Covered in Glitter and Screaming

The group voted on costume themes and we went with Star Wars. I debated between a twi'lek and a tauntaun , ultimately deciding that I'd rather make horns than head tentacles, and a creature from an ice planet would be more in line with the northeast Halloween weather than a member of a race known for their tendency to skimp on clothing. If you're not familiar, a tauntaun is the thing that they ride on the ice planet; the moment in the movie that tends to stick with people is the scene in which Han Solo slices open the carcass of one and shoves Luke inside so he wouldn't freeze to death overnight. This scene was very upsetting to me as a kid, so I have mixed feelings about referencing it in the costume plan, but I couldn't not. It's just too good a setup. Overall plan: light gray, tan/gold accents. Coverage somewhere between  bikini  and  fur suit . Headwear I started with a light gray wig from Arda  and made some ears and horns to clip in. Ears ...

Okay, this isn't really a costuming thing or a physical piece of art, but it took just as much planning as my more ambitious costumes and I'm pretty impressed that I managed to pull it off. At the time, we had lived in Tokyo for five years, and were about to move back to the US. Together we planned a farewell party for a Saturday night, but I wanted to surprise him with a treasure hunt before that as an early birthday present. The planning took months, the schedule coordination took weeks, and more than 20 people took time out of their day to be a part of this. We have some pretty great friends. I said, "I have plans for you today, put on pants." He only asked what kind of pants he should wear. That's trust! I made an excuse to leave the house, then sent him a text. Clue #1: A photo of the lockers in our local train station, a locker key, and an envelope of money labeled "for drinks." Clue #2: a photo of Ichiran in Shimokitazawa...