Disney Gravity Falls Journal #3 DIY Costume Tutorial

My husband and I love the Disney Channel / Disney XD show Gravity Falls. We were planning a trip to Disney World in Orlando, Florida and in true Halloween spirit, planned to wear costumes. At first, my husband was going to be Dipper and I was going to be Wendy, but we thought perhaps it might be weird for children to see them kissing in the theme park. http://gravityfalls.wikia.com/wiki/File:S1e9_wendy_and_dipper.png

 I really wanted cute couple's costumes, but since Disney has not released enough GF merchandise yet, I knew it was going to be DIY. I kept asking myself who would Dipper's love be, and then it hit me; I would be Dipper's mysterious companion, his Journal. It requires a little bit of creative license and imagination, but overall I hope the costume at least alludes to the book. 

http://gravityfalls.wikia.com/wiki/File:S1e20_Secrets....PNG

First, I Google searched images of the journal and made a mental plan. I went to the mall looking for a plain red dress and after hours of searching, found this one at Forever 21. 

http://www.forever21.com/product/product2.aspx?Category=DRESS&ProductID=2000059273&VariantID=02&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_term=&utm_campaign=PLA_GSC_F21&utm_content=g_56851471638_pla&mr:trackingCode=772D8C23-0A11-E411-9728-001B21BCC0BC&mr:referralID=NA&mr:device=t&mr:adType=pla&mr:ad=56851471638&mr:keyword=&mr:match=&mr:filter=89025193398&gclid=COfIrJStqsICFeJF7AodQw4AkA

When I got home, I printed the image of the six-fingered hand on an inkjet iron-on transfer for dark fabrics. 

http://www.michaels.com/transfer-paper-light-dark/10274074.html

I cut out the shape and then following the instructions, ironed the shape onto the dress.

I left the iron on a little too long so that the red started bleeding through. Luckily, I had a gold Sharpie paint pen lying around and used it on the dress, which actually made it look better.

For the final touches, I accessorized with a red lip and a gold necklace with tassels that looked like the bookmark. 

My husband of course got ready in less than two minutes and we went to Magic Kingdom.

We had a great time, saw a few other Dippers, and even one Grunkle Stan, went to the Haunted Mansion twice, and ended our day with a picture at the iconic Cinderella's castle. 

We cannot wait for the next episode to crack another code and get closer to solving the mysteries of Gravity Falls.

(P.S. My husband has a twin sister, who we're hoping will dress up as Mabel next time :) ) 

(P.P.S. I put it in the washing machine and it came out just fine)

Cheap Easy College Meals

As a first year graduate student, I am now accustomed to the "cheap meal" mantra that most poor college students are indoctrinated with. I can track my experiments/experiences from freshman year to now in balancing how not to starve while at the same time not breaking the bank. First it was dining hall and Ramen noodles, then it was PB&J and turkey and cheese sandwiches, then it was buy everything at Subway, and now I'm actually attempting to learn how to cook. It is a slow and tedious process made more annoying by how many fresh ingredients are required for a lot of recipes! I decided it was important that I share with the world my cheap/easy recipes for poor college students.

*With all of these recipes I recommend drinking with fruit juice or V8 Fusion to hit all your basic food groups*

Chicken Meatballs with Pasta alla Vodka
Olive Oil
1 Egg
Ground Chicken (or other meat)
Salt
Pasta (Fettucine, Spaghetti, etc.)
Vodka Sauce (or other flavors of pasta sauce)

Meatballs:

1 Place ground chicken, egg, and 1/2 tsp salt in a medium bowl. 

2 Knead mixture together with hand until evenly combined. 

3 Form mixture into 1-inch balls. (2-inch patties for recipe below)

4 In large non-stick skillet, warm olive oil over high heat. 

5 Place meatballs in pan, up to 8 at a time, and cook until all sides are browned, approximately 8 minutes for each meatball. 

