Super Mario Bros Cocktail Hats

My crafting soulmate made these adorbs pixel art bead sprites for me… Soooo Super Star and Fire Flower hats HAD to happen.

 

Under the Sea Themed Seashell Fascinators- Ariel Disneybound Cosplay Anyone?

         

   
I made these! With my own two paws! 

It all started with an experiment molding Worbla’s Finest Art on a real lion’s paw seashell I got for $3 at the craft store. Here are some progress photos if you’re curious. Enjoy ❤

             

How to Make a Bird Cage Veil in 5 Easy Steps

 DIY bird cage veil for a hat or wedding veil comb.

Like for realsies easy. And this is all you need:

• 9″ wide spool of bird cage netting (also called Russian netting or French netting interchangeably)
• Scissors
• Needle
• Matching Thread
• Ruler or measuring tape

STEP 1:  Use your measuring tape/ruler to cut an 18″ piece of netting

STEP 2:  Count 7 holes down and follow the line of the netting to cut off the upper right corner. Repeat for the other side.

   

STEP 3: Thread your needle and knot the end around the lower right corner of your netting.

 

STEP  4 : Do a quick running stitch through the netting holes  pulling the thread to gather as you go.Go clockwise from the lower right corner to the lower left corner. Do not go across the bottom.

STEP 5:  Pull your thread to gather your netting into a caged veil shape. Tie off the end and snip your thread. TIP: Gather the netting loosely if you’re going to attach it to a hat, gather it tightly if you’re going to attach it to a barrette.

Now you’re ready to attach your veil to a hat, hair comb or clip.

I used this veil for my couture Eternal Love hat:

 

Couture “Eternal Love” Gothic Wedding Hat

 

A couple years ago, I made the first “Eternal Love” hat as a wedding gift for a my lovely friend, Amanda.Cleaning out my crafting stuff I came across these two larger skulls and I was inspired all over again.  ❤

First I made a worbla base, then I covered it in white felt and added pearl trim.

If you look closely you can see I started with the base attached to a headband, but I changed my mind later .

 I used epoxy for metal, plastic and fabric to do all the heavy-duty adhesive business. Here’s some progress during construction:

Then I added a tulle and feather spray. Using a needle and thread, I gathered tulle then hot glued the bunches to cover my base in a dreamy cloud of tulle.

 

I used cut out pieces of lace to cover unsightly seams in the fake skulls.

 

The last bit was to make a birdcage veil and attach alligator clips to hold the hat securely on a head. Again, I used epoxy adhesive for the strongest permanent hold. Stinky but effective.

And here’s the finished hat! ❤

I embellished with rhinestone brooches and pearls I enhanced with individual rhinestones.

And of course, those are real working heart lockets:

DIY Cosplay Gloves for Touch Screen

Until you wear gloves for a cosplay you might not notice how annoying they are! You want your phone out for pictures and connecting with your fellow nerds online, but it sucks having to pull your glove off for every photo op- sometime the crowd on the floor moves to quickly.

I discovered conductive thread about a week before WonderCon 2015 so I whipped up these gloves for the phone-addicted Riddler in our Arkham Starfleet group cosplay. SInce it was in a rush, the stitches are pretty sloppy, but I’m happy to report they worked great!

I found my thread on Amazon.com since I was in a super hurry and needed speedy delivery.

How to Make Touch Screen Cosplay Gloves

All you really need are gloves, conductive thread, and a needle, but you might find a hair curler useful if you have one on hand.

You need something to put in the finger of the glove while you stitch. This is where the curler will come in handy. First, take the foam off the roller.

   

Insert the frame of the roller into the finger you want to make touch screen friendly.

  

Whip stitch rows along the pad of the finger you’re working on. You need at least enough rows to cover the pad of the finger.

Once you’re done, you’ll be able to text and take pics to your hearts content ❤

Poision Ivy / Pamela Isley Closet Cosplay!

So I did this quick cosplay with ordinary clothes from my closet and a few strategic accessories. That is called a “Closet Cosplay.” Apparently. Thank you Instagram friends for using the power of The Internets to acquaint me with that term. I owe you my firstborn.

 

Put on my trusty Poison Ivy wig (and my own for real glasses to actually see) and snapped a quick selfie.

 

Used the selfie, an old con badge, and my mad photoshop skillz to create Pamela Isley’s ID badge.

 

Slapped a sloppy coat of green paint on this teal bra as a base- note I only worried about the middle part that would be seen.

 

I like to pin my leaves in place to work out my design and then hot glue ’em down.

 

Quick & dirty – just covered the area you’d see.

 

See! Looks good all buttoned up.

 

I’m obsessed with sharp manicures- I love nude sharp nails for this because the neutral says “professional” but the sharp tips hint at villain.

 

Last minute I decided I needed a little purse for essentials so I busted out the glue gun and went to town.

 

All my accessories ready to go.

 

Ta-dah!

Supermonster (and VileVillain) Plushies!

So I had a bunch of fleece left over from Superhero Xmas stockings…I started making these little guys to get rid of the fleece and now I am totally in love!

