Seen at #MomoCon #cosplay

I didn't do as good a job this year of getting photos.  This is about the sum total of everything.

How not to adult at MomoCon #cosplay #CarmenSandiego #Splatoon #momocon #WW

(Yes, I know I wasn't canon with my outfit, but I won't wear the shorts,  I enjoyed meeting those that did a wonderful job like this one, though)

Maker Monday - cosplay props #spear #worbla

Not the best work ever, but not bad either.  The spear head is a foam core with worbla over it.  It didn't bond to the foam like I'd expected, so it's not as good a shape as I'd hoped for.  The black/gold portion is foam board (like you'd use for projects) with worbla on top. That came out better.

The circle portion is styrofoam from Michael's/Hobby Lobby that I cored and shaped.  The stripes are string.  The triangle on top is foam board with duck tape.

It's big.  It will be interesting getting it into the car for Momocon and may even have to ride on top.  But, daughter is happy she now has the spear to go with her character.  (Don't ask me who it is, I have no idea.)

Making a paint tank #Splatoon #cosplay #maker

The tank portion is fairly straight forward.  I took 4 2-liter bottles, cut the bottoms off of two, inserted one into each of the cut off bottles and then taped them together.  I zip tied the 4 bottles together and then painted.

This is the base of the backpack to hold the tanks.  I bought a kids backpack from Goodwill and sliced the back off of it.  I also bought a basket just for the frame and sliced the basket the basket of of it.  I duct taped the parts together.  The duct tape will be hidden by the tanks themselves.

Here's the finished product (not attached to the paint roller yet).

I'm not really satisfied with how it came out. I'm probably going to scrap it and start over with a different design. In the meantime, I'm going to start working on a prop for my daughter for Momocon.

Prop making for cosplay #Splatoon #paintroller #maker

I plan to cosplay an inkling (from Splatoon) at MomoCon.  As such, I need my equipment to go with the costume.  I don't give measurements as it depends on whom you're putting this together for.  I built it to size for me.

Parts required:
3" PVC
3/4" PVC
1/2" PVC
4 1/2" right angle PVC connectors
1 3/4" PVC T-connector
2 3/4"->1/2" connectors
1 Pool Noodle
1 metal rod/rebar
1 roll polyfill

The tubing in the picture actually goes to part two of the project.

The metal bar goes through the t-connector for added support.  The top is simple.  Connect two pieces of the 1/2 to the t-connector after putting the rebar in first. Connect angles to make a rectangle just wide enough for your 3" PVC to be able to hang.  The pool noodle goes inside the 3" pvc to give it something to "roll over".  The 1/2" pvc should fit into the pool noodle nice and tight.

First coat paint and after the poly fill has been hot glued onto the 3" PVC.

Finished project.  An oversized paint roller.

I'll admit that my paint job isn't accurate to the game, but I had fun painting it any way.  Most of my costume won't be "accurate", but I'm just playing so I'm ok with that.  We'll have to see what the cosplayers at MomoCon think about it when I get there.

Conjuration Con - 3 days of magical fun #magic #HarryPotter #ConjurationCon2015 @conjurationcon

I was given the opportunity to attend this event again this year.  I took my 14yo daughter along as well.  There were some wonderful additions to the convention and a great new venue.  

One of the panels was a session by the Georgia Reptile Association.  They were the charity of the year with the proceeds from the tea party and donations to the group by house jar.  The group is very passionate about their animals and helping others understand and learn about snakes and reptiles in general.

I also attended Harry Potter yoga (taught by a member of Slytherin House), made a wand (more on that one later) and learned how to do basic prosthetics.

My daughter, on the other hand, attended Creature Cosplay and Culinary Conjuration.  For those that know her, neither one is a hugely surprising choice.  We both attended the tea party where she even went and had her tea leaves read.

Lots of cosplay this year.  A good variety, though most centered around Harry Potter.  My photos of the costume contest didn't come out very well.  The costumes included Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, Box Trolls, Beauty and the Beast and my daughter in her Alice costume.

They even had an area where you could "visit" Narnia's lamp post. 

For once I didn't visit the game room (hosted by GigaBites Cafe) and end up staying there.  I wandered through, but never stayed more than 10 minutes.  Not long enough to really play any of the bigger games.  The convention did offer a bigger interactive game for attendees on Sunday.  It was a Hunt for the Horcrux.  A linear choose your own path story/game.  They read the basic start to everyone in one room, from there you made choices along the way.  You either lived to choose again, or "died" and were marked by a Dark Mark.  My daughter and I lost at the 4th stage.

