Regardez le "monstrosite" that has consumed Miss G's life, soul, and garage since October!
One side of the garage was completely out of commission, and the other side was in a constant glitter whirlwind mess!
But it was all worth it in the end, and Miss G is quite proud of the final result! She had an absolute BLAST on ball weekend, and she's so thrilled to have such great brothers and friends who attended the ball and made it all worthwhile!
Many have asked how Miss Ginger accomplished such a feat, so she's going to share her secrets now! The backpiece rolled on casters behind her, and was 14 feet tall.
The skeleton and back panels were made of Styrofoam boards. Just so you know, "styrofoam" is a trademark of Dow Chemical for it's brand of extruded styrene building sheathing. That cheap cooler you put your beer in is not "styrofoam", it's molded polystyrene. Just so you know!
On top of the skeleton is a layer of paper-faced polystyrene board. Miss Ginger's favorite brand is Fome-cor, but there are many!
One of Miss G's "trade secrets" is her method for securing the sheets of styrofoam into their 3-dimensional shapes. Hot glue will melt styrofoam, and white glue isn't strong enough, and doesn't dry well on non-porous surfaces. Plus, the angles need to be braced against lateral force. Many krewe members cut bracing pieces from styrofoam scraps and glue them in place, but Miss Ginger has found it much easier to "floam" each corner with Great Stuff to create a rigid, custom fitted brace for each corner.
Finally, the surfaces have to be decorated with paint,glitter, fabric, jewels, and God knows what else. None of that stuff sticks readily to styrofoam. So, enter #4 of Miss Ginger's "must have" products, 3M Super77 Multipurpose adhesive.
Honey, this shit is the Holy Grail of crafts and costuming! Sprayed on 1 surface, it creates a repositionable bond with a long work time, which dries with reliable adhesion. Sprayed on both surfaces, it creates a "death grip" that is impervious to moisture, water, steam, fog, and abrasion. And when used in an enclosed room, it sends Miss G to her "happy place"!
So, for this particular endeavor, Miss G used:
12 sheets of Styrofoam
6 sheets of Fome-cor
13 cans of Great Stuff
15 cans of Super 77 adhesive
and enough craft paper, bamboo skewers, and hot glue to build an aircraft carrier!
Our ball is a blast, and our gift to the community! Let's just ignore it's carbon footprint, okay!
