Exciting news: My coloring book is also available to order through Amazon!
The books are still printed on-demand, so they’ll ship just as soon as they’re made. If Amazon is where you shop or you’re already ordering something, then nab one of my books there. It’s eligible for free shipping on orders over $35 or Amazon Prime (it will be sent with 2-day shipping after it’s printed)!
Don’t forget to share your coloring and tag #EveryoneColors!
Ever wonder what dragons do all day? You may think that they just hoard gold and breathe fire, but dragons lead a surprisingly normal life. Here’s a glimpse into what goes on:
First, they sit and think.
Then they start working on some chores, like mowing the lawn,
And watering the plants.
They spend time keeping their claws nice and tidy.
They take breaks by watching movies,
And make afternoon snacks.
They clean up the dishes,
And mop the kitchen floor.
Then to top off the day, they go for a car ride! Wheeee!
Photography by Brian Merlo
Interested in seeing how this costume was created? Check out my blog post: Green Dragon Costume
If you live in Atlanta, you’ve got 3 amazing opportunities to see beautiful body painting this week!! Be sure to buy your tickets in advance, tickets will not be sold at the door.
Halloween 2013 was the year for a dragon! I took most of my inspiration from Ysera in World of Warcraft. I’ve outlined most of the process in my tutorial on instructables.com. Go check it out there or take a look at my process photos below. I also won a 2nd prize from Instructables for my dragon, yea!
My tutorial also received a great write-up by the Dallas Morning News Arts Blog and they also explain how you can earn DMA Friend rewards points for dressing up. KERA’s Art & Seek blog also featured my tutorial in their Tuesday Morning Roundup.
See you at the DMA, in costume (of course)!
Update 09/17/2022: The link on the DMA website is broken. Here’s the full blog post below.
How to Create a Greek Hero Costume
Need help creating a Greek mythology costume for the DMA’s Late Night this Friday? Below are some simple steps to make your own costume without sewing or spending a lot of money. We’ll start with making a chiton (pronounced khitōn), the draped garment typically worn in ancient Greece.
Supplies
• White sheet OR 2 yards (approx.) of white or cream fabric: It should be long enough to hang from your shoulder to the floor. If you want it to be knee-length, you’ll only need about 1.5 yards or less.
• Safety pins: We’ll be pinning the fabric together, but you can also sew it together.
• Gold rope, belt, or ribbon
• 2 brooches (optional)
Making a Greek Chiton
1. Cut the Fabric
Cut the fabric lengthwise so you have two long rectangles. One rectangle is the front, and the other is the back. If you’d like to have a knee-length chiton (more common for men), this is a good time to cut it shorter. (Bonus: If you don’t like the frayed edge at the bottom of the fabric, you can glue gold ribbon along the bottom edge to cover it.)
2. Pin the Shoulders and Sides
With safety pins, fasten the top corners of the front to the top corners of the back. You’ll want to bunch the fabric together a bit as you pin it. Be sure to tuck in the edges of the fabric if it’s fraying. Next, pin the sides of fabric together along your ribcage. It doesn’t have to be perfect, this is to help keep the fabric from blowing open.
3. Tie on Your Belt
Tie your belt around your waist or rib cage. You can use any kind of belt, rope, or ribbon. You can even paint something gold if you don’t have anything.
4. Add the Brooches
Pin your brooches to your shoulders. You can use them to hide the safety pins. I didn’t have any brooches, so I bought some earrings at a thrift store, glued them together, and added a pin to the back. You could even make your own out of cardboard or craft foam and paint them. Get creative!
Accessories and Props for Your Specific Greek Character
It’s time to customize your outfit with some props. They don’t have to be complicated in order to be effective. Below are some simple ideas to help identify yourself as a specific character: 1. Lightning Bolt and Beard = Zeus, King of the Greek Gods Lightning Bolt: Draw a lightning bolt on foam board or poster board; cut out the shape and color with silver paint. Beard: Paint on a beard with face paint OR purchase a beard from a party or costume store.
2. Laurel Wreath = Apollo, God of Music, Arts, and Enlightenment Laurel Wreath: Create a headband with poster board. Draw leaves and cut them out. Use hot glue to stick the leaves in place, overlapping as you go. Color with gold spray paint.
3. Feathery Wings = Eros, God of Love (Cupid!), or Nike, Goddess of Victory Wings: Purchase wings from a costume or party store OR draw wings on poster board. Cut out the shape of the wings, attach elastic straps with hot glue, and loop over shoulders.
4. Shield, Spear, Helmet = Athena, Goddess of Warfare Shield: Find a large plastic platter or cut a circle out of foam board. Glue on a handle made of foam board or cardboard; color with gold spray paint. Spear: Use a broom handle or dowel and color with gold spray paint. Draw a spearhead on craft foam. cut out two spearheads from the craft foam. Glue the craft foam together at the edges, and slide the broom handle into the pocket formed by the two pieces. Helmet: Purchase gladiator-style helmet at a costume or party store; color with gold paint OR get creative with craft foam and hot glue to make your own!
4. Shield, Spear/Sword = Hercules or Achilles, Hero of the Trojan War Shield and Spear: Follow steps above for Athena.
6. Gold Tiara/Crown, Veil = Hera, Goddess of Marriage and wife of Zeus Tiara/Crown: Make a crown out of poster board; color with gold spray paint. Veil: Take a piece of sheer fabric or leftovers from your chiton; attach to tiara/crown with staples.
