Craftiness and Musical Theatre Come together to make Willy Wonka Magic.

You might remember this post about the performing arts studio I went to as a kid.  It's called The Music Room and I am so lucky to have grown up in such a supportive loving fun environment. They are now in their 25th year and running stronger than ever.  Now, I'm back at The Music Room as a teacher/director.
 
The production of Willy Wonka Jr. I co-directed and choreographed opened last night at the Fairmont Private School in Anaheim. They were serious Rock Stars!

 We have 2 more shows and they are almost sold out!

With only three weeks to put up the show, we did some seriously collaborating.  Here's how we made a few of the tricky sets and costumes work...

 CANDY GIRLS! I'll Be posting a tutorial on these headbands soon.

 Wonka with a giant Molly Made needle felted flower with wool from Suzoos Wool Works.

 AGUSTUS! The first ticket winner!  Our fantastic set designer David built a giant TV that sat on stage right thru the entire first act. It worked very well. Especially when Augustus leapt out of the screen to steal a kiddos candy.

 Happy Birthday Charlie! I love our little Bucket family and their newspaper birthday hats!

 Varuca Salt wins a golden ticket!

Mike Tee Vee wins a Golden Ticket.

There's no Knowing when you are on Board the USS Pink!  We used a strobe light, black light and disco lights to create this creepy effect. 

Violet! You're turning Violet Violet! We used a Blow up Pumpkin Costume underneath this blue fabric. I can't believe how well it worked! Our parent volunteers are the best!

Oompa Lompas! In the Lion Brand Yarn wigs they made all by themselves! 

SQUIRRELS! These tails really worked after lots of hemming and hawing. There are little slits cut in the back of their hoodies and an elastic band is slipped thru and tied at the waist. They had to quick change out of their Oompa cotumes... hence the green tights : )

Charna and Melissa! An amazing directing team to work with.   Sporting our new Molly Made Peppermint clips, of course :  )

*** Willy Wonka Jr. is available thru MTI if you are interested in putting it up with kids of your own***

Glitter and Sparkles and Candy Oh MY

I'm doing another show! But, this time I'm directing, choreographing... and making a few costume pieces. Along with two amazing co directors, Charna Felthous, and Melissa Martinez, and the help of countless others, Willy Wonka will be opening this weekend!!

Check out the Candy headband I put together for our Candy Girls.   I'll be posting a tutorial soon. 

The Music Room School of Performing Arts, known as TMR is fantastic place to work, and I'm so happy to be spending my time with these talented kids.  For more info contact www.themusicroomtmr.com

The Music Room

714 -639-2470

Back At It!

So much has happened in the past few months.  A cross country move, bridal shower, several new jobs, my first California craft show, a bachelorette weekend in wine country piles of house guests, and a wedding!     I've tried to blog about bits of this all... but a few weeks before our wedding... it all just because too much.

    We had a beyond amazing time at the wedding, and as soon as family left, we both went right back into work.   SO looking forward to our honeymoon in August. As things start to settle down, I'm hoping to post a few bits of joy and inspiration a week.

    For now... here's some pics from my most recent craft show.

I also hope to catch up on your blogs soon! 

Wipe Your Hands... On Your Skirt!

I have this Anthropologie dishtowel hanging in my kitchen. I love it.

BUT I DIDN'T EXPECT IT TO WALK INTO MY BRIDAL SHOWER!

Jen was my roommate for 3 years. She is the craziest crafter I know. I don't know why she doesn't have a blog or a website or a full blown company. 

How amazing is this skirt! I've seen her make skirts out of towels and napkins in the past, but this is my favorite so far. This shower had a vintage kitchen theme.  Jen wins best dressed with this inspired skirt. 

She also makes amazing cards. She really needs to sell them. Someday, when I open a working craft studio, I hope she'll teach a class. Her cards are always a holiday highlight.

She is also President of the International Special Events Society of Los Angeles and the Special Events Coordinator for the Catalina Conservancy.  And... I wonder why she doesn't have a blog/website/company. Ha!  I don't know how she finds the time. 

A Week of My Crazy Crafty Friends!

