Coffin in the Grass

I wanted to try out a wood stain so I stained a couple of coffin-shaped trinket boxes. I really liked how rich and aged it made the wood look.

Before I stained it, the coffin looked like this, just plain light-colored wood.

Start with a trinket box and sand it down before you do anything else.

The next step for this coffin was distressing the wood. I took a hammer, chain, and screwdrivers and gave it a good beating. It's good to do this before staining the wood, then you can get the stain down in those distress marks to darken them up. If you distress it after you stain the wood, you could end up with light wood showing through, and that ruins the effect of the stain.

I rubbed wood stain into the box both inside and out. Watch your fingers when staining! The oil from your hands can mess with the finish. If you have some latex gloves, wear them.

The coffin box was still quite plain after all the distressing and staining. I loved the look but it needed an artist's touch. So I used a fine-tip brush to hand-paint grass all around the base of the coffin.

Tips for painting grass: 

• Start with a dark green (tint your medium green with a tiny bit of black), then gradually layer on lighter colors
• Paint grass in clumps!Think crab grass. Natural grass can be varying in height and density of ground coverage.
• Vary the lengths of the grass, and let the blades bend in different directions and cross each other.
• The top of the grass should taper to a point. Practice your paint strokes, lightly using the tip of a fine-tipped brush.

Steampunk Batman Mask

I saw this mask in the store and though that's a pretty decent Batman Mask, could I Steampunk it?

Yes I can.

So here's the Mask I started off with.  the background is actually two types different tissue paper with different prints that I'm going to use on it.  I took off the stretch elastic used for wearing as I dont want in the way during my process, but saving to add back later

I 'primed' the mask with some white paint, just cause the tissue paper is a little see through.  So instead of putting several layers of more expensive paper, I can make sure that the print shines through by starting off with a white mask.

Next, Mod Podge the crap out of the mask. WO Ha Ha Ha Ha.  I used my own home made Mod Podge (water and white glue, why spend so much money for Mod Podge when it's just a White Glue with a fancy label).  

  

Add back the strap and vola. 

  

Homura Akemi - Cosplay Shirt

My friend asked me to cosplay with him characters from  Puella Magi Madoka Magica.  He wanted me to go be his Homura

 

So let's see how to make the shirt.

I started off with a shirt from the thrift store.  One that is super long.

Then I trimmed off the bottom to follow the cut from Homura's outfit.

Added some black trim with some cotton ribbon. 

Next I need to make a little caplet.  But instead of measuring of my shoulder, I thought I would use the shirt as the guide.

Folding before cutting so that it would be symmetrical.

Even though the bow should be created by tying the sash of the caplet, but to make sure I had a perfect bow every time, I just created a bow that I'll button on.

Another bow for the back as well.

Golden Snitch Prop

It's the Golden Snitch!

This is a really quick project but requires a few tools. Here's how to make your own Snitch like this one.

Tools:

• hot glue gun & one hot glue stick
• electric drill (e.g. a Dremel with a drill bit)
• scissors
• fine-tipped paint brush
• blunt/wide-tipped paint brush

Materials:

• a wooden ball
• two yellow feathers
• gold acrylic paint
• light yellow acrylic paint

All of the above (excluding the drill, perhaps) should be available from your local craft store.

Directions:

1.  Using a drill bit the same size as your feather stems, drill two holes in the wooden ball, angling the hole in the direction you want the feather to come out.
2. Stick the feathers into the holes to make sure they fit. Use scissors to trim the feathers to your desired length. Then take the feathers back out of the holes.
3. One hole at a time, squeeze hot glue into the hole and then shove the tip of the feather in. Before the glue cools, twist the feather so it's facing the right direction. Then repeat for the other hole and feather and let the glue cool.
4. Using a blunt-tipped brush, paint the ball gold. To minimize brushstrokes and keep the nice wood grain visible, paint on a very light layer, let it dry, then add one or two more layers of paint until the wood color is covered.
5. Using a fine-tipped paint brush and light yellow paint, detail on a design to give your Snitch an aerodynamic, athletic, or magical appearance. I just made up a design, but if you want you could find reference photos from the Harry Potter movies and try to create a movie-accurate Snitch. You'll note the "real" Snitch is not a completely smooth ball. To add texture, you could use gold puffy paint to "draw" the design on.
6. Finish with a light coat of gold over the light yellow. I also edged the yellow with a darker gold to give it the illusion of depth.