…of course, I have defeated the purpose of getting RID of extra fleece because now I’m hitting up Hancock Fabrics weekly, lol. Good news January is THE DOPEST time to buy fleece. This haul was only $28 (including some thread too.)

I’ve made these so far to sell at my first ever convention booth (squeee!) either at WonderCon or Amazing Las Vegas:

The Horrible Hulk & Creeper Marvel

Catwendigo & Batmonster

Hobgoblin HarleyQuinn & Hobgoblin Joker

Supermonster

Gothic Batwing Cocktail Hat

This gothic batwing cocktail hat is one of my all-time favorites! I used a combo of black craft paint and clear acrylic spray paint on worbla to achieve a very bat-like texture on the wing.  Sadly, this is the best full photo I took before I shipped the hat to it’s new owner.

     

I started by sculpting my pieces in worbla.

 

Then I painted the underside black and covered the cap piece first with felt and then with a swiss dot tulle. This left an ugly edge inside which I later covered with black rickrack.

Once everything was painted and/or covered, I assembled all my pieces and some embellishments including rhinestones and beaded chains.

      

Using hot glue and tweezers I (painstakingly) applied every tiny rhinestone after attaching the wing to my cap. Tedious but worth it! ❤

     

I finished it up with a spray of swiss dot mesh behind the wing.  Seriously, I loved this cocktail so much it was difficult to send it away to its new owner!

Fancy Hunger Games Hats!!!

Because obviously.
Enjoy ❤

MATERIALS USED:

worbla – black felt – birdcage netting – black ribbon – wooden skewer – black ribbon – gold liquid leaf

alligator hair clips – craft paint: black, red, yellow, white, asst. blues

TOOLS USED:

heat gun – hot glue gun – needle and thread – scissors

     

Cut my shapes out of worbla. Used the heat gun to form the flat circles into rounded caps and curve the mockingjay emblems to the caps.

           

Painted my mockingjay emblems referencing each of the novel covers.

Covered caps in black felt. Also painted the inside with black craft paint.

     

Cut the corners off apprx. 18″ of netting. Used a running stitch clockwise from corner A to corner B and gathered to form a birdcage veil.

     

Used hot glue to assemble:  Attach the mockingjay emblems to the felt caps, then attached the birdcage veil underneath and used ribbon to cover the edges, then attached alligator clips to either side.

Note: You can get plain alligator clips- I just happened to have these ones,  which are meant for hair accessories that can also be worn as pins, left over from another project. 

Hunger Games Fascinator Cocktail Hat

Catching Fire Fascinator Cocktail Hat

Mockingjay Fascinator Cocktail Hat

          

     

Cosplay Prop: How to Make a Harley Quinn Hammer

For me the most essential part of a DIY Harely Quinn cosplay is an iconic Harley Quinn prop! This is how I made a Harley Quinn hammer (also called a mallet).

MATERIALS I USED

• 2 Home Depot Buckets
• Half of an Adjustable Drapery Rod with a Cool Finial
• Worbla
• Thick Craft Foam
•  Sticky Back Craft Foam
• Masking Tape
• Various Fabric & Ribbon Trim
• Drill with  1″ Paddle Bit
• Epoxy or Super Glue
• Hot Glue Gun & Sticks
• Black Spray Paint, Clear Acrylic Spray Paint
• Red & White Craft Paint

STEP ONE: BUILD OUT YOUR HAMMER HEAD

I cut the top off of two Home Depot buckets and stuck ’em together. Then I smoothed out the seams with a combination of masking tape and craft foam.

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 STEP TWO: COVER IN WORBLA AND EMBELLISH WITH TEXTURE

First I covered the whole thing in worbla for a uniform, paintable texture. Then I used a hot glue gun to add some rhinestone ribbon trim and diamonds cut out from sticky back foam. This added some cool texture to my hammer head- and also cover some seams. 😉

 STEP THREE: THE HANDLE

First I covered the curtain rod in worbla and used epoxy glue to attach the finial to one end. Then I chose the paddle bit closest to the diameter of my covered rod and drilled a whole in the hammer head where the handle would be attached.

I applied epoxy to end of the rod opposite of the finial and inserted it all they way through so that the end of the rod hit the opposite end of the hammer head. I carefully held it in place until the epoxy set and my handle was secured to the inside of the hammer head.

I also added a gasket of craft foam where the handle met the head and used epoxy to secure it in place.

STEP FOUR: PAINT IT BLACK & RELAX!

When my fabrication was complete, I spray painted the whole thing black and then finished with a light coat of clear acrylic spray paint. I then I took a break and let it set for a day. It’s hard to be patient but if you let the paint cure your less likely scratch or smudge stuff. 🙂

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STEP FIVE: FINISH IT OFF WITH DETAILS

To finish off my Harley Hammer, I used a couple different techniques. I dry brushed red craft paint over my textured parts and added some Harley touches with a bullseye and psycho laughter. I cut strips of some left over deep red velvet and glued it in a spiral pattern around the handle and added some assorted ribbon details.

Although this mallet could be used for any Harley cosplay, I also made a little hobo satchel that we attached to this mallet to fit the Gotham Hobos theme of a group cosplay.