Giraffe costume get the look:
Top from Gap Kids (and it’s on sale!)
Bottoms from Target
Horse costume get the look:
Top from Gap (on sale!)
Bottoms from Gap
Mouse costume get the look:
Tunic from Wunway
Leggings from Wunway
Panda Costume get the look:
Black and white baseball tee from Amazon
Black leggings from Target
Pig costume get the look:
Dress from Gap
Pink tights from Wunway
Photography by Trisha Zemp
Make up by Victoria Riza
Crafting by Brittany Jepsen
Thank you to our wonderful models M and E!
Stay tuned for part 2 of the headwraps series!
Brynn used this tutorial to create the beard and enlarged it to the size of an adult. You could easily turn this beard into a mask for a COVID season Halloween costume! Brynn sewed the ears onto a beanie to complete the woodchuck costume.
Photography by Trisha Zemp
She sells crafting by Hillary Gallup
Peter Piper crafting by Victoria Riza
Woodchuck crafting by Brynn Grover
Photography by Alpha Smoot
Crafting by Carli Randolf
Art directed by Brittany Jepsen
1. Make starch. Pour 2 cups of water into a microwave-safe container. Add 1 cup of corn starch. Mix well.
2. Microwave it in 30 second installments until it gets thick. Will take about 2 minutes long. Let it cool, but not get cold.
3. Coat your piece of cheesecloth (I recommend doubling it to make it stronger) in the cornstarch.
4. Drape the cheesecloth over your face form making sure to give detail to the face part. Really work your fingers into the facial expression. We used a mannequin head but you can find face forms at Michael’s or Joann. Put freezer paper underneath so it makes it easy to pull off.
5. We alternated between using a hairdryer and letting it air dry. It makes it easy to pull it off the surface.
6. When it’s completely dry, use a butter knife to separate the layers.
7. Create a table runner on your table by bunching up layers cheesecloth. Insert your faces in the bunches. Each face was ended up being about a 12″ square.
Add some candles and greenery to your table for the finishing touch. Muhahahaha. Check out the full spread at our tortured artist party here, and view the tortured artist costumes here.
If this DIY ghost tablecloth grabbed your attention, you can browse through MORE Halloween decor ideas in the Lars archives. Our favorites include this DIY rainbow pumpkin arch, these DIY wood transfer plaques, and creepy printable art decor to match your equally spooky ghost tablecloth. You can also check out more Halloween decor inspiration on our Pinterest board here.
It’s the only time of the year when it’s truly permissible, so why would you avoid it? Embrace it. In the invitation mention the dress code. Here it was “Arrive dressed as your favorite Tortured Artist.”
I mentioned here that our decor was inspired by vanitas, the term used to describe the brevity of life and nearness of death that was reflected in rotting fruits, skulls, taxidermy, and candles (see our decor ideas here) and a costume based on it. We chose not to do rotting fruits but just living fruits as we didn’t want to gross out our guests. A piece of fruit at each place setting is the perfect adornment (see above image).
I’m not generally a fan of the spooky element, but to make the beautiful vanitas work, we needed that extra creepy feel. For the table runner, we added in some ghost faces. I wanted something subtle that you wouldn’t detect right away. Surprise! Check out the full DIY here.
Though it’s a bit spooky, it should also be a bit gorgeous, right?! That’s how we like to do it here. Sarah Winward did the gorgeous flowers and used the styrofoam skeleton heads as vases. I love how they turned out. Drip fruits and flowers across the table for that lavish, over-the-top feel.
Good, subtle lighting is a must. We lit our party with black candles, the only way to go. We got ours from Save-on-Crafts, who is the cheapest and has the best supply around.
It’s all in the details, folks. I was so excited for this vanilla bean skull cake. I think it truly made the party. And it was delicious, so there’s that. Get the full tutorial here.
We had a ball putting this party on, and there’s still a bit more. Get a behind the scenes look at the making of the party here!
Get ready to tap into your artistic side with this Georgia O’Keeffe costume tutorial! I will say yes to any tutorial with giant paper flowers, and this Halloween costume did not disappoint!
Georgia made her home in New Mexico and often depicted the setting around her: skulls, desert landscapes, desert flowers. We included those elements into our costume as symbolic touches. Of course, you probably won’t want to walk around with a huge bull skull (or do you?), but a microscopic version like the bracelet is a good alternative. We’ll show you how to make the oversized poppy as inspired by her paintings (see here), the dyed kaftan inspired by her close-ups, and a hair and make-up tutorial.
The real Miss O’Keeffe has such a unique, fierce beauty that just slaps you in the face. It’s hard to replicate, so instead, I wanted to just bring out different “feels” of O’Keeffe in the makeup.
