The Famous Halloween Project

Started on Twitter about a month ago, I had this genius idea that we should form a group and try to get famous or relatively famous people to contribute pictures of themselves as kids in their Halloween costumes, just for fun.

Well, a group of about twenty of us set out to wrangle the most famous people we could think of that might still want to be involved in something silly like this. But a funny thing happened on the way the project...it seems that famous people are really into this thing called "privacy" (never heard of it), and they kept saying no. We came very close on a few big fish only to be disappointed at the last second.

Still, it was loads of fun to try and we did manage to get a few folks with great pictures, so I consider the whole thing a whopping success. By far, the biggest star catcher was lily dustbin from Knit Hacker. The girl has wiles.

Without further ado, here's who Lily got:

from top to bottom:

1. Charles Spearin - Founding member of Do Make Say Think and KC Accidental
Contributes to Broken Social Scene and Valley of the Giants
http://www.myspace.com/charlesspearin

2.  Thea Munster - Founder of the Toronto Zombie Walk
http://www.torontozombiewalk.ca
"October 1977 - Horror punk since age 4."


3.  Sam Goldberg - Member of Broken Social Scene

4.  Dallas Wherle - Bassist for the Constantines
http://www.dallaswehrle.com
"1983 was a good halloween.  cold but good."

5.  Kevin Drew - Musician and sogwriter, Member of Broken Social Scene
http://www.arts-crafts.ca/kevindrew/

Way to go, Lily! Really fun to see all these folks in their childhood Halloween garb. Good score!

Halloween Memories - Charise Mericle Harper

Richela, another member of the Halloween Fame team, managed to to get Charise Mericle Harper, the children's book author/illustrator of the "Fashion Kitty" graphic novel series and "Just Grace" chapter books. Her latest book "Gigi In The Big City," was published last month. Sweet Gypsy costume!

"Gypsy ended up being my got to Halloween Costume later in my childhood. It’s a good one to throw together and it meant I got to play with my Mom’s costume jewelry. I like how I am posed with my hand out asking for money."


www.chariseharper.com


drawingmom.blogspot.com

Halloween Memories - Josh Kornbluth

 

 Halloween super famous project girl, Cianna managed to snag a great story from writer, actor, and human being extraordinaire, Josh Kornbluth. Nice Going, C! Here's Josh's story:

"I don't remember what my costume was, but I do remember that it was in one of the two shopping bags I was carrying (the other bag had my overnight stuff).  I was walking from my mom's building to my dad's, in the early evening.  I recall feeling awkward about my age (12, maybe?), wondering whether I had become too old for this.  But I wanted candy, damn it -- and I was much more likely to get it by trick-or-treating in my father's building (populated by lots of young families) than in my mother's (old Jews, mostly, who probably wouldn't answer the door -- and if they did, would likely offer me something yucky, like a single, sticky "dietetic" coffee candy).  I had just rounded the corner to my dad's block when -- very suddenly -- a group of teenagers closed in on me.  One of them grabbed one of my shopping bags, and another grabbed the other other.  They laughed at me as I struggled to hold onto the bags -- which I refused to give up, no matter how hard they tugged.  A few years earlier, another group of teenagers (or -- wow -- maybe the same group?) had mugged me in front of my mom's building: I had happily let them take my violin.  But now something -- call it the Spirit of Halloween -- magically filled me with superhuman powers, not to mention superhuman stupidity: Was I really willing to risk getting beaten up -- knifed, even? -- just so I could hold onto my Halloween costume?  Yes, I was, apparently.  And eventually they gave up and just walked away.  So I guess, in effect, that year I was Superman -- only in disguise as your average mild-mannered, chubby, ambivalent Jewish kid."

http://www.joshkornbluth.com

Halloween Memories - Nikol Hasler

Cianna also manged to convince internet star / writer / producer, Nikol Hasler to come along for the ride and provide us with a great story. Good catch Ci! Here's her story:

"I’m pretty good at making stuff, and I’m really good at making stuff up. But the pressure of trying to have a really great costume gets me every year.


