1. Crayola makeup - you heard me. Not crayons, but markers. The eraseable kind not only erase off of paper, also off skin. I used them to add blush and eyeshadow, which as a young teen it was a thrill
2. Button earrings - Ok this might sound odd, but I'm talking about pearl buttons (the ones on fancy shirts). Where did I obtain these you might ask? Well I used to be a janitor for a major retail clothing store, which means I had all the opportunities in the world to pickup buttons that fell off shirts.
3. Sewing my own dress - That's right, and where might I have gotten the material? Old pair of jeans. I totally sewed my own jean dress, and it wasn't half bad. I measured my body the best I could, and after cutting out the shape (and sewing the legs together), I sewed up the sides. It actually turned out semi-decent, sort of wish I had actually kept it.
4. Paper eyelashes - Take a black marker, make some rectangular boxes on a piece of white paper, cut it out, then cut the slits (lashes). Granted it ends up looking a little cartoony, it's quite dramatic. I've also a few times created quick mascara by cutting out a strip of black electrical tape.
5. Underwear bra - that's right, you can make a bra out of men's underwear (saw this on a website a long time ago). it actually turns out reasonably good too.
6. aluminum artificial nails - My dad once acquired a bunch of scrap aluminum from a police auction (dirt cheap too, like for less than the scrap was worth if you recycled it). We made all sorts of stuff out of it, cases mostly. Then I got this great idea to make artificial nails out of it. It was thin enough, i just had to cut out the shapes, and then bend them a little. They actually turned out fairly good I must say. I ended up painting them a gloss red after I sanded them smooth. One nice thing about them is they never broke or split. I do remember one time I used a little too much superglue and had issues getting them off (I think I took off a layer of nail). Thank goodness I never got an infection, try to explain that to your dad.
I remember trying to do these kind of things, but with much less success! I once made a miniskirt out of a pair of jeans, but it didn't turn out that well.
ReplyDeleteAmazing the distance one's mania can push creativity and resourcefulness. Thanks for sharing. I love to hear these early stories of how individuals dealt with the cravings and isolation before the internet. Who among us didn't believe they had to be the biggest freak alive?
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