When You Overthink the Witchy Coffee Meetup
I don’t normally dress up for Halloween, but when the Olympia Boss Society announced a witch-theme for the coffee morning meetup I planned to attend I realized that I should do something.
At first I debated which type of witch might be best...
- Earth witch? Tempting but my green thumb is more greyscale than anything. I’m honestly amazed my gifted office plant is still alive.
- Cozy book witch? Maybe... but I want something more fun, more obvious, and lately it's been hard to sit and read.
So I instead leaned into my actual current magic and decided to show up as a tech witch. This choice felt modern, playful, and had just enough Halloween energy to feel festive without feeling like a costume. Plus, I could interpret it however I want!
My Outfit
Planning ahead, I chose a dress I’d bought recently paired with thin leggings and, for finishing touches, chose my star jewelry as a small nod to the magical celestial (STEM) side of things. I even decided the night before to generate a themed image and used Simply Customize It to set my reMarkable Move’s sleep-screen... a little digital magic to tie it all together.
Hair Plans
The morning of I was ruminating on the fact that each update about the event mentioned hats and I didn't have a witch's hat. My bun that morning was pulling and I considered just leaving my hair loose but then it always snags on these particular earrings... Then, after taking Ada to the bus, inspiration hit on the walk back. Why not do my hair with braids and fashion a web-like look... plus I remembered unpacking plastic spider rings just the week before and I could maybe run a braid or two through them to add spiders to my hair. This was an on-theme hairstyle that could double as a pun (World Wide Web baby)... so I went with it! Although it didn't turn out as I pictured (spoilers: skipped the spiders... ideas below) I'm glad I did this as it may help me out closer to Halloween.
That said, my get ready time was limited (attempted to do it between the two bus runs) and it felt a bit non-web-like compared to what I had planned. I'll walk you through what I did (in case you want to do the same) and I'll add a couple sketches so you can see my original plan.
The Plan
- Take the outer hair in the front and sides and section it into smaller bits.
- Once sectioned pull each section back while braiding it into a long cornrow before tying it off and going onto the next section.
- Use a ponytail on the remaining loose hair. Options:
- Pull the remaining loose hair back into your favorite style of pony.
- French braid the remaining hair back and then ponytail it.
- Multiple French braids: I did one center and two smaller side ones.
- Idea: French braid weave... somehow.
- With the rest of the hair out of the way criss cross each small braid creating a weaved pattern over the top of your head. End each one on or near the pony. I left them there for step 5 but you could pin them in place.
- Optional: Thread one or more spider rings onto the braids before the next step.
- Use another ponytail tie to collect all the braids' ends into the pony.
- Voila! Web hair!
The Execution
The execution of this plan was a bit lacking as I was time limited and my arms started getting sore.
The Errors
Of course, like any good experiment, execution varied slightly from theory… I was rushing, my hair was damp and I didn't braid the hair all the way down before I loosely tied them off. I also only made five small braids before creating the pony with the remaining hair.... so my web was less web-like though I could see if I was taking my time, used bobby pins, and... especially if I was working on someone else's hair maybe making it more web-like.
The Spider Saga
By this point, the hairstyle had become a full-blown engineering project. Enter: the spiders.
Idea 1: Rings
My original idea was to use Halloween spider rings and thread the small braids through them so they were loose on the head but secure. Figured maybe use one ring but having all three, or more, would look cute too. That said, I had trouble finding the rings and when asked Zoey informed me that the Halloween rings I’d unpacked weren’t spiders at all... but bats. That idea was rejected.
Idea 2: Pipe cleaner Spider
But that was okay as Zoey, once she was ready for school, could make me a pipe cleaner spider. It was so adorable and I could see with a hot glue gun, googly eyes, and a bobby pin it would be perfect but...
it was time for the bus let's go!
Idea 3: Store-Bought Spider
Back when I went to the Dollar Tree for my Ada Lovelace costume I picked up an adorable spider with the idea of somehow adding it to my hair... as a maybe plan. When I got back from the bus and headed to my office to work I noticed it sitting there and figured let's try it!
It worked! And looked amazing and wasn't too hard. It was huge, sparkly, and, unfortunately, had a bit too much main character energy. I worried it would get in the way of driving to the event plus since the event was more lowkey chatting with coffee it was a bit much. As such I snapped some photos quick (see below) before taking it off.
Idea 4: Bun and Pipe Cleaner Spider
Back in 2022 I created a bun spider on my head using pipe cleaners, googly eyes, hot glue, a clip, and many bobby pins. I realize now this would be incredible if my hair was only a spider (bun) and webbing (little braids). May be too complicated to combine on my own head though.
Kyra
Loved the reaction from the kids when I picked them up from school.... if I repeated it I'd be sure to change into my actual top first as it was hard to get it over my head with the spider there!
The Final Outfit
In the end I decided to forgo the spider and my hair ended up looking fancy... maybe... and not very spider-web like but that's just as well as one member, Sarah, was kind enough to bring a pile of hats to the meetup.
And now onto the photos! The spider photos (underneath) were taken first before I decided to downgrade by removing the spider, adding a sweater, and grabbing my reMarkable. Thus the no spider photos were taken. Personally I'm loving the spider ones more!
No Spider
With the Spider!
In the end, between the second bus run and heading out for the event, I didn’t actually get a chance to code... but honestly, the break felt right. Dreaming up this look, tweaking details, and listening to a Swift podcast while hunting for a matching necklace filled my cup more than any quick debugging session could have.... and right now I'm still trying to solve the issue to this break may be what I need.
Side note: While listening to Under the Radar I learned that you can hide work apps when you’re on vacation by tucking them into a hidden folder. I’d heard of the hidden folder when it was introduced but didn't think about using it for vacation mode. Good to know so I had to share.
Haven't tried it yet... but figured I'd link this "how to" for both future me and you!
Sometimes the most productive thing isn’t shipping code... it’s refueling the creative energy that makes the next build possible!
Your Turn!
If you’ve ever woven a hair web I’d love to see it! Never thought that would come out of my fingers. If the comments allow photos (haven't tried yet), share yours below. Otherwise, feel free to email me a picture, and I can feature a few here later (with credit, of course) if you'd like me too. Bonus points if you give me an idea I can use before Halloween!
Until then... may your bugs be expected, your hair stay perfectly coifed, and you stay strong enough to power whatever magic you’re working on next. Have a great day!
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