In sixth grade I got to hang out with the popular girls, but not because they wanted me to. I’d just moved into another small town in another foster home, and this time the parents in the community were super duper Christian. They took it seriously. That meant that they wanted their kids to take it seriously, too, and those kids were forced to include me even though I was total dork sauce.

I was an attention whore jerk, too. I managed to ruin every single one of their birthday parties by running off to cry in a corner so they’d have to spend the whole night trying to make me knock it off. I was never sure why I was doing all that stuff. I knew it sucked and I wanted to be cool like all of them. At the same time, I knew I was born without the ability to be cool naturally, and I wasn’t quite sure how to deal with that. If I’d been hanging out with other dorks, I could have had a little bit of leeway.

Since I was living in a foster home there wasn’t any extra money for a Halloween costume. It also didn’t occur to me to ask for one. But I knew I’d be trick or treating with the girls, and I knew that they were all going to be cheerleaders. It struck me as funny that they were going to dress up as what they were destined to become in junior high, but I had a bigger problem. I didn’t have a cheerleader costume.

What I did have was electrical tape to create the logo, a sweatshirt, and a pair of coulots that could pass for a cheerleading skirt if you squinted really hard and only looked at them from the side. I’d also found a bunch of Halloween make up that had been shoved into the back of a closet. Perfect.

That was when genius struck. I’d go as a dead cheerleader. That would be so awesome. I would even have this great back-story. “Trick or treat” we’d say. “I see you’re cheerleaders, but my! What happened to you?”, they’d say. “Well,” I’d tell them ominously, “one year I didn’t make the team, so I killed myself!”

I’m not making this up. I thought that was a really funny idea. It’s with horror that I recall that night, following behind the girls, getting to the first house, not even waiting for the adult to ask what I was supposed to be and just blurting that story as the other girls stared at me with hands on hips in a “Oh, come on!” way. After the adult silently candied us and closed the door, one of the girls scolded me. “Know what I wish you would have pretended to be for Halloween?” she glared and spit each word at me, “Normal. Just for one night.”

Shortly after that I moved to another school a few towns over. Each time I’d moved I’d always envisioned doing one of those coolness makeovers where I’d just show up on day one with sunglasses and tight rolled jeans and could stop being Niki, the Freakshow. On this move, however, I tried something new. I found my group of fellow dorks and I stuck with them.

As for Halloween, from that point forward I never dressed up again. I was always too worried that I’d pick a crappy costume, so I’d fret over it until it was too late, then use the old “I’m going as myself.” Until I grew up and got cool, that is. Then I went as Strawberry Shortcake and I was flippin’ adorable."

Nikol Hasler is an American internet content creator, producer, writer, and filmmaker known best for her work on Midwest Teen Sex Show, and her frank, direct, dark humor.

Doily Car

I can't find an ounce of attribution information about who made this amazing car (c'mon bloggers!), but it's a stunning piece nonetheless.

**Update: Well, at least now we know it's in Prague. Thanks RedBronze! And thanks to Slag for identifying the make and model in the first place, a Skoda Octavia Combi. Now we just need the artist's name and we're all set.

via found s**t

Self Contained

I've seen a lot of shipping container dwellings pop up in the last two years, but this San Antonio guest house, designed by Poteet Architects is one of the most successful and beautiful that I've seen. Their portfolio also includes some pretty amazing lofts. Worth a look.

via NotCot

Coffee Sack Chairs

I'm loving this simple coffee sack upholstery add on to a folding patio chair. (side note: full disclosure: real reason for this post: cute dog in picture)

via unconsumption via Dear Coffee, I love you (includes partial instructions)

Noah Scalin's Skull Pumpkin

Noah absolutely killed it with this skull pumpkin that popped up over on Skull-A-Day today. The boy wonder of all things cranial strikes again.

Side note: You do know Noah has a new book coming out, don't you?

Tim Knoll

Tim Knoll BMX from tim knoll on Vimeo.

