Snapper Rewedding: All the Grooms

My Snapper grooms are finally finished.  I used the same process for these that I did for the brides.  I embellished them with tiny plastic top hats.  I had intended to put bowties on them, but I couldn't find ready-made bows that would work.  I tried gluing tiny ribbon bands around the hats, but hot glue is a bit of a disaster when you're working in such a small scale.  I then bought tiny ribbon flowers in hopes I could glue them to the top hats, but they were way too big to look right.  Next to the brides, Andrew thought they look complete enough.  I agree that they make a nice pair.

So how did I make these little finger puppets?  I'll tell you because you never know when you'll need a bunch of tiny finger puppets for a fairly low price.  I turned every glove inside out and ran a line of anti-fray adhesive along the bottom of each finger.  I did one side then the other, then I touched up the sides.  Once the glue was completely dry, I cut each finger on or just below the glue line with scissors.  The job was a bit too delicate for me to use my rotary cutter.  I turned the fingers inside out and hot glued on the features.  It's pretty tough to work with hot glue and such tiny features, so I recommend having plenty of patience as you work through any kind of small scale project like this.

I have one more favor arriving for the favor boxes and I think the wedding favors will be complete.  I located mini takeout boxes in the right colors on Oriental Trading's website that I'll have to order in the coming weeks.  Maybe I can use the ribbon flowers on those.

My Final Reveal: It Is Finished

Cell phone pic courtesy Mr. Snapper

Two more hours of fixing the hem, adding a few extra stones to the edges of the bra, and putting bows on the shoes.  $5.98 for bows.  The costume was finally finished in time for last night's show.  I don't know that I'll add any more embellishments to it.

Total spent to date: $224.05 and 46:30.

I learned a lot during this process, as I always do when I take on a new challenge.  I'm glad I had the unembellished garments done as early in the process as possible so I could choreograph with the actual garments.  I'm glad I experimented with even more texture: appliques with fabric paint, beading and rhinestones.  I used cheap non-skid pads on the shoes and they kept slipping out of place, so I know now to spend more than a dollar on my non-skid pads.  Once again I realized it takes a very short amount of time to build the garments and way longer to embellish them.

The next "Final Reveal" series may just be guest posts from Mr. Snapper as he puts together a new Batman costume for the burlesque show he's doing in San Diego for Comic-Con.  While it's not going to be a striptease costume, it will still require the same problem solving skills and wise budgeting that any costume does.

Topless Vlog #29

Latest vlog is here!

In this episode, I look smart (wearing glasses) while talking about an upcoming debut and rewedding tasks.

My Final Reveal: Last Looks

Happy marker trails on my panties

I've been working on the finishing touches the past couple days.  I basted then machine stitched the lingerie elastic onto the wings of the bra so they have a little more color.  I may add a few rhinestones to the elastic here and there, but I probably won't reach that decision until after the number's debut.

I had an interesting time figuring out what to do on the pasties and panties.  I decided to take the doodle & flower motif from the applique trim and do it in rhinestones and fabric paint.  In order to have an even distribution of doodles and flowers, I used my water-soluble marking pen to determine the placement of the flowers first. I painted the flowers and thought about how I would address the rest of the design while the paint dried.  I penned in the doodles then began rhinestoning.  Once all the glue was dry, I rinsed the marker out of the pasties.  I used the same motif on the panties, painting the bases with floral spray paint first.

All that remains is adding a few stones to the top of the bra and putting bows on the shoes.  Whew!

Total spent to date: $218.07 and 44:30.

Snapper Rewedding: Snapper's Getting Serious

Teenagers in love, 1993

A borrowed dress.  A loaned bouquet.  A choir tuxedo.  Cakes from my mother-in-law's co-worker.  Kismet location that my father coincidentally was putting the roof on when my mother went into labor with me.  Things fell into place for us when we were married in 1993.

We didn't register for our wedding.  I didn't care about dishes or matching linens.  I was fine sleeping on Batman sheets in a twin bed where we had to squeeze two pillows side by side.  I knew we needed plastic containers for leftovers.  (I came from a large family.  It took a long time for me to learn how to cook for two.)  I didn't know what to do with a crock pot (much less two of them).  We just took what we got, used what we could, and returned a lot of gifts to the store to help us pay for food and rent when we first hit university.

The rewedding is different.  We've registered with Macy's and we're adding gifts to the registry every day.  We know what we need to run an adult household so we're not asking for Twister or a Power Rangers shower curtain.  Everything is practical.  It took twenty years to reach this kind of practicality.

While we've registered for practical gifts, our event will still hold some impractical, youthful delight.  I'm in the process of making 200 finger puppets: 100 Snapper brides and 100 Snapper grooms.  Our Crocodile Rock number marries Andrew's love of puppets with my love of fabulousness, and we invite the audience to share in our loves and ridiculousness with Snapper hand puppets to sing along.  We hear tales from people who have these silly giveaway puppets about how our Snappers have become part of their lives.  Some keep them on shelves with treasured possessions, others tell about how their children enjoy the puppets, and we hear tale of pets having a fondness for these little guys.

