Bringing Mechalarum to Life in a Whole New Way

If you've been visiting my blog for a while, you'll know that I like to make homemade costumes. The parts involving fabric are interesting and all, but the stuff that really gets me going is building models of items out of a few simple and easily accessible materials.

I used this technique to create the gun for my Sarah Connor costume (and ended up crafting something so realistic, I got a little freaked out carrying it around on Halloween). It's actually based on the rapid prototyping skills I learned while getting my degree in product design - with a little foam core, hot glue, and electrical tape, you can mock up just about anything :)

Anyway, I decided that I wanted to make a stylized model of the Mechalarum suit, both because it's fun and because I figure I might drum up some more interest in my novel by wandering around New York dressed in a strange manner (though I'm sure I won't be the strangest one out there).

If you're interested, here's a bit of a look into my construction process. It's a really fun thing to do. You'd be surprised at the kinds of things you can create with some imagination and a few simple materials! Feel free to ask me questions in the comments below.

Working On Niches: Backyard Weddings and Homemade Costumes

Phew, I've been busy lately! No, I didn't have a wedding; but my sister did, and I was there to plan, assist, and document every step of the way. Which is a good thing, because I was working so hard that I didn't even have a chance to think, and I can't even remember parts of it due to all the stress!

I learned so much during the process of planning and executing this backyard wedding that I just had to share. For example, I never knew there was quite so much involved in making nice-looking table settings, or that decorating wedding cupcakes isn't quite as easy as it looks. We tried some things that were decidedly non-traditional, such as growing our own wedding flowers; we were also happy to give some non-traditional things like having your dog at the wedding a miss. Finally, working out the wedding budget was a big part of making sure that we kept things affordable.

You can find a complete list of all my thoughts, hints, tips and suggestions here: How to Plan a Backyard Wedding.

Creating all of these mini-sites on Squidoo has meant that I've moved firmly into the backyard wedding niche. I'm excited to explore this are in the future, and see what else I can contribute.

As for an older niche - homemade costumes - working on the wedding stuff has meant less time for that. However, I'm really happy to add How To Make a Punk Costume and Nerd Halloween Costume Ideas to my existing list (which already includes such wildly popular items as How To Make a Viking Costume and Homemade Rockstar Costume Ideas).

I'll get more into building niches and working as an online entrepreneur (which has a lot of overlap with freelance writing) in a future post. For now, hope you enjoy the fruits of my labor, and please let me know if you have any questions!