Etsy Shop of the Month: The Wishing Elephant

Baby Deer Costume

As much as I love making my own costumes, I also love seeing what kind of handmade costumes others come up with. There's just something so special about them! For October's Etsy Shop of the Month, I just had to go with a costume designer - The Wishing Elephant.

This shop offers all kinds of adorable kids and baby costumes, from fruit to lederhosen to a ouija board. They're perfect for Halloween, of course, but many of these costumes are so cute and comfy they could be worn anytime. They'd also be great for seasonal photos (Cupid for Valentine's Day, anyone?) or just to add to a dress up bin.

World's Strongest Baby Costume

Nerd Baby Costume  •  Hostess Cupcake Baby Costume  •  Lederhosen Costume

Fruit Salad Triplet Baby Costume

Because most of The Wishing Elephant's costumes are made using onesies as a base, they'd be easy to get on your child (no crazy costume parts here!) and seem simply more comfortable and practical. The shop's sushi onesie costume has even appeared on Martha Stewart's show!

Violin Baby Costume  •  Chef Baby Costume  •  Ouija Board Baby Costume

Dress Up Wings

Black Swan Baby Costume  •  White Swan Baby Costume

Pineapple Baby Costume

Cactus Baby Costume  •  Cupid Wings

Murderino Costume  •  Record Player Costume  •  Nintendo Game Boy Costume

Sushi Baby Costume

Have you ever seen The Wishing Elephant shop before? Ever made your own baby costume? Which of these costumes would you love to own?

OBSESSED: Boopsie Daisy

Little Monsters Print Set

I don't take my obsessions lightly, nor do I feature a lot of Etsy shops here because there are just SO MANY good ones that I favorite and stalk on a regular basis, but Boopsie Daisy is Different with a capital "D". Boopsie Daisy (hmmm, I'll call it 'Boopsie' for short) is full of incredibly colorful kitschy art prints and illustrations featuring such fine sights as vintage kitties answering the phone, doll-faced mermaids, a cutesy deer wearing a strawberry as a hat and a cheeky baby face peering out hilariously from a pile of ridged potato chips. So, it might not be for everyone, but it's certainly for me!

The bright hues of pink, blue and orange catch your eye, while the drips of melting ice cream cones and heavily sprinkled donuts keep your attention. It's art with a sense of humor and a major sense of kitsch. I drool over the photography prints, but the dreamy illustrations (think winking cotton candy and high-school-era Bride of Frankenstein) are also completely original and often adorable. Plus, the prints come with amazing pun-filled names (you'll meet "Spag Eddie" and "Peteza" below) to keep the tongue-in-cheek theme going.

Potato Chip Print  //  Olivia Print

Broc Ollie Print  //  Spag Eddie Print

Diggin the Dog Print  //  Eat It Doll Up Print

Bun & Jerry Print  //  Cotton Candy Print

Triple Skewpie Print  //  Doughnt Eat Me Print

One Sweet Ride Print  //  Peas Eat Healthy Print

A Ghoul's Gotta Print  //  Deep Sea Print

Carolyn Guine Print  //  Sue Shi Print  //  Pam Cake Print
Cuke Amber Print  //  Cornelius Print  //  Marshmallows & Coco Print
YoGerti Print  //  Peteza Print  //  Caesar Sally Print

Described as "a 1950s diner on an acid trip," Boopsie's art is the perfect soft serve twist of creepy and cute, with just a bit of sweetness sprinkled on top. Check out the Boopsie Daisy Etsy shop and the Boopsie Daisy Flickr for more delightful wonders!

Do you like your art kitschy? Could you stand to have smiling doll heads all over your walls? What kind of fun art are you creeping on Etsy? Let me know in the comments so I can creep along with you!

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DIY: Sushi Costume

It's Halloween! Also known as my FAVORITE time of year and the only chance we get to wear costumes in public without getting...looks. I wish very much that there were WAY more opportunities for costumes throughout the year (we need at least a half-Halloween in April or something, right?) and I definitely plan to host costume parties JUST BECAUSE one day. This year I fulfilled a years-long desire to dress as a sushi roll because I finally found just the right styrofoam peanuts that look exactly like rice. Dream realized! Now you can do it too! You can also check out some of my past costume tutorials right here.

What You Need

Cardboard

Poster Board

Foam Pad

Black Tissue Paper

Glossy Mod Podge

Styrofoam Peanuts

Acrylic Paint

Hot Glue

Black Straps/Ribbon

Felt (optional)

Elastic (optional)

How To Make It

Cut two 18" cardboard circles and cut your filling pieces from the foam. 

Paint your foam filling pieces with acrylic paint and let dry.