 

Pasta:

1. Cook pasta as directed on box

2. Add sauce and meatballs and enjoy!

(This recipe is a cheaper, easier adaptation of the delicious recipe provided by user Hep Mep at: http://www.food.com/recipe/chicken-meatballs-for-spaghetti-and-meatballs-52420)

 

Leftover Meatball Sliders

 Leftover chicken meatballs/patties

Hawaiian rolls (or your favorite bread/roll/biscuit)

Block of favorite cheese

Lettuce or Spinach

Miracle Whip (or your favorite condiment)

 

1. Take leftover meatballs out of the fridge and heat up in the microwave for approximately 15 seconds.

2. Break apart Hawaiian roll.

3. Spread Miracle Whip, cut a few pieces of cheese, and assemble sandwiches.

Grilled Chicken (best on George Foreman Grill)

Chicken Breasts/ Filets/ or Cutlets

Olive Oil

Frozen Broccoli

Shredded Cheese

alternate version: barbecue sauce

1. Soak raw chicken in olive oil.

2. Grill chicken

3. Sprinkle cheese on top and watch it melt or smother in barbecue sauce

4. Pour frozen broccoli cuts in a microwave-safe bowl, pour in a couple of teaspoons of water, and heat in microwave for 4 minutes.

5. Take out of the microwave and sprinkle cheese on broccoli for delicious side.

Everything Salad

 Lettuce or Spinach

Cheese

Fruit or vegetables you bought that week (apples, grapes, strawberries, red bell pepper, etc.)

Leftover Grilled Chicken

Raspberry Vinaigrette (or salad dressing of your choice)

1. Cut up fruits and veggies and assemble all ingredients in bowl and enjoy!

Veggie Scramble

2 Eggs

Bag of Frozen Vegetables (Seasoning Blend and Spinach) and any fresh vegetables you bought

Milk

Shredded Cheese

1. Heat up skillet/pan and spray with non-stick spray.

2. Pour out some spinach and other vegetables and cook

3. Stir eggs and a little bit of milk together in bowl

4. Pour egg mixture into skillet

5. Push corners and flip for scrambled eggs

6. Sprinkle shredded cheese on top and enjoy!

Other Recommendations for snacks/meals:

Mrs. T's Spinach and Feta Pierogies (cook as directed and smother in butter :)

Mac and Cheese (just need milk and butter)

Fiber One Cereal (just need milk)

Yogurt Granola Parfaits (2.99 at Publix)

Hard Boiled Eggs (just need salt)

 

*Note: I like things pretty bland but a dash of Everglades seasoning on a lot of these goes a long way for me. Obviously each recipe can be expanded and improved upon, but I've found these to be cheap, fast, easy and tasty.

HTML5, Websites, and More

I definitely want to jump on the HTML5 bandwagon, and for my internship I've been looking for a page flip animation via HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript. Not only does http://www.20thingsilearned.com/ tell the history of the internet, but if you use Firefox>Tools>Web Developer>Page Source you can get a sense of how they made this animation. http://www.html5rocks.com/en/tutorials/casestudies/20things_pageflip/ also breaks down the code, gives a zip source code folder, and demos a much simpler version of the code. However, it still doesn't look as good as Flash and seems to only be able to put content on the recto (right) page for each spread.
Fellow Digital Arts Media Network Member Jason typed on our Facebook page some really helpful notes on HTML5 and Processing (an open source processing language used for graphics and animations) that I thought I'd share in this post.
"I figured out how to put processing projects straight onto the web without having to do that crappy export as an applet solution. With HTML5 you can literally just inject them into the canvas tag just as easily as you load pictures on the web with an <img src> tag. All you have to do is load the processing.js file in the header of your page, like this:
<script type="text/javascript" src="scripts/processing.js"></script>
You download the processing.js file at the website processingjs.org, and then to load your processing projects into it, you just have a folder with the processing project .pde file (exactly like you have it in your processing sketchbook) and just put it into the canvas like this:
<canvas data-processing-sources="processingprojecthere/processingprojecthere.pde"></canvas>
And it should work perfectly. Some things to note though that I have figured out are: to load images, webcam, and extras like that, you need to have some more specific code, examples are on the processingjs.org website.And most importantly, IT WORKS ON MOBILE DEVICES!"
Thanks Jason!
It stinks that Flash doesn't work on Apple devices and the page flip by http://www.megazine3.de/home.html that I use for my website doesn't show up on my iPad.
My friend Ryan's website looks really good right now with HTML5: http://www.ryanrudock.com/ using jQuery. 
For my internship I've also been playing around with green screen effects and happily re-found another former Digital Arts Media Network member's site : http://www.adamdthomas.com/VideoBank/ which has stationary green screen videos to play with. http://www.hollywoodcamerawork.us/greenscreenplates.html has free green screen video in motion to practice with as well.
I look forward to updating my website to work with multiple devices and browsers.

