Morgiana's Headdress, Revisited

Hi there, all!

I hope things are going well for everyone! I've been pretty good myself.  Working full-time is getting to me a bit; I have so many crafting and cosplaying plans, but between working, working out, and keeping up my "adult" chores, I find myself with only an hour or so a night before I have to go to bed and start it all over again.  I'm getting better with time management, but some nights its so easy to just want to melt into the couch and veg out after a stressful work day.  Some days, I really miss college, but I know that being a full time student can be just as taxing as working full time.  So what do I do to cope? Resort to crafting, of course!

I made another addition on my headdress for my Morgiana cosplay.  As you might notice from the pictures below, there is a cute little poof of hair that stands up from the headdress:

Now, my original plan was to pull some of the wig I was wearing up into a tiny ponytail to make the "poof," but then I thought: why not make something that will always be consistent?  Because frankly, pulling a bit of hair into a ponytail is a pain in the butt, and the results won't always look the same, and it could slide out at any time.  The solution? Read on ;)

First, I needed something solid to build from.  Thats where some styrofoam comes in.  I made approximate measurements of how wide and tall I wanted the poof to be, leaning towards the smaller side to make sure I had plenty of room for layers of hair.  Once I cut the block out, I trimmed it down into a oblong-ish shape.

Next, I covered it with a layer of scrap fabric so the hair would have a more even surface to stick too.

Then, using wefts I purchased from Arda Wigs, I layered hair over the top of it.  Similar to rolling of a skein of yarn is the best way I could describe it.  I designated one end of the poof the "top", and so to best emulate a natural poof of hair, there are multiple layers, held together with Tacky Glue and Hairspray.

The bottom half of the poof looked really messy because of all the glue, so I made a little ring out of Wonderflex and Rub'n'Buff, glued the hair to the inside, and glued it around the ring I had already made into the headdress.

The sickly yellow lighting in my craft room doesn't do it much justice in photos, but trust me, it came out a lot better than I was expecting it too.  It is super stable, and will be consistent for the future of this costume!

Thanks for reading, everyone! I love getting feedback, so feel free to leave a comment or hit me up on Twitter, @whimsyAly

Until next time,
Alycia

Arts and Crafts: Repainting an Old Mirror

Why hello there!

How is it going? Sticking to the resolutions you made? Personally, I'm pretty on track with mine.  Although, you shouldn't be too hard on yourself when it comes to making goals or resolutions.  I like breaking big goals down into smaller steps that make it seem more achievable.  I'm also a big believer in rewarding myself for completing a goal; for example, I have some stretches I'm supposed to do for my back health.  If I do those 10 days in a row, I let myself buy a new book or something little for myself.  A fun way to keep track of this is a sticker chart-- as childish as that sounds, its encouraging to see the progress I've made.  Plus I just really like stickers ;)

A little painting project I worked on recently is putting a fresh layer of paint on a mirror I picked up a couple years ago.  It is a super cute mirror, as you'll see in the pictures.  I don't have a place for it yet in my little apartment, but I hope to display it someday.

This is the mirror before I put any paint on it.  Please ignore my attire in my reflection, haha, it's just my tiger kigurumi pajamas.  The paint was in fairly good condition, but around the edges there  were some parts where the paint had chipped off.

 All I did to the body of the mirror was throw a layer of ivory acrylic paint.  Next, some yellow in the middle of the flowers and around the inner edge of the frame, right next to the mirror.

Then, some pink on the flower petals! I do love pink.

Finally, I decided to add some shine with gold leaf at the top of the mirror.  As you might recall (click here if you need a refresher,) I don't get along with gold leaf.  This little episode proved no different, but I persevered.  It turned out okay, but I think I would have rather used a metallic paint.

Here is the final result!  I think it turned out pretty cute.  I kept the colors pretty mild because I wanted it to be able to fit in with most decor.  Plus pink is a color I will never tire of!

Have you done any artsy or crafty things lately? Share with me! I love talking about crafty things, not just cosplay-related things.  

Until next time!

-Alycia