My amazing sister who tumbles brilliant things here threw me a bridal shower this week with the help of my Mom, my Aunt, and four of my amazing Bridesmaids.

Not only was I reminded of how amazingly creative and inspired my sister is. I was blown away by my friends.   So, this week, I'm posting about their bits of crafty loveliness!

First things first -

My sis planned a Vintage Kitchen themed shower - which, couldn't have been a more perfect theme.

I hope to have lots of pics to post soon. Here's just a few to inspire.

My bridezilla other half, Ashley (who is getting married in July) made FIFTY mini pies as favors!!!

I mean - how happy are these!? Fiance and I shared the mixed berry last night. MMM MMM Good!

Ashley Anklets - My solution to the Socks and Heels Dilemma

    I often think about the silly questions I've asked throughout my life.  When I was a kid, I remember being cast in a production at The Music Room School of Performing Arts and asking if I should wear lacy socks with my heels.  It was clearly ridiculous cause adults didn't wear lacy socks with heels, and I would be playing an adult part in a children's theatre production.  I learned that I should wear tights with heels, and didn't look back. 

Then...

    Roughly ten years ago, I went to England on a theatre tour with my college theatre department.  On our flight home, something magical happened.   Dancer in the Dark had just been released and they played it on our plane. Mid trip we realized Bjork was actually on our plane, in first class and in the flesh.  I will always remember sobbing my brains out as I watched that amazing movie, knowing she was on the flight with us.  Pretty surreal.

    I will also always remember seeing her in the airport waiting for her luggage.  She had little ribbons tied around her ankles. I've seen millions of anklets, but this was different because she had the same ribbon on each ankle. I fell in love with the idea. I know she can be 100% crazy with her fashion choices, but this was super duper cute. 

   A few years later, while working on a cruise ship, I frequently sported this Bjork inspired fashion choice.  Loved it.

Now...

   I've been thinking a lot about this "wearing socks with heels" trend that seems to be back in style.   I busted out a pair of socks to wear with my heels last time I was in New York, and I realized:

A -  It makes heels much more comfortable.  Especially for walking all over NYC.   

B -   It draws attention to the ankle, and therefor the shoe. And... I happen to love several pairs of shoes, so drawing attention to them is not a bad thing.  

BUT... I don't know if I'm always going to want to go for the whole sock in heel thing because:

A.  It covers up a new pedicure (when and if I take the time to get one)

B.   I wanted ruffled socks in a last minute fashion decision and couldn't find them anywhere near our apartment in NYC.  I ended up going with plain ankle crew socks which worked, but left me a little unfulfilled.  (I eventually found them here a few days later and have since seen them all over the internet... but still at the time it was a fashion emergency left resolved)

C.  I don't want to be mistaken for one whose wearing socks with birkenstocks.  

      The cons started to outweigh the pros in the Socks and Heels Dilemma.  

      I needed a solution. 

      I turned to my trusty crochet hook for inspiration, and decided I needed to crochet JUST the ruffled trim of the lacy sock.  Take the childhood sense of sockwear and combine it with what I learned from Bjork so many years ago.  

    While Mulling over this design in my head I read SnaggleTooth'dTrippleStep's recent blog post about socks and heels.  I knew something needed to be done... soon.  

     Knowing that Miss TrippleStep's Bridal Shower was approaching I thought this'd be the perfect time to bring these beauties into existence. So... I put these together for her and I'm totally in love.  

I loved them so much... I even made myself a pair!

Expect to see these in all sorts of shades on the shelves of my shop.

        

Beauty

A beautiful shower for a beautiful bride to be. 

Today was my dear friend Ashley's shower!  She's planning all sorts of crafty goodness for her shower. Handmade napkins, bunting and more.  (seriously check out her napkin post, it's so lovely!)

More photos to come from the photographer and fiance Sean.

Other fantastic photos of his can be found here.

And, what shower would be complete without a llama and...

a goat!

The day was planned by these beautiful maids. Hillary, Jen and Ash's wonderful momma Lulu. Great Job! Can't believe I didn't take more pics and I can't wait to see the photos Sean took.

lovely day