First I started with a matte makeup base (get it here) to take away any shine from the face. I wanted the model, Carly’s, beautiful skin to be able to come through without shine, so I added almost no foundation after the base. What we did do though, is bronze. This evokes the haunting, desert beauty that I felt from Georgia and her artwork, so I bronzed and bronzed and bronzed, concentrating on the edges of the face, under the cheekbones, and below the jawline. I kept going down the neck, focusing on the hollows. I had Carly awkwardly flex her neck and shoulders so her collar bones popped out, and then bronzed around them.
Her lips were nude and natural, but you can mix some concealer with a tiny bit of pink or peach lipstick if you don’t have your own nude color lip wear.
For her eyes, we fierced up her brows with ELF eyebrow kit (get it here) and created some drama in her eyes with dark matte grey eyeshadow only on the inner and outer corners. Think ghostly! In the end, Carly carried it all with her modeling.
Done!
THE END! You’re now ready to show off your costume masterpiece, with skull and poppy in hand!
Voila!
Once you get your wig (we got ours from here), you will need to trim it to your desired length and fullness (as this one is REALLY long and unshapen). Just get out your handy scissors and go to town!
Note:
Venus! The epitome of natural beauty! I wanted her (and your!) own natural beauty to shine out, so go for minimal foundation. Instead, spread a BB cream or tinted moisturizer across your whole face for a healthy glow. Use just small bits of concealer under the eyes, around the nose, and on any blemishes.
Define those eyebrows subtly with the ELF eyebrow kit (get it here). I love ELF! So cheap and easy.
To get a golden look, I used the same shimmery bronzer for both cheeks and eyes. In fact, bronzer as eyeshadow is one of my favorite things. Yay for multi-use! Go for an all-over bronze shimmer on the eyelid and the cheekbones. Sweep it back into the hairline. Spread a thin layer everywhere for an all-over glow. Use your finger or a smaller brush to swipe across the brows and down the bridge of the nose.
Find a peachy nude lipliner– I like Revlon colorstay in Rose (get it here)– to lightly fill in the lips. I like to line, then smudge inward so you get just a little color, and add on a shiny clear chapstick for the fresh natural lips.
Ta-da!
You can view the full tortured artist party here! Looking for more Halloween costume inspiration? Look no further than our longest list of Halloween costume ideas yet!
photography by Alpha Smoot
crafting by Ashley Isenhour
styling by Sarah Winward and Brittany Jepsen
art directed by Brittany Jepsen
Fill those walls with holiday spirit this Halloween! We have more printable art decor available in the Lars Halloween shop, as well as some invitations and costume ideas! If you’re looking for more ways to enjoy those creepy portraits, check out our paper bag portrait luminaries tutorial!
A few pointers when arranging a harvest board:
Equal parts:
These foods look *almost* too gorgeous to eat. To complete the dinner party menu, try our vanilla bean skull cake for dessert! And to go along with these dinner party recipes, check out our full post about how to throw a beautiful and spooky Halloween party!
This Halloween menu printable is a favorite here at Lars, and that’s because it’s gorgeous and can be used at any party! Use these for a summer feast (more cheese boards!) or an ice cream party. No shame in ice cream as the starter, main course, AND dessert. For a brunch celebration, print out these menu cards with courses like mini baked donuts, french toast crumpets, and cinnamon buns. These menu printables are also perfect for baby showers, bridal showers, and birthdays! Any holiday party you can think of, these menu cards will work great!
For the brown wrap, simply drape the fabric around the shoulders and secure with safety pins.
Done!!
This face was so much fun to do but also a challenge! While our girl Morgan did look strikingly like the gorgeous original painting, she also had VERY dark eyebrows that we wanted to downplay. Getting rid of eyebrows can be tricky. You’re going to have to use Elmer’s glue sticks if you want it to look super legit (I recommend watching a youtube tutorial for this!).
For Morgan, I just combed out her brows with normal brow brush and set them with gel. Once that dried, I used a Maybelline Cover Stick (get it here) in white to go over them a few times. I set that with translucent powder and then covered the full top half of her face with a pale full coverage foundation. Spreading the pale base from the top of the forehead over the eyelids and to the top of the cheekbones really gave her a light and airy look.
For her eyes, I used white eyeliner on the lower waterline, then some light grey shadow underneath to create the same effect as the painting. Finish the eyes off with a single layer of mascara.
My favorite thing about this look is the wet lips. I used a pinkish-red lipstick all over her lips, then covered it with a juicy wet lipgloss (the kind you had in junior high that just goops on deliciously).
I set the whole face with a few spritzes of NYX Dewy Finish Setting Spray (get it here) instead of powder so her makeup would stay but keep that oil painting sheen.
Be sure to check out the rest of our tortured artist Halloween costumes here! You can also view Halloween party ideas here to create your own themed party!
