I’m really excited about Halloween this year. I’m going to be dressing as Dr. Cameron from the TV show House. I’ve already produced her name tag, pictured at right, which is based on the glimpse of her name badge in some promotional photos. Her fan site, JMorrisonFan was immensely helpful in finding pictures to base my costume off of and to make the badge art.

     You’ll notice that I modified the badge slightly from the one in the promotional photos. First off, I changed the picture. The one in her real ID is what you’d expect an ID photo to look like – UGLY and barely recognizable. Since this is one of the most identifying parts of my costume, I chose a picture of her that people will recognize from the show. I chose not to use a photo of myself in costume because (a) I don’t have the rest of the costume yet and (b) that will make the costume quite a bit harder to identify. I also changed the text a little bit to add her first name. “Dr. Cameron” makes the name badge appear more fake. How many people have a name tag with no first name? I also added an “M.D.” at the top before “Immunology” so I could remove the “Dr.” from the name entirely.

     To make the actual tag, I printed the image on my printer and bought some big, glossy GBC SelfSeal Laminating pouches that worked extremely well. Between that and my trusty personal paper trimmer, the rest was cake. After laminating, which was as easy as applying a sticker, I just trimmed the edges and used scissors to round the corners. I made the slit in the top using the paper trimmer and shoved the name tag clip through that. I had an extra one of those lying around from miscellaneous trade shows.

     Last but not least today, I purchased a $20 twill lab coat off of amazon.com. I had no idea lab coats could be so inexpensive. I should wear it more often!

     Next on the agenda is to make a pill bottle label for “Dr. House,” i.e., Jonathan. I’m thinking it should be somewhat traditional, but the word Vicodin should stand out a little more, since that’s a key to identifying his costume as well.

Feeling: Excited, Happily Busy
Listening to: Kelly Clarkson’s Cover of Aerosmith – Cryin’