Golden Goddess Costume

Cut a 75-by-25-inch piece of silk organza. To finish raw edges, fold each edge in 1/4 inch. Press in place. Fold edges in 1/4 inch again. Pin in place, and stitch to secure.

Using a rotary cutter and a quilting ruler, cut the remaining silk organza diagonally into strips, as pictured. Strips will vary in length, depending on what part of the fabric you're cutting from. Make some strips 2 inches wide, and others 3 inches wide. You'll need about 50 strips in all.

Assemble the wrap: Lay the finished piece of fabric, hemmed-side down, crosswise on your work surface. Center the longest strip diagonally across it so it runs from the bottom left-hand corner to the top right-hand corner in an S shape. (Strip will overhang the fabric.) Stitch strip in place 1/4 inch from the bottom edge. Lay a second strip so it overlaps the first one 1/2 inch. Stitch the second strip in place. Repeat, covering half of fabric with strips.

To cover other half: Lay a strip over the original strip, overlapping its unstitched edge 1/2 inch. Stitch the new strip in place. Lay another strip so it overlaps the previous one, just covering the row of stitches. Stitch the next strip in place. Repeat, covering the remaining fabric with strips.

Make golden accessories: With gold floral spray, paint one side of pressed pear leaves, pressed oak leaves, a 6-inch branch (ours was manzanita), and floral pips; let dry 5 minutes. Turn each over, paint the other side; let dry.

Use 28-gauge gold-colored copper wire to affix branch to a 1 1/2-inch pin back and to attach leaves and floral pips to bobby pins, one or two at a time.

Prepare hair: Rub a liberal amount of mousse into roots of damp hair. Blow-dry hair, using a round brush to smooth. With a curling iron, shape 1 1/2- to 2 1/2-inch sections of hair into barrel curls. Secure curls by pinning to head with bobby pins. Use metal clips to hold any loose hair away from face.

Prepare skin: Apply ivory foundation to clean skin. Top with white liquid makeup. Brush face with white loose powder to set.

With a small brush, apply gold shimmer eye shadow over lids, from lash to brow. Extend shadow horizontally, from inside corner of eyes to ends of eyebrows.

Use tweezers to apply three rows of individual false eyelashes (available at drugstores) over natural eyelashes with eyelash glue. With a bronze eyeliner pencil, define top and bottom lash lines. Top pencil with gold liquid liner.

With an angled brush, apply pinkish-brown powder blush underneath cheekbones and along temples and jawline to contour face. Apply a lighter blush on top to highlight. Dust gold shimmer powder over face.

Arrange curls along face, securing with bobby pins. Apply shimmery light-peach lipstick to lips. Top with gold shimmer eye shadow to highlight mouth.

Secure gold-painted leaves amid curls.