Miss Mina Murray

Dear Constant Reader,

It’s a celebratory Friday! You’ll see why when you read your tip…

The journey of 500 tips starts with a single post.

I never thought, back in 2011, when I started this blog, that I would get to 500 tips. I was just looking for a little content and decided to post an occasional tip. And “occasional” became weekly. And then that became a decade.

Big projects can be accomplished a little at a time, especially if you’re consistent about working on them.

I’m celebrating 10 years of Friday…

Dear Constant Reader,

It’s Friday! I’m spending my day helping The American Burlesque Collection get ready for their reopening tomorrow. In honor of the temporary exhibit The Fantasy of the Fan Dancer, I’ll be teaching fan dance workshops in May!

Here’s your tip!

Store your X-Acto knife blade point down in the handle.

These little babies are so useful for all sorts of projects and it’s easy to add a sharp new blade. It’s also easy to lose the protective cap. If you store your blade like this, you are much…

Dear Constant Reader,

It’s Friday! It’s a particularly good one for me as I got my second vaccination this morning. Here’s your tip!

Heat will soften hot glue.

Makes sense, right? This is great because you can fix mistakes by hitting the glue with a heat gun or sometimes even a blow dryer (depending on the glue). This is not great because if you leave an item in the car in the summer you can lose all your hard work.

These writings and other creative projects are supported by my 14 Patrons. Thank you so…

Dear Constant Reader,

Last night I got the sad news that Tempest Storm had died at 93*. In some way I thought she’d outlive us all.

She was probably the most famous of our Living Legends and I don’t need to rehash her life and career here (you can read her memoir or see Teaserama or the 2016 documentary Tempest Storm).

I first saw Tempest at Miss Exotic World in 2006. She strutted on stage in a purple evening gown and boa to the beat of an actual drummer. She was every inch a queen and owned that room. She…

Dear Constant Reader,

It’s Friday! It’s snowing here in Boston! Of course it is, because this would have been Expo weekend…

Last week we were watching Scratch’s niece perform as a finalist* at the NYC Teen Poetry Slam and one of the judges said this:

A setback is a setup for a comeback.

And what a setback this past year has been. Let’s start to set up our comebacks.

These writings and other creative projects are supported by my 14 Patrons. Thank you so much! To become a Patron, go to my Patreon page. Or you…

Dear Constant Reader,

Like the rest of the burlesque world, I was saddened to hear of the death of Marinka, Queen of the Amazons and grateful that she shared the story of her life.

Marinka: From Havana to Burlesque by Marinka Melanie Hunter and Lily Star, 2020.

In this memoir, Marinka is honest about her life, particularly her big secret, which she kept for so long. In her introduction she says “If I had done this when I was 30, it would have been a sensation instead of my story.” I’m certainly glad times…

Dear Constant Reader,

It Friday again! I don’t know about where you are, but here in Boston it is gloriously spring out. I’m writing this in haste so I can go play outside. Here’s your tip!

When costuming a group act in identical or nearly so costumes, make sure to label them so you can tell whose is whose.

It’s a useful practice for both short-term and long. It will cut down on the amount of time sifting through a pile of identical bras, trying to find the one that fits you. It’s also useful later for…

Dear Constant Reader,

It’s Friday! Time for a tip!

Along with my Little Book of Burlesque Costuming, I provide a bookmark which has a list of essential sewing tools and I want to highlight one in particular. I just list “ruler” as one of those essential tools, but today’s tip is about a specific kind of ruler.

Get a clear ruler.

I originally bought mine to use as a straight-edge with my rotary cutter. Then I realized all the other things it could do, like take the effort out of marking long, accurate lines…

Dear Constant Reader,

One of my friends sent me this mid-century recipe and kind of dared me to make it. So, of course, I did. If you want to see the whole process in living color, become one of my Patrons!

Carnival Cream is a simple frozen dessert, a little bit like ice cream, with a very special ingredient, which I will reveal later.

You need

eggs, heavy cream, sugar, vanilla, the Special Ingredient, and maraschino cherries & toasted almonds for topping. (there is actually sugar in this picture — hiding…

Dear Constant Reader,

It’s Friday again! Here’s a tip!

Check out rhinestone brands other than Swarovski.

I know there’s a lot of prestige in the Swarovski name, but the company has decided to get out of the “DIY market” and concentrate on their luxury lines. By the end of the year they will stop selling to retailers who will stop selling to us. (You may weep briefly.)

Do not despair! There are a lot of other great stones out there that might fit your needs and budget better. Get some sample cards, play…