My Final Reveal: Spending, Supplies & Solutions

I grew up in a family of eight.  I really hate spending money.  I used to love spending money because I grew up with very little of it.  I've become a tightwad in my old age.  I've spent $112.72 in less than 24 hours for supplies for this costume.  I know; it'll all pay off.  But I'm still a little bitchy about spending money.

Yesterday Andrew picked up some gold fabric paint for the designs on the panels.  He picked up what appeared to be two different kinds of paint (one said metallic & came in a six-pack with other paints, the other said glitter).  He discovered they were the same paint upon getting them home.  (Unfortunately, not all stores permit returns and exchanges, so this will just fall into the overbuying category, like all the glitter and paintbrushes I bought but didn't use for my shoes.)  He also got brushes with good tips to make the painting easier.  That was a $24.95 trip.

Today I picked up some rhinestones so I could power through the yoke embellishments this weekend.  Last night I worked out how I can vary the stones when I was hanging out with costume buddy Evie Lovelle.  My first stop at Bohemian Crystal was a challenge because they didn't have the AB stones in the small size I really needed.  I still spent $28.75 on Preciosa stones (my weapon of choice because they look nice and cost less than Swarovskis).  I popped next door to Beads & More to try to get my 3 mm (ss10) AB stones.  They had them in 10 gross packs ... for $46 a pack.  The lady behind the counter tried to justify the ridiculous price (3mm stones -- seriously?) by saying they were Swarovski.  I turned her down on those and bought some other stones for $26.06.  (Yes, they were Swarovski but they were the big ones they didn't have next door.)  I still didn't have my 20 gross of 3mm stones.  I crossed the street and checked the shelves of Nova.  They had a sign that advertised Korean rhinestones.  They had my stones (not AB though) for $2.33 a gross, same price for hotfix (glue baked on the back) as for plain stones.  I grabbed 20 packets and headed for the counter.  The clerk offered me two 10 gross packs of the same stones for $29.80.  Hell yes!  Sure, they're Clarus stones.  They're also 3mm so they don't have to be incredibly brilliant.  I blew $88.62 on stones today.

I didn't include the cost of my hotfix tool ($24.95) in my spending for this costume.  I bought it so I have more tools at home, but I needed it immediately for this project.  It works pretty well, but I'm still getting used to it.

Last night I had my Evie time, drinking wine and solving costume problems.  She had some wonderful tracing paper that helped me transfer the design to the yoke.  I also got the crazy-making design put on a sheet the length of each panel to make painting easier.  I managed to work out my rhinestone shopping list as well.  I spent an hour working on the costume (and plenty more shooting the shit).

Today's shopping took 40 minutes.  I'm okay with the flat stones mixed with the AB, and the varying quality of stones I purchased.  When I got home, I spent an hour with the hotfix tool and put rhinestones on the yoke.

I got the snappers transferred and have a solution for the crazy design on the panels.  I'm ready for a nap after the problem solving, but I don't have time to sleep yet.  "No rest for the wicked, Red," my dad always said.

Total spent so far: $331.22 and 30:35.