Day 1...

So back to day 1. The first part of the costume was to purchase implements. I needed PVC piping and some connectors, chicken wire, zip ties, and some foam. I have glue and hot glue for the mache part and paint and fabric will be bought later as the need is known better (or depending on how much I'm panicking!). I use a heat gun to heat the PVC pipe (while outside wearing a respirator I might add) to bend it. I attempted to fill the tubing with sand as is often done to get smooth curves but I found I needed more severe curving and worried that I might not get all the sand out and end up with a ton of bricks on my shoulders on the day of the parade. Believe me I have done that before (see picture of the flea). After getting the general shape I then added a couple of cross bars to stabilize, when I was happy with the shape I gorilla glued the pieces together.

Unfortunately right now I already feel about 3 weeks behind. I'll get there, but there also has to be the making of preschool and toddler hippo too. Neither of these are as intricate though so let's hope we make it by 4:30 on 4/24!