Saturday, November 1, 2008

Project Kitchen Table




Last night while trick or treating my eight year old daughter looked fierce in her homemade skeleton costume. She decided months ago that she wanted us to make a "cute skeleton" for her to wear on Halloween. We promptly spent $15 on a black sweatsuit and gloves and white craft foam at WalMart with vague ideas of sewing something soon. That was a whole lot of procrastination ago, as I hate to sew and I shouldn't do it when my children are around as there is a great deal of cursing involved. Perhaps that's why I so adore Project Runway. I am in awe of the designers. It really is the best tv reality show ever, bar none.
We lived out our own version here in my kitchen two weeks ago. A friend of my daughter's called to invite her to an impromptu costume party in about 36 hours! It was like Heidi Klum issuing the challenge, and of course, the ultimate auf weidersehen is to disappoint your child. No time for how-to books from the library. Where did we turn? http://familyfun.go.com/ that's where. I can't recommend it highly enough for parents searching for reasonable, do-able craft, costume, and party ideas. We printed out a bone template for a Mr. Rattles costume, and my husband and I set to "making it work." He cut out the bones and I sewed them on. My third grader provided several Tim Gunn moments, cruising past the kitchen table and applying her critical eye to the creation. She felt a skull mask would be too much and not in keeping with the "cute skeleton" concept. Unlike some of the designers on Project Runway, I took the advice of my pint-sized Tim Gunn to heart. As she headed off to the party in black lipstick and white hairspray, carrying a self-designed "bag of bones," she owned that look.
The whole experience and its Project Runway parallels has me wondering what books did Tim Gunn enjoy as a child? Did any of them influence his impeccable taste and style aesthetic from a young age?

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