They had several different performers as well, from Draco and the Malfoys to the Harp Twins.
All together, a wonderful selection of panels hosted by guest authors (and there were 20+ authors to visit!) and guests.  Next year's con will be November 11-13 at the same venue (Marriott Century Center).  I'm already looking forward to it!

Crafting with leather #maker #cosplay #craft

When cleaning out the attic, I came across a bag of scrap leather.  I'd purchased it a long time ago and never started any of the intended projects.  I finally decided to play with it this past week.  I came up with a more "medieval" waist pouch, just big enough for wallet and phone.  Fortunately, my primitive stitching isn't too obvious.  It'll take a good bit more practice with leather before I'd call myself "ok".  The shape of the flap is simply the way the scrap was cut.  I didn't do any further trimming to the leather.  Just folded and stitched (while using a hammer & nail to punch holes so that I could actually get the needle through).

Playing with ThermoPlastics with @GeekspaceGwinnett and @GBGHCosplay #Making #Cosplay

I took my kids out to Geekspace Gwinnett last Wednesday for a cool class they were offering.  Emily and Justin from Go Big or Go Home Cosplay were teaching a class on using Worbla and Thibracast.  My kids and I split up on what material to use.  My son and I chose Thibracast, my daughter went with Worbla.  Given cost of materials and shipping, I doubt we'll use this very often, but it was very cool to get to play with it and see what could be done with it.  The three of us made wrist cuffs.

These were the finished products.  Thibracast has a bit more give in it than the Worbla does.   But both were fairly simple to use.  Now we just have to finish them and paint them.  Not sure on the timeline for that part, I'll have to go get more acrylic paint.   We kept all of the scraps too to play with later.

@CONjuration Con Review #magic #cosplay

I was invited to go to CONjuration Con as a member of the press.  I attended Friday night and again on Sunday.  Unfortunately, I'd already made plans for Saturday that couldn't be undone, so I missed a lot of cool panels.  On the other hand, I did get to meet some very interesting people on both days and got to go to a couple of panels on Sunday.  There was a selection of authors, including the ones pictured below, to talk to.   Southeastern Reptile Rescue was on hand as well with some cool animals.

My daughter and I attended in costume on Friday night.  We attended the opening ceremony, explored the vendors (very cool selection), the gaming room and the Festival.  The two panels I attended on Sunday were Fantasy Parties (how to throw awesome fantasy type parties) and Crystal Magic.  A lot of useful information out of both.

I also went to the charity tea party Sunday afternoon.  This was to benefit Noah's Ark, a local animal rescue facility.   We were treated to music by Louis Robinson while we waited for the tea to begin.  There were 12 fandom teas from Adagio.  I think I sampled 6 before I floated away.  There were also shortbread cookies, British tea cakes and cheesecake samples.  I thoroughly enjoyed the samples and the company.  I met a couple of very nice ladies at my table and had a wonderful afternoon chatting.

By the end of the day Sunday, I'd thoroughly enjoyed myself.  It's a small con with a lot of heart and potential.  I'm looking forward to next year and am hoping I'll be able to attend.  Location hasn't been set yet, but you can reserve the dates: November 6-8, 2015.

Teens and their cosplay #awa2014 @awacon

Rainbow Dash (My Little Pony), Gary King (World's End), Sanji (One Piece), Momo Kisaragi (Kagerou Project)

It's cool when teens can put together creative outfits to cosplay in. Whether completely store bought, hand made, or put together out of their closet.  Some times their creativity is awesome to watch.  I watch the adults and I know what they can do. I also know they had to start somewhere.  So, here's the somewhere that the creative starts.  BEHOLD!  Thinking outside of the box.  Way to go, girls.

Anime Weekend Atlanta Creative Cosplay #daughter #Haikyuu!! #KagerouProject @awacon #awa2014

For the first time, my daughter actually used a completely purchased costume to cosplay with. She saved her money and found someone to make what she wanted.

Saturday's outfit -Momo Kisaragi (Kagerou Project)

Sunday's outfit -Koushi Sugawara (Haikyuu!!)  The wings don't actually go with the character, but she felt they applied as the team is the Ravens.

We're still working on "formal poses", but I think she did awesome.