Usually I don't post sports-type content on DudeCraft, but this guy is a true artist with a bicycle. Thanks to Colossal for turning me on to this video.

Level Headed

Big thanks to @jannypie on Twitter for turning me on to the triangulation blog and specifically to this rad piece by Veit Landwehr, made from 200 bubble levels. I'm digging it!

Freelensing

photo by Knut Burmeister

Thank you, Swiss Miss, for introducing me to the art of freelensing, wherein you detach your camera's lens and move it around in order to focus. Hey, calm down camera freaks, you only move it a little tiny bit, so the chances of geting dust on your sensor are minimal. If you're going to get nuts with it, you're going to want to do it in a dust free environment.

I'm digging the effects, though. Kind of macro-ey, tilt-shift-ey, blurry fun!

More freelensing images on Flickr

Sweet Vintage Citroën Ads

Over at Grain Edit this morning, there's an incredible little collection of vintage Citroën advertisements that Francois-Charles of iconomaque found while he was sorting through his father's studio. Beautiful little pieces, eh? Besides, I've always had a soft spot for Citroën for some reason, so extra bonus for me. More pics here.

Fridge Couch

If you came of age in the 70s, you probably have a fondness for avocado green appliances because, well, one out of two households had them and yours was probably one of them. Now, Fridgecouch lets you relive those halcyon days of yore in the form of a love seat, built from parts of everyone's favorite fridge. Oh, and the back seat of an old BMW. Sweet!

via unconsumption

Oil & Water

All Photos ©Oil and Water

I'm not big on hanging activist posters in my house, because they mostly serve as a constant reminder of how angry I should be. But, I might make an exception for this beauty that was screen printed using the actual oil from the Gulf disaster. Head over to Oil &Water to check out the whole process (including video).

via NotCot

More or Less

I'm loving this piece of street art from Phoenix. The top letters are made from plywood and meant to last, the bottom ones from cardboard, meant to degrade and disintegrate. Clever.

via Wooster Collective

The 02 Rocker

Well, Hrvoje Vulama's rocker isn't the most elegant looking thing in the world, but I am digging its rustic charm and the fact that it's made from discarded pieces of other projects.

via Design Milk

The Tea Whisk Chair

I don't know how much time I'd spend sitting in this thing, but I think I could stare at it for hours.Hiroki Takada's take on the traditional shape of the Japanese tea whisk, manifested in furniture form is one of the more fascinating and simply beautiful pieces that I've seen in some time.

via Design Boom

Argentina's Funeral Cars

Huge thanks to Chris from Colossal for tossing me the link to this wonderful story of these hand carved, vintage funeral cars that were discovered in a barn in Argentina. Check out the whole story and more pics over at Jalopnik.

We Make Carpets

Add this to the list of gigantic things that I love. How many bricks? I have no idea. Is it mind blowing that We Make Carpets pulled this off for Dutch Design week? Absolutely. Smaller, but no less impressive are the Pasta and the Coffee Carpet featured on their site. I love this stuff!


via Design Milk.

Shedding All Over

I am so digging Cathy "Kate" Johnson's design for her own artist's studio. What great renderings, huh? And the place looks spectacular! Three cheers for shackitecture! You can read an interview with Cathy over on the Tiny House Blog and check out her own site here for more goodness.

Movember Renderings

As the time draws near for me to begin growing my lip caterpillar for charity, my friend's daughter Lily has decided to graciously provide several renderings of what I might look like in each style of 'stache that you, the readers, have recommended. Notice, there are a couple that are left intentionally blank so you can add your own. Thanks Lily!

Hey, and don't forget...there's still plenty of time to sponsor me for Movember. My donations page is here. Let's get going on a cure!

Syke!

You know I can never resist a post on skateboards, bicycles, or Star Wars. Resistance is futile. It's just in me. I've accepted it. You should too. You should also check this amazing set of skateboard decks that Syke Studios has been winding out. Their fledgling design and illustration blog shows much promise.

via NotCot