Bea shows us how to make...

Halloween costume jewels from cardboard!

From Bea: For Halloween this year, I am going as Bast, the Egyptian cat goddess, and Harriet will be my cat. Bast, also known as Bastet, is usually a kind and friendly goddess, and sometimes she takes the form of a cat. She is the protector of women and children and the daughter of Ra. She’s also the goddess of music and dancing!

I like mythology because it’s magical and wonderful, and sometimes it teaches a lesson. (Especially Greek mythology: NEVER TRUST ZEUS!!!). There are also a lot of crossovers between Egyptian and Greek myths.

We are going to wear black t-shirts and leggings, and black cat masks. But I don’t want people to think I’m a regular black cat (even though all cats are cool). I want them to know I’m a goddess. My mom suggested that we could make jewelry that would look Egyptian. I kind of knew what Egyptian jewelry looked like because I went to an exhibit called Golden Mummies of Egypt (and my friend Marsha gave me the catalog!) and because I’ve read a lot of books about Egypt. My favorite is this one, which is also my fanciest book:

You can actually make great-looking jewelry out of cardboard if you also have:

-paint or markers, especially metallic

-paintbrushes

-sharp scissors

-beads and glue

Here’s how to make Egyptian-inspired jewelry:

1. Sketch the jewelry on a piece of paper first. It helps to look at photos and pictures in books or online. Think about the colors you’ll use.

2. Next, draw a shape on cardboard. Then cut them out. You can make shapes and stack them up to make a more elaborate necklace. A lot of Egyptian necklaces are collars, or “moons” as Harriet calls them. It helps to make a big shape because it’s easier to work on and it will stand out.

3. Next, paint your cardboard. We painted ours gold using acrylic paint. We had to do two coats on the cardboard side, and three on the white side, so it was very shiny and looked golden.

4. Next, pick out your jewels. We went to a bead store and also my mom ordered scarab beetle beads from Egypt (we started planning this costume back in the summer!). But, my mom also made a scarab beetle for her necklace out of cardboard painted light blue. Scarabs are important symbols of creativity, renewal, transformation, and rebirth in Egyptian mythology because the scarab pushes the sun across the sky every day.

You could also take apart an old necklace that you got at a thrift store, or use beads that you have around the house, or even draw your beads and patterns.

5. Glue on your beads in a pattern—or just scatter them. We used a special glue from the jewelry store and regular school glue, and used paintbrushes and q-tips to apply it.

6. If your paint is not shiny you can also use Mod Podge at the end.

7. Finally, add a ribbon or cord for the chain and admire your necklace!

We will reveal the full costumes before Halloween. What are you going as this year?

From Belle:

Just a reminder that Writers for Democratic Action’s NC Meeting with Anita Earls, Jill McCorkle, Gene Nichol, and Robert Reives is tomorrow at 3PM. Join us—on Zoom at Flyleaf Books!

Also, we’re taking Sunday off to prepare for a new, spooky animal of the week for the next two weeks! Any guesses? (We have already done spiders and snakes…) Have a great weekend! (Bea says the weekend begins as soon as your face hits outside air on Friday after school.)