Dolled Up: Designing an Oversized Dollhouse

My clothing order from Victoria's Secret came in and I was super excited to try everything on. Sadly the fit was not what I hoped for but I'm hoping with some accessories and maybe if they shrink a little in the wash it will be the perfect attire for my first university teaching assignment. I tried all the tops on with a silk black skirt and luckily it goes with pretty much everything.
I also went to Michael's Arts and Crafts Store to look for home decor that fits in with my theme of "Oversized Dollhouse." I already have a large lime green shoe-shaped chair, a life-sized mannequin, two giant teacup shaped planters and now I have giant clothespins! I think I want to design oversized buttons and bows for the wall, maybe using a laser-cutter and some paint :) I also saw a huge stop watch at Bealls Outlet which maybe could fit into an Alice in Wonderland twist on the theme!

Petite Professional Fashion

Since I am 5'4" and have a small frame, I have been having a hard time finding clothes that fit me this season. Everything seems to be flowy, loose, and large. I also dislike floral, animal, and horizontal stripe patterns which also knocks out quite a bit of clothing to choose from. To build up my professional wardrobe, I have been looking for blouses and shirts to go under suits. I have grey, brown, and black slacks as well as brown and black suit jackets (I got a lot of great deals on brand names like Ralph Lauren and Banana Republic at a Goodwill and a bazaar in Maryland when I was visiting my family for Spring Break). I went to Belk and got a couple of neon tank tops in green and pink, went to Kohl's and got a white and black striped skirt, and purchased two black belts from White House Black Market. Victoria's biggest secret is that they actually sell more than just lingerie! Online I ordered some fitted button shirts and a dress so I hope that the sizes fit! I still need to find some professional looking shoes. My shoe of choice is the Flojos fake leather flip flop, which I don't think will pair well with a suit :( I'm quite terrible in pumps and my favorite flats brand, Rocket Dog, started making their shoes narrower and narrower, so I need to find a new fave flat. Online at dsw.com, the Fergalicious and the Dollhouse flats look promising. I hope I can find ways to make my individual pieces versatile and when Fall comes, I'll probably look into leggings.

Preliminary Pro(b)logue

Now that I've received my B.A. in English and B.F.A. in Art & Technology (May 2012), I'm preparing for graduate school at the University of Florida. I am currently pursuing a Master of Arts in English and will hopefully to continue my education to receive a Ph.D. and become an English professor. My posts will most likely vary from academic to fashion to photography and design as well as more personal interests. I will admit to having girly interests (ANTM and Pride and Prejudice among them), but I am also interested in digital advances, action/adventure movies, and college football. I am currently preparing to teach ENC3254 and co-teach ENC1101 in the fall and am also nearly finished with my Tutor Training with Kaplan for the SAT and the ACT. I'm also seeking out a more professional wardrobe which is proving to be challenging as the season's trends are less than becoming on a petite frame. I'm currently converting old files from my PC to my Mac and am sorting through many files and folders. The documentation of my trip to the Butterfly Rainforest at the Florida Museum of Natural History (my friends all know I have lepidophobia) never made it to the world wide web, so I thought I would share a few of those photos here.