7. Roses and Scallop Shells = Aphrodite, Goddess of Love Roses: Purchase some fake roses or flowers from a thrift store; color them with gold spray paint. Scallop Shells: Draw some shells on poster board; color with gold spray paint and add the shells to your flower bouquet.
Need to look up some other characters from Greek mythology? Check out this list on Wikipedia for more ideas.
I had my paints out at an “Arabian Nights”-themed party and painted the night away! I painted 22 people over the course of the evening, but as usual, I started forgetting to snap photos of each one. I’m glad I created the boards of design options, it really helped give people direction. All of the designs done with brush and sponge.
Design Board. Offering limited options is a great way to manage your time with a large group of people.Design Board (I added more options after taking this photo).
HARPY: Classical Mythology . a ravenous, filthy monster having a woman’s head and a bird’s body.
Below are some instructions on what I did to accomplish this harpy costume for Halloween 2011.
Step 1: Plan It Out
I first started out with a sketch based on some good ol’ Googling of harpies. I particularly liked the ones in World of Warcraft. As you can see, my final product evolved a bit differently from the sketch (colored wings became a bit too time consuming):
Harpy Costume Sketch | Breanna Cooke
Step 2: Make Giant Wings
The frame is the most critical part to having awesome wings. I commissioned the help of an expert in wing-making, Danielle Hurley. Her craftsmanship is top-notch and the frame fit me perfectly. I’d highly recommend contacting her if you’d like some wings. Check out more of her work on her website or her blog.
To support the feathers, I made a frame from chicken wire and glued it onto some black canvas.
I used black turkey quills and started applying from the bottom up. I ordered 500 feathers (250 of each wing side) and probably used about 300-350. I also used bits of black down from a feather boa to mask the transition of quills at the top of the wings.
Step 3: Make Bird Feet
I built my bird feet on top of an existing pair of boots that I knew were comfortable. It helped that they already had pointed toes. I used green craft foam to shape the toes and hot-glued them on. The talons are fake bear claws. The bear claws were more proportional to my body than fake eagle talons.
I painted the green foam with brown paint so it would all match. Then I covered the boots in tan liquid latex. In hindsight, this may not have been the best material, but it gave it the rubbery skin-like texture I wanted.
I painted the final boots with acrylic paints (again, maybe not the best type of paint since it kept cracking).
Step 4: Paint Yourself
I painted myself with professional grade body paint using a sponge and brush. I usually use the water activated cakes from the Paradise line by Mehron since I can buy them locally at Norcosto in Dallas. I also order online from Silly Farm when I have more time to spare.
The fangs were from a Halloween shop. I recommend going for the most realistic ones, even if they cost more. The nails were also from the costume shop and glued on with nail glue.
Step 5: Go Scare Small Children or Become an Object of Envy at a ComicCon
This painting was created as a birthday present for a musical friend. Above is the finished product and below are some of the process images. The painting was done on scrap particle board with Liquitex Acrylic paints.
This year’s costume was Neytiri from Avatar. I decided to use body paint instead of liquid latex like my Mystique costume last year. I did the majority of painting myself, though I needed help with my back. Here is the final result, but keep scrolling down if you’d like to see more photos of the process. The professional photos are courtesy of T.J. Hall Photography.
Photo by TJ Hall PhotographyFull body paint costume for Neytiri from Avatar. Photo from T.J. Hall Photography | www.tjhallphotography.comBackside of body paint.
Body Paint
I purchased a “Pandora Kit” from SillyFarm.com. The kit included all the blues I needed, and it worked perfectly for painting a full body. I also purchased some glow-in-the-dark body paint so that the white dots would glow.
1. Apply the light blue all over your body with a sponge.
Starting out the painting
2. Use the 2-blue combo cake (it should be shimmery) for the stripes. Start by painting stripes with the dark blue, then add a highlight with the light blue right on top of the dark one.
Painting Progress
3. Use white is for adding the dots, then go over them again with glow paint (optional).
Closeup of arm details.
UPDATE 10/10/2012: Check out my tips on how to seal water-based body paint. This will help prevent your paint from rubbing off on everything.
Costume
I made the beaded arm bands by painting Mardi Gras beads and sewing them onto elastic bands.
Painting Mardi Gras beads with acrylic paintCloseup of arm bands.
I purchased the wig online. If you search for “Deluxe Neytiri wig with ears” you’ll find the same wig from various vendors. I also glued some feathers into the braids to make it fuller and match Neytiri.
Feathers added to the braids of the wig.
I made the outfit from scraps of fabric and a bikini bra top from the fabric store. I made the straps by braiding fabric and I stitched fabric on to the front of the bra cups by hand. The loincloth (not pictured) was two rectangles of fabric sewn on to a pair of black underwear.
Bra top from fabric store.Straps made of braided fabric.Top with fabric attached.
The books are still printed on-demand, so they’ll ship just as soon as they’re made. If Amazon is where you shop or you’re already ordering something, then nab one of my books there. It’s eligible for free shipping on orders over $35 or Amazon Prime (it will be sent with 2-day shipping after it’s printed)!