Snapper brides

To that end, we're populating our favor packs with one bride and one groom to go forth and penetrate even more lives with Snapperocity.  I've been working on the brides this week.  Because we're making so many and there isn't a planned sing along in the rewedding, we decided to make finger puppets instead of hand puppets.  Each bride is wearing a veil and a coral bow.  I'll start on the grooms next week.

I have no idea how many wedding favors are appropriate per guest.  We had no favors at our teenage wedding.  Since our rewedding is going to be a show (with admission so the performers are compensated), I want the guests to leave with a pocket full of treasures to remember their participation in our celebration.

My Final Reveal: Down Time

I'm a huge fan of taking full advantage of one's down time.  Work hard, play hard.  I'm fortunate that I can pack up little projects and work on them in my down time at the ol' day job.

Today I dealt with the problem of my loose shoes.  I cut two pieces of felt-backed lingerie elastic and glued each inside a shoe.  They're pulled a little tight so they hold the shoes in place.  I hot glued the elastic on each side, then touched up the middle so I don't slip my foot through the elastic when I put the shoes back on in my choreography.  With my heel cushions sitting in the back of the shoe, I did a fitting.  I then applied the adhesive heel cushions when I knew the fit was good.  I'm going to cover the elastic with a couple more bows when I pick them up.

I attached the clip to the back of the frouffy bow and put rhinestones on the flower.  I still have to drop a seam in the elastic that will hold the flower. That will finish up the hair accessories.  Today's projects took about thirty minutes.

Total spent to date: $218.07 and 39:30.

Topless Vlog #28

Latest topless vlog is here!

I talk about the newest number and upcoming shows, her part (with the pups) in the Wild Things book, and the upcoming Snapper Rewedding.

LINKS:
5/20 Monday Night Tease
Wild Things: Burlesque Beauties & the Pets They Love
5/10 Burlesque Goes Pop
Bathhouse Soapery & Caldarium

My Final Reveal: Bussy & Hair Doodles

Here is my little Bussy and my hair doodles.  I took this before he started wiggling because he was overwhelmed by the fabulousness.

I needed two hair accessories for this piece.  One of them is removed during the number, the second stays in my hair for the duration of the number.  I spent thirty minutes testing potential bits to see what looked good together, and to see what looked best with my final reveal panties.  I replaced the stones on one of the bows I bought and stitched a spare chunk of boa to the back.  Once it's glued to a clip, that will be the piece that stays in my hair.  I cut a length of lingerie elastic leftover from the top of my girdle skirt to turn into a headband.  I attached a spare flower I purchased when I bought the applique trim, and I may add a few rhinestones to the flower to unify the two hair accessories.  The headband will be removed during the number.

I may just buy a couple more of those ready-made bows for the shoes because they're the perfect color.

Total spent to date: $218.07 and 39:00.

My Final Reveal: Strides & Speed Bumps

Six hours over three days.  The hand beading is finished.  The rhinestoning is mostly finished.  The choreography is finished (but that's a separate time log).  Holy cow.  I've made some great strides on this project.

In the top of the photo, you can see the trim on the edge of the robe's bodice.  I originally intended to fully encrust the trim with stones, then I realized that many stones would significantly alter the weight of the robe.  I decided to make it less sparkly so the garment would maintain its shape and wouldn't be much heavier.  I used the rest of my leftover 16ss sun AB stock to start the inner edge of the curve.  I had some leftover 30ss padparadscha that I used on the outer curve.  I ran out of both and hit the rhinestone store early yesterday morning.

This was my first speed bump.  I could easily get the sun AB and the light rose AB I used on the top curve of the bra appliques, but the stores I hit were all out of padparadscha in the size I needed.  At one of the stores I was asked why I wanted to use such an unpopular color.  I was a little dumbstruck by the question.  It can't be that uncommon, can it?  And why would I want to use the most popular rhinestone color?  I'm not the girl who wears black and red costumes, so I'm not the girl who's going to stock up on the most popular rhinestone colors.  I spent $46.77 in stores and another $12.50 on the internet so I'd have the stones in time to finish the collar before the May 20th debut.  I did pick up some 16ss padparadscha that I used to pop the appliques a bit more.

I picked up a couple coral bows from the wedding section of a craft store for possible use on the costume.  I can't decide if I want to put one in the center of the bra or not.  That was an additional $5.98.  I'm probably going to put the bows on the backs of my shoes, which means I'll buy a couple more bows if I want to put one on the bra.  The wedding section is fantastic for merch packaging, sparkly accessories, and clever embellishments.

My second speed bump is my shoes.  The silhouette is perfect, but the fit isn't ideal.  They're a bit loose in the heel.  I spent $9.55 on heel grips, pads for the ball of the toe, and traction stickers for the soles.  I have a little more to do with them in hopes I can get them to work.  It's tricky to buy shoes over the internet.  I wish I'd tried on this brand in a store beforehand so I'd know how the brand fit my foot so I could order a smaller size (if it would fit).

My rhinestone shopping was more efficient than ever.  I measured each surface that needed to be covered, then divided that number by the size of rhinestones I wanted to use.  If you try this technique, I recommend measuring in centimeters; you can find the diameter of individual stones in terms of millimeters.  I have few leftovers from my project.

Total spent to date: $218.07 and 38:30.