Hylian Shield #DIY #cosplay #Zelda #TwilightPrincess

When it came to being able to cosplay Link, my son only actually asked me to make the shield. I did the sword first, then the shield. I remembered to take more pictures this time as well. Supplies needed were foam board (2 pcs from Hobby Lobby for $5), paint (already had), xacto knife (already had), pattern (from youtube), and patience. It took me about 4-5 hours to do all together.

I started first with cutting out the base of the shield from one piece of foam board. It took up most of the sheet (20"x25").

The smaller pieces I got out of the bits left over from the initial cut. The bird will be a stencil that I'll use to paint onto the shield, instead of using extra foam board.

I got one side of the foam board wet (damp cloth) and then put it up so that weights would force the foam board to warp like I wanted it.

While the base dried to it's new shape, I painted all the smaller pieces. Most were silver, the triforce is gold.

Everything pre-painted, but not assembled.

Start of the assembly process. I didn't like the edges on most of it, so I used silver duck tape to trim the edges out. It didn't work as well as I'd hoped, but well enough for now.  This is most of the smaller pieces glued to the shield.

After using my bird stencil, I had this on the shield. I went back a second time without the stencil to clean it up.

The back was spray painted black. The straps are black duck tape. (Duck tape fixes everything.)

The front with all the details.  The rivets are buttons covered in duck tape, trimmed, glued.  The curls are grey marker that I free drew on.

Sword and shield together. For a first time for both, I'm rather happy with the results. I think I'll try other methods of cutting or different foam board next time for the shield.

My first wooden sword #Zelda #Mastersword #madeitmyself

My son has wanted to cosplay Link for a while now. We picked up a metal version of the Master Sword at a con a year or so ago. Unfortunately, you can't wear the sword TO a con as part of the costume. So, I got it into my head to try my hand at making a wooden sword he could wear instead. Lesson learned - don't use pressure treated wood. The lessons online said use 1x4 for the sword and trace the outline on that. That person then had to glue on the additional parts of the hilt that wouldn't fit. I got the bright idea of using 1x8 instead so that the whole thing would fit. It fit, it was just a bear to work with pressure treated wood.

This is after tracing and cutting with a jigsaw. My first time playing with a jig saw, much less trying a craft like this.

I apologize that I didn't take a lot of pictures in between. Shaping took a lot of sanding (fortunately, I have a Mouse sander and a dremel). The knot in the wood required wood putty as well to fill in the gaps that showed when sanding. Once shaped as best as I could get it (I know it's not perfect), I sprayed the blade with metallic chrome spray paint and the hilt with metallic blue. I taped off the opposite area I was painting to make a clean line between the hilt and the blade.  The diamond I tried initially to just paint on, but the paint I used wouldn't "stick" to the paint on the sword already. Instead, I cut a couple of small pieces of balsa, painted those gold, and glued them on. I then resprayed the entire thing with a clear coat acrylic paint.

VOILA!  A homemade wooden Master Sword.  Not too shabby if I do say so myself.

Mary Poppins' umbrella head #DIY #crafting #fun #cosplay

For MomoCon  I had created a Mary Poppins costume to wear.  For the parrot head umbrella, I used floral foam shaped and hot glued to an black umbrella. Unfortunately, floral foam isn't strong enough to stand up to a con, so it didn't last the day.  I want to reprise the costume, but really needed to fix the umbrella.  This is what I came up with.

I started with a block of "regular" styrofoam from Michaels/Hobby Lobby.

I cut it to shape and started to cover it with regular wood putty (from Home Depot).

After I let the wood putty set for about 15 minutes (just long enough to be somewhat firm), I added the "feathers" with a toothpick.  I didn't worry too much about perfection as once the wood putty dried, I'd be able to sand it down and "fix" anything that needed fixing.

I repeated that for each side (except the bottom!), letting the putty set for at least 12 hours before I went to the next side. Then I sanded, repaired, and started to paint.

Once I'd finished painting, I carved out a small area in the styrofoam underneath (which I did not putty) for the head of the umbrella to fit into. I then used epoxy to affix it. Once the epoxy dried, I used a clear coat of acrylic paint to "seal" it all in.

Not a quick project (took about a week given time for the putty and epoxy to set), but not too hard either. The umbrella cost $5 from Dollar General. The putty was approx $8 from Home Depot. The styrofoam I had on hand, but you can get several blocks for about $5 at Hobby Lobby. Paint I had as well and varies depending on where you get it.