Halloween makeup for the procraftinator

The Alaska Crafter column is back!  Check it out in its print edition in today's Juneau Empire, or read on for a last minute halloween fix!

Here we are again Juneau, another blustery year gone by and October ushering in the crafter’s most hectic holiday, Halloween. If you’re anything like me you’re aflutter with a mixture of trepidation and excitement brought on by a little thing I like to call procraftination. Yes, the fine art of waiting till the 11th hour to whip together your Halloween costume. I hear you protest, that has never been me! Hah! Even the most dedicated and honed crafter has slipups — some years the Halloween deadline approaches and we all find ourselves sheepishly in the ransacked costume aisle with no supplies, no shipping options and a touch of panic.

Never fear, the Alaska Crafter will help set you back on track! Years of self-inflicted procraftination mean I know every trick of the trade to make it appear as if I did not wait until the last minute to hastily assemble my costume. And this year’s secret weapon . . . makeup.

Makeup can be transformative in a very efficient amount of time, is readily abundant and if you can channel your inner artist a few hours before the big spook night you may just be able to convince your friends and family that you are not a procraftinator, which seems like the best of all possible solutions to never repeat that word again. Ever.

Alaska Crafter’s 6 Steps to Makeup Success

1. Plan: Whether you’re a ghoul, goblin, vixen or vampire, you’ll need a little bit of research to keep you on track. Find an image of your ideal makeup and keep it handy. Map out your makeup beforehand by drawing an outline of your face and the general sketch of the design you’d like to apply on paper first so you have it as a reference.

Check out more after the jump

Hair-Beards, Halloween and Fame

This is a long-belated post about my foray into the world of fame via a beard and some beer.
Just to start with a visual . . .

For halloween one year while working at the Alaskan Brewing Co., I came to work dressed as an old man complete with union suit, Elmer Fudd hat and a beard crafted from my own hair. I have to say the hair beard was a winning look and quite easy to put together.  Tutorial to follow ;)

In comes craftbeer.com to the story - the crew at Craft Beer created a contest for the "Beards of the Brewing Industry", and I was submitted (along with a few other locals) to rep Alaskan.  In my bio I wrote  “I want to win to give hope to the scraggly, the patchy, the peach-fuzzed, the thin and under-bearded and the naturally beardless masses of the brewing industry!”, because who better than a woman in a union suit to do exactly that?

Well, did I win?  

My last min costume

Well, for all the advice I doled out for what to be for halloween, Cap'n and I left ours until Friday afternoon, yup- ridiculous.  Thank goodness for the Salvation Army!

 After scoping the scene Cap'n found this random jacket and everything came together around it's plaidness.  As a couple of hot retirees, aka "snow birds" around here, we like to move south to the sunny land for the winter.  Can you tell from our fabulous tan?? HAhah!

I never knew I could be this scary!!!! Hahahha- hope this little peek helps you realize that even the crafty throw it together at the last minute.  The most amazing costume we saw throughout the evening was the Edward Scissorhands costume made by a fab friend- wowza, apparently that is what comes with preparation.  Maybe next year . . .