I had a woman come up to me once and say that I needed to tell higher management 'what I shitty ride I'm working at', through her minimal set of teeth while puffing a cigarette. Meanwhile, other disgruntled guests are shouting in the streets of Adventure Land saying, "This ride is broken, stay away from it! You better not go on, it's a waste of time!" How little we care for the likes of them. I laugh thinking of how badly they behaved and all the while hoping I will never return as a guest to the Magic Kingdom. (I'm almost willing to believe that visiting this place lowers your I.Q. by 20 points.) Think of it, Disney has made it so there is little thinking done on your part. We take care of you from the moment you embark on that magical road trip to Orlando or Anaheim. We provide a great deal of the transportation. And half the day is spend worrying about how you'll fit everything into the day's schedule (or fighting with the kids against their schedule).

Yes, five dollars is a bit much for a bottle of soda pop but what the heck, I'm on vacation.

I think it's apparent that I will never be back unless it's to work again for the Disney Company. One brilliant aspect of working here is the cast benefits that go on for the whole year. During the Christmas season we will all have a 50% discount on merchandise. For those who are considering joining the Disney College Program, please take full advantage of all benefits while you can.