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Halloween brings out the crafter in us all.

Somehow October flew by me at unprecedented speeds, and because of this I didn’t have a lot of time to hype myself up for it. The pressure of trying to put together a costume and something to bring to the work bakesale probably helped me with my creativity. With no time to languish in creative-thinking hell, I set straight to it.

Firstly, my Halloween costume:

Rabbid & Manny Calavera

That is me as a Rabbid (from Rayman Raving Rabbids fame), and my boyfriend as Manny Calavera from Grim Fandango.  I wore this to work but did not win any costume prizes. However, I got some wonderful responses while out on the street and was in more than a few strangers photos! I’d love to see them, but have no way of finding them. If you were out near kensington in Toronto and took a pic of/with me I’d love to see it!

This is what I used to make the costume:

• Posterboard
• Felt
• Acrylic Paint
• Styrofoam balls
• leggings/leg warmers
• and old shirt
• papier mache (over a balloon)
• a lot of moxie (and tape)

Basically I created a large tube to sit on my shoulders out of the posterboard, cut out an area for the face and taped it up. Then I stuck an inflated balloon into the top and papier mache’d over it so the dome would be joined to the tube. I used sharpies and paint on the eyes, and the same for the mouth/face area.  It’s a bit hard to see but I did even have a plunger! Bwaaah!

The other craft item I made was the Pumpkin Cake:

Pumpkin-o-lantern Cake

It was made using 2 betty crocker cake mixes (French Vanilla for the Pumpkin, Chocolate for the dirt patch), home made cream cheese frosting + a can of store bought chocolate frosting, oreo cookie crumbs and fondant.

Using a sphere cake pan, we carved out the shape of a pumpkin, covered it with fondant and used the end of a knife to score the lines. We added the stem and the vine and put it on the the base, which was covered in oreo cookie crumbs for the ‘dirt’ effect. It was my first time covering a cake and fondant and I think it worked so well because pumpkins are lumpy by nature.

I’ve decided that I need to craft something once a month. Since there are no major holidays in November, I’m not sure where my inspiration will come from but hopefully I’ll find it.

Happy Halloween!

Pac-Man Sugar Cookies!

Earlier this week with the help of my good friend K, I created these Pac-Man sugar cookies:

Picture taken by Shaun Hatton

I got the idea from the great blog Snack or Die.  The same place where I got the idea/instructions for my rabbid cookies.

These took longer than I would have liked but I learned a lot. We had watered down the royal icing to flood the cookies, but we had frozen them afterwards. When they came out of the freezer they started to melt and we had to let them air dry again to get that nice hard coating. So freezing = bad idea.

One of the best things about baking, other than the fun, and eating it afterwards is giving the baked goods away. Everyone loves receiving a treat and it’s nice to see smiles on people’s faces.  I gave a bunch of these guys to Shaun Hatton over at Toronto Thumbs, and he made a little post about it! So, what better time than now to direct you to the wonderful Toronto based game blog he is a part of! Check it out!

Now I’m off to think of my next video game related cookie project. I’ll keep you updated

Anitabot in Little Big Planet (aka my ultimate reality)

A few weeks ago Baron bought a PS3, complete with flagship game Little Big Planet. This game isn’t new so I’m going to save the review, other than saying it’s quite possible this game was made for ME.

It is the purest manifestation of fun, and is the reality I have choosen to inhabit latley.

Baron and I technically finished the game (I kept dying on the later levels), and have gone back to re-play levels go collect all the goodies. We don’t have it all, but we’re working on it.

For now, I’d like to present to you: MY SACKGIRL!

She is the best.

Japanese Lionhead Bunny

This picture brings me so much happiness.

Here is a nice couples photo of Baron and myself as sack-people. It’s fairly accurate.

Baron & Anitabot in Sack

Pure. Brilliance.

Tags: little big planet, ps3, sackboy, sackgirl

Rehab patients benefit from Animal Crossing City Folk

This commercial for the Animal Crossing City Folk game is beyond ridiculous. The only thing more boring than this commercial is the game itself. I have often wondered what is wrong with these women. They seem like they are… drugged, on valium.

And then it hit me! They are! In fact, I believe that they are so addicted to drugs that they are actually in some posh rehab centre and are not allowed to leave. This is why they must do all the normal things through a boring game. They’re allowed to play Animal Crossing because it’s SO boring that even the most OCD mind couldn’t become addicted to it! hah!

What do you think? Fancy rehab? No?

I do realize this is a popular title – but it bored me to tears. And I wanted to like it. I mean look how cute it is. I’ve mentioned how cuteness is a high priority for games (and everything in my life). Cuteness couldn’t save it. Which is sad.

Tags: animal crossing, Games, video games