@shanajray: ✨ I MADE MY FIRST CARNIVAL COSTUME… AND I’M FINALLY SHOWING YOU HOW! 👑🪶✨ Procrastination got the best of me because I made this costume months ago for the Miss Orlando Carnival Queen Pageant and somehow never posted the behind-the-scenes! 😂 But with Miami Carnival coming up, the Carnival season getting back into full swing, AND the next Miss Orlando Carnival Queen pageant already getting started, I figured there was no better time to finally share it. This was my FIRST TIME EVER making a Carnival costume AND a feathered backpack. 😳 I’m a fashion designer. I’ve been sewing for years. I know how to construct garments and bring ideas to life… but Carnival costume construction was a completely different challenge. So I took what I already knew, combined it with everything I had learned from being around Orlando Carnival Downtown, watching costumes come together, seeing how backpacks were built, working with different materials, and simply paying attention—and then I challenged myself to figure out the rest. And when I say I WORKED on this thing… 😂 I was taking my beads to work so I could bead during the day, then coming home and sewing the pieces together, building the costume, working on the backpack, taking things apart, adding things, changing things, and figuring it out as I went. Basically… night and day until the vision was OUT OF MY HEAD and in my hands. 🫠🧵✨ And that’s really why I wanted to make this video. Because maybe you’ve been looking at a Carnival costume and thinking, “I wonder if I could make that?” Maybe you want to make your own backpack. Maybe you have an idea that you’ve never seen anyone else do. Maybe you’re getting ready for your next Carnival and you want to try creating something yourself. YOU CAN. 💗 You don’t have to know everything before you start. Take what you know, learn what you don’t, watch other people, study the techniques, experiment, add something, take something away, and then make it YOURS. That’s exactly what I did. Some of the knowledge came from my experience with Orlando Carnival Downtown, and I’m forever grateful for everything I’ve been able to learn simply by being around the people who make Carnival happen. I took those little pieces of knowledge and combined them with my own sewing and design background to create something that felt like ME. And for my very first Carnival costume and backpack? I was REALLY proud of how it turned out. 👑🪶✨ Now the Miss Orlando Carnival Queen Pageant is starting its next chapter, with the 2027 contestants getting ready to step into their own journey. I may not be competing this time around, but I’m still cheering for the pageant, the women participating, and everybody brave enough to put themselves out there and create something beautiful. So if you’re watching this and thinking about making your own costume for the next Carnival you attend… TAKE THIS AS YOUR SIGN. ✨ Create the costume. Make the backpack. Try the thing. Figure it out as you go. And if my little behind-the-scenes video can inspire even ONE person to pick up some materials and say, “Okay… I think I can do this,” then I’m happy I finally stopped procrastinating and posted it. 😂💕 Now… MIAMI CARNIVAL, WE’RE GETTING READY! 🇯🇲🔥🪶 Get your band together. Get your costume together. Get your feathers ready. I’ll see you on the road! 💃🏽✨ @Orlando Carnival Downtown #MiamiCarnival #MiamiCarnival2026 #OrlandoCarnivalDowntown #MissOrlandoCarnivalQueen #CarnivalCostume

Shana J Ray

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Thursday 01 October 2026 00:16:03 GMT