Viking on a dime

Friend- I have an awesome idea for a photoshoot. Wanna do it?

Me-  Maaayyyybeeee what do you have in mind

Friend- Vikings

Me- after thinking about it-  When and where and what do I need?

Friend- just get the outfit I'll do the rest

OK, I was NOT going to wear one of those immodest viking costumes and was not going to show much skin so I went searching on the internet.

I asked if this was what she was looking for, to which she replied  YAAAASSSSS!!!!  Knowing her I knew this meant "Oh yes, yes, yes on so many levels yes". So this became my inspiration.

Then I looked at my budget/bank account.  Hmmm.  What is a poor, bankrupt educator supposed to do?  But I knew I could do it, I am creative and know how to do stuff.

Here is how I became a Viking on a Dime:

1. Remember that you put a skirt like this in the box to go to the thrift store because you hadn't worn it for 3 years.  But it is bright yellow.  Go to box and grab it. Go to store and purchase brown dye.

Dye skirt.

Go to thrift store and spend an hour trying on shirts that "might" work.  Head over to the men's department to see if there might be something over there.  Remember that you have a pattern at home for exactly what you are looking for AND enough white material in your cupboard.

Go home.  Find pattern.  You still don't know what you are going to do about armor.  Then, when you are looking at your different  white materials you find 

1) an old yellowed but supposed to be white sheet that will work great for the shirt.

2) faux leather that you had left over from when you recovered a chair

Bingo!!!

But you are still not sure how to actually MAKE the armor because you are not really great at eyeballing or hand drawing shapes.  Then as you are standing there thinking, your eyes fall on a pattern that for some reason is not where it belongs but just laying on the sewing table.  The bodice portion is PERFECT.

So you set to work cutting and sewing.  And try on the shirt and laugh uncontrollably because even though you measured and measured and measured it is ridiculously large.  So you take it in.  Again.  and yet again.  In the end the sleeves get 10" taken off because they are HUGE.

And this is what you have.  Now to try and replicate the rest of the inspiration look.

You go to your closet and your jewelry making supplies.

Perfect

Bracers and head piece.  Though in the end we didn't use the head piece because it was too "nice" for the look she wanted.  If I ever wear the costume gain I'll use the head piece.   I grab a piece of fur, string a saber tooth on a piece of leather for my necklace, thread a strip of grey leather onto a wire for my earrings and hang an old house key to a piece of leather around my waist, to complete the look. Then have my daughter lace me into the armor and head to the meeting point where Natalie did my make-up and Jen did my hair.

Then I did the hair for the other 3 models while Natalie did their makeup.  Jen was also one of the models so she was getting makeup and getting dressed- that's why I did the rest of the hair.  Then we gathered all of our props and headed out to Spanish Fork Canyon.  We spent about 2 hours doing photos.  Individual and group and it was a blast.   I was totally out of my comfort zone.  I love dressing up, but don't think I am very photogenic and I am NOT a model so I didn't really know what I was doing and having others watch me was a bit uncomfortable.  But I have decided to start trying to stretch myself and stop saying "no" "I can't" or whatever.

The pictures below, my daughter took after I got home. I am really excited to see the ones that Natalie did.  She said she is going to frame the best one of me and hang it in my office.  I hope she does.  

---

Indeed