Cut 4" wide strips from the poster board and paint them dark green. These will need to be long enough to go around the circumference of your cardboard circle. I made 5 total and used 2.5 for each sushi roll.

When dry, cover the poster board strip with Mod Podge and layer the black tissue paper over the glue. Smooth down and cover in another layer of Mod Podge. This gives the "seaweed" a super glossy green/black finish just like the real thing! 

Glue the foam pieces in the center of the cardboard circle. 

It helps to sketch a rough outline of where you want them to be before gluing.

Glue the styrofoam peanuts around the center pieces until the circle is completely covered.

Glue the poster board seaweed pieces around the edge of the cardboard circles, making sure to keep the edges flush. 

 To finish, add straps to the top and sides. Connect the 2 sushi pieces with the top shoulder straps and glue a side strap on the left and right side of each piece so that you can tie them together to keep the costume in place.

The Extras

 I also made some ginger and wasabi wrist pieces for some added flair. 

To make the "ginger" I cut out some pink felt circle shapes, folded them up and glued them to a felt base.

  For the "wasabi" I cut strips of green felt and just wrapped them 

around themselves into a blobby shape and glued in place.

  I also cut out some dark green grass shapes to mimic the plastic grass that usually comes with takeout sushi.

Glue all the pieces together to get some really weird corsages.

The Final Product

I wore some fun green and orange eye makeup and an up-do with chopsticks to top off this look.

Please, please, please share your costume - I'd love to know what you dressed as this year!

xoxo,
Michelle

Homemade Veggie Sushi Recipe & Tutorial

I adore veggie sushi and it's one of my top five most crave-able foods, so when I need a fix, I need a fix. I don't always feel like dropping a chunk of change for this somewhat pricey palate pleaser, so I usually whip up a few rolls at home. It's a lot easier than you might think and once you get the hang of it, you'll find yourself coming up with all kinds of creative fillings. Here's a quick rundown of how I make veggie sushi at home:

Ingredients
Short grain sushi rice (I used Sushi Chef brand)
Nori (I used Sushi Chef brand)
Seasoned Rice Vinegar
Fillings (I used an avocado, sweet potato and mango (not pictured)
Wasabi or wasabi paste made to package directions (optional)
Soy sauce (optional)
Pickled ginger (optional)
note: these ingredients are available in the Asian foods aisle at most regular grocery stores.

Supplies
Large cutting board
Sharp kitchen knife
Bamboo sushi rolling mat (I picked this up for around $2 at a kitchen supply store)
Plastic wrap

STEP 1: Prepare

Prepare sushi rice according to package directions. For 5 rolls (a whole package of nori sheets) I use about 2 cups of rice and 2 cups of water. When cooked, add 1 TBSP or so of seasoned rice vinegar into the rice and mix. Peel, chop and prep any veggies you are using for filling. I chopped the avocado and mango into about 1" pieces. I then chopped the sweet potato into about 1/2" pieces and fried it lightly in veggie oil for about 5 minutes, until soft on the inside and crispy on the outside.

STEP 2: Assemble the Rolls

Lay one nori sheet (shiny side down - yes, both sides are shiny, but one is shinier) lengthwise on top of the bamboo rolling mat. I lay a piece of plastic wrap on top of the mat before placing the nori because it makes for easier cleanup. Place the sushi rice on the nori sheet , covering it about 75% of the way with a thin coating of rice. Leave the rest of the sheet empty at the end furthest from you, as this part will be used to "seal" the roll when you're done. At the end closest to you, add your veggies in a line across your nori, right on top of the rice. If you have more than one veggie add it in another row above the first veggie.

STEP 3: Roll, Roll, Roll

You're ready to get rollin'! Pick up the end of the bamboo mat closest to you and curl it over with the nori, rice and fillings inside of it. Continue to roll the nori inside the mat, being careful not to actually get the mat incorporated into your sushi roll. The mat is more of a guide used to gradually roll the nori until only the empty portion of nori remains. Press this empty portion into the rest of the roll and it should stick to itself. I like to then place the mat over the top and sides of the roll and give it a gentle squeeze to sort of seal it all in. When you're done with all five rolls you should have something like this:

STEP 4: Slice 'Em Up

Are you still with me? Good! Now all you need to do is cut those rolls up. Place one roll on a cutting board and get your knife (super sharp is best) a little wet with a water soaked paper towel. This helps it cut into the nori more easily. Cut each roll into six even pieces. I usually cut it once in the center and cut each half into three pieces to make it a little easier. The smoother the cut the better, but sometimes a gentle sawing motion is needed.

STEP 5: Embellish, Eat & Enjoy

Pile up those pieces on a plate and enjoy with soy sauce, wasabi (I made mine from Sushi Chef brand wasabi powder) and/or pickled ginger. Enjoy!