So, the Gaara costume continues. Plastic Fusion spraypaint + beach balls + really hot, high humidity weather = bad news. But! Regular old craft paint seems to be working fairly well--it dries fairly quickly, covers well, and does not scrape off. I'm about halfway finished with the painting on the gourd, although I still have to glue the cork on. I'm also working on a Third Eye; I haven't decided whether I'll mount it on a thin wire stand (so it'll bobble around on the table), just leave it alone to hold in my hand, or mount it to the back of my gourd so that it's "floating" behind me. (For those of you who don't remember, Gaara uses the Third Eye jutsu to cheat during the first round of the chuunin exams and to spy on Sasuke while he tries to transform into Shukaku in the third round chuunin fight.) I still need buckles for my sling, so I'm going to check the farm supply stores--they carry saddles and tack, so they might have some. I mean, I can always order some online, but it seems silly to have to order sewing notions online. Man, I am a detail oriented, arts and crafts freak, aren't I? I'm contemplating topstitching on the sling. I'm debating adding a pocket to my black pants so they'll be more authentic. I'm scanning the pages for accessories I can add. Somebody stop me!

Also, had an idea for a nice, low-key, comfy cosplay costume, but it's Naruto again, and I'd like to mix up my fandoms a bit more. The idea: a nin-dog. One of Kakashi's pack, to be exact--blue shirt with a heno-heno-moheji face on the back, Konoha hitai-ate tied loosely around neck, ears and tail to match my hair, maybe a dab of black on my nose. Just think of all the fun I could have in playful puppy mode! I could glomp Kakashi and call him "daddy"! I could growl at people (wait...I already do that)! I could sniff people's butts! (Er...maybe not.) I could get hit on by furries! *blinks* Er...you know, maybe I didn't think this costume-idea through enough. But at least calling Kakashi "daddy" would still be fun.

I'm going to a Halloween party tonight! It's kinda last minute so I'm throwing a costume together out of one of my play costumes and a couple of bits of whatever's left at Wal-Mart. Seeing as how I was just slightly too young to actually be a punk rocker when it was, you know, actually in, I get to be one now. (If it turns out neat, I'll post pictures)

But what are y'all wearing for Halloween?

A trenchcoat is such a marvelously useful bit of costuming. With it, you
can be a glamorous foreign spy, a determined but sorrowful
Lauren-Bacall-in-Casablanca-type heroine, a plucky investigative
reporter, or a shadowy private eye. (With, that is to say, my
trenchcoat--the knee-length classic khaki trench. With a long black one you
can be a Matrix extra, a goth, a mysterious assassin and/or his
onmyouji lover, or Spike. With a purple, pink, or blue one, well, I guess
you can still be in a Gap ad.)