Earth Day Costume Assignment!
1.) Before attempting this activity, I thought the most difficult part to accomplish would be to actually construct the design we chose. We only had a few materials to work with so that was our first challenge. We had to find a way to make those materials look nice enough to be an actual costume, not just a bunch of scrap covering a body. Then, I thought it'd be hard to actually build the designed. We know what materials to use, but we had no idea how to use them and put them together. We had to pretty much use our brains and figure out on our own how to put a full costume together. I thought that was going to be very difficult.
2.) After completing it, I now think the most difficult part to accomplish was to make the costume look nice. After getting the materials and planning out what to do, we had no problem putting all the pieces together, we just needed it to look nice. We realized that the costume doesn't just have to look complete, it has to look presentable. We started to put the actual dress together, but we needed a way to make it look "pretty". We started adding random decorations, but found it hard to stay within the guidelines of our original idea. It was very hard to do.
3.) The most important thing I learned from this activity is how to create a costume out of literally anything. I didn't think you could make a nice design out of garbage bags and toilet paper, but you can. People really do know how to use their creativity to make something ordinary into extraordinary. When everyone was done with their designs, the costumes I saw really surprised me. They looked very nice and I actually saw some things I wouldn't mind wearing. It just goes to show that imagination can take you a long way.
4.) The most surprising or interesting thing I learned from this activity is that "ugly" things can turn into really beautiful things. We used basic household products, that are considered "dirty" or "ugly" and turned them into these beautiful creations. I thought that the costumes would come out very raggedy or tacky, but some actually looked cute. I figured using garbage bags, toilet paper, balloons and tape wouldn't create much, but it actually did. The team that won, their costume was adorable. I would definitely wear it one day. I was definitely surprised at the fact that we were able to change the perspectives on these not so nice products into something good.
5.) The aspect of my work on this activity that I am most satisfied with is the fact that I helped decorate our costume to make it one of the top 3. My design wasn't chosen, but I definitely did help in the process of putting the piece together. I helped create the top of the dress and how it held up onto the body. I also helped create the skirt and how it wasn't just round and had ridges. I wanted to add a little bit of uniqueness to the costume, so I decided to bend the hanger on the bottom of the skirt to make the ridges. I like the fact that I added some of my own imagination to the costume and not just did whatever someone told me to do.
6.) The aspect of my work on this activity that I am least satisfied with is the fact that I could not get those hangers to bend my way. I tried to make the ridges at the bottom of the dress look uniform and nice, but the hangers kept sticking out and they weren't even at all. They looked decent, but I wanted them to be perfect. I also wasn't satisfied that I couldn't help with other aspects of the dress due to time. I wanted to help with the belt and balloon hat and stuff, but I couldn't, unfortunately.
