D.I.Y.

crafty creations.

D.I.Y. – Cosplay Shoes

Today, I spent the day working on shoes for the Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn costumes I’ve designed for an upcoming comic con in my area. I want to share how I transformed two old pairs of shoes into villainous footwear with a little spray paint. Here’s the paint I used:

I started by taping off the shoes anywhere I didn’t want paint to reach. I used small pieces of tape, mostly, and spent a lot of time and care doing this. Putting in the time during this step really pays off in the end. For the Poison Ivy heels, I taped off the entire bottom of each shoe (I taped off another section later.) The Harley Quinn boots posed a slight challenge when I was deciding exactly how I wanted to spray them. I decided to only spray the tops of the boots with her signature diamond pattern bringing the red into the black lower half. (This way I wouldn’t have to spray over the zipper or buckles.)

I used newspaper to section off the bottom of the boots and protect the inside of the heels.

I used a pool noodle, cut in half, and more newspaper to steady the boots for spraying. I sprayed each pair of shoes with two thin coats of their respective base color allowing about 40 minutes of dry time between coats.

Next, I sprayed each shoe with two thin coats of glitter spray paint. Again, I allowed about 40 minutes between coats. (Before praying with glitter, I taped off the platform and heel on the Poison Ivy pair to achieve a two toned finish.)

Once completely dry, I sprayed each shoe with the glitter spray clear sealer and let dry. Finally, I carefully removed all the tape and admired my work. I also glued some of the ivy leaves from the rest of the Poison Ivy costume to the front of each green heel.

There you have it! Completely transformed a couple of old shoes into brilliant costume pieces. The techniques used here don’t have to be applied strictly to cosplay projects; you can jazz up any old pair of shoes however you’d like!

Thanks for reading! I can’t wait to post pictures of each costume once they’re completed!

Love, GK

D.I.Y. – Fourth Doctor’s Scarf

The other night, a bunch of my cosplay friends and I made a night of some cosplay karaoke and had a blast. I really wanted to do a simple Fourth Doctor look but needed his iconic scarf. Since I happened to have a two-colored scarf and some fabric spray paint, I decided to make one!

I used a couple of thin painting canvases for my straight edges but you can use anything you’re willing to spray paint all over. I used towels to work on so they would absorb the extra paint; a slick surface would’ve made for a lot of mess and mistakes. The scarf I had for years and the paint I had recently picked up at wal-mart on clearance (it’s normally found in the same aisle as tie-dye kits).

I laid out the scarf and using the straight edges, sprayed on my colors. All you really need is a basic knowledge of the color wheel and the paint mixes with the hues already on the scarf create all the various colors (red paint + blue fabric = purple, blue paint + yellow fabric = green, etc.). After each spray, I patted down the area with a spare rag to help push the color in and prevent a stiffening on the fabric.

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I didn’t try to imitated the pattern on the original four scarf, I just spaced my colors out the way I liked and sprayed lines in various thicknesses. The paint dries pretty fast and once the first side was dry enough, I flipped it over and did the same on the reverse side. I hung it to dry for a little while and wore it later that day for the event. I received lots of kudos and compliments on my simple creation.

My next goal is to learn how to knit so I can really make my own!

Thanks for ready! Love, GK

DIY :: Sherlock ‘Bored’ Nails

I was bored and feeling creative so I decided to give myself a Sherlock inspired manicure. To try this out yourself, all you need are: 1.) White Polish. 2.) Black Crackle Polish. 3.) Yellow Polish. 4.) A very small paint brush. (You can also achieve this look using Black Polish for the main coat followed by White Crackle Polish.)

Thanks for reading! Love, GK

D.I.Y. :: Galaxy Nails

Last night, I decided to try out a nail art idea that I’ve seen floating around the internet for a long time: Galaxy Nails. It’s super easy to do and there’s really no way to possibly mess-up. All you’ll need to do this yourself is a few nail polishes and a makeup sponge or a couple of cheap eye shadow applicators. The color polishes you’ll want to work with include: 1. Black or Dark Purple or Dark Blue. 2.) White 3.) Light Green or Light Gold. 4.) Blue or a Brighter Blue (if you used dark blue for your base color) 4.) Pink. 5.) Sparkles. Here are the colors I used:

wet n wild :: black creme
sally hansen extreme wear :: white on
julep :: piper
sally hansen triple shine :: wavy blue
julep :: lily
julep :: trina
sinful colors nail art :: bad chick
sinful colors :: queen of beauty

Start by painting your nail with your dark color. Next, dab white polish around the center of the nail with the sponge using a very light hand. Then, apply your next color the same way.

Blend the last color into the dark polish perimeters with blue. Now, add touches of pink or purple around, still using the sponge technique. *Be sure not to over-do-it with any of the colors and end up covering all of the white; you still want some white popping out.* The next step is optional: Using a teeny-tiny nail art brush, you can add some white specks and x’s (or maybe bigger chunks of glitter). Finally, finish with a sparkly top coat and you’re done!

Next time I paint my nails like this, I will definitely do a few things differently. One of those adjustments will be to go easy on the sparkle polish too. I feel like the overabundance of of silver takes away from the colors. But what can I say? I like a lot of glitter in my galaxy.

Thanks for reading! Love, GK

The Riddler :: Steampunk/Burlesque

Every year, I eagerly await Halloween. Most of the time, months prior, I know exactly what I’m being and exactly how I’ll put my costume together. This year, that wasn’t the case. I looked forward to the holiday as normal but I had no idea what I wanted to dress up as. (This proved to be incredibly stressful) Now, one Halloween costume is never enough and each year, I dress up in at least two costumes for different events but there is always a “main” costume, the big one. This year, in addition to my A Clockwork Orange and Nerdy 1950’s Playboy Bunny costumes, I put together a pretty kick-ass Steampunk/Burlesque Riddler costume. I brainstormed the costume, accumulated all the necessary pieces and supplies, and constructed my costume in less than 48 hours. If there’s one thing I do well, it’s put together an amazing costume. Here’s how I did it this time:

On the left: all the items I bought for this costume – a lime green jacket from goodwill for $2, purple mask, mini purple and black topcoat, “steampunk” goggles, metal buttons and chain link from Wal-Mart (about $20 total), purple gloves and bowtie from Party City (about $8). I also bought a black tutu but didn’t end up using it with this costume. The purple tights from Target pictured with the purchased items, I actually had in my sock and tights drawer but they originally cost about $3.

One the right: all the items I already had – black corset, long black sheer skirt, lime green lace bra, lime green and white thigh-high stockings, short black shorts and white garter belt.

On my previously mentioned trip to Wal-Mart for costume supplies, I also picked up some pray paint, fabric dye, ribbon, glitter and iron-on question marks (that I also didn’t end up using). I had more purple spray paint, fabric glue and stencils. I got to work.

I spray painted the metal buttons, chain link and goggles. I also spray painted purple ?s on the jacket. (Unhappy with the spray job on the goggles, I ended up painting them again by hand with acrylic paints and sealing with a glossy clear coat)

I sewed the buttons and segments of the chain to the front of the jacket. (I sewed on four of the above pictured sets total). Using the lime green fabric dye, I set out to transform the white garter belt and stockings. This was the second time I ever attempted to use fabric dye and this was the second time it completely didn’t work. On the package it states that best results are not achieved on synthetic fabrics like nylon but you would assume it would work a little. No. As soon as I rinse the garments the color rinses completely out as if it weren’t dyed at all. I went with my usual means of dyeing to get this job done: Sharpies.

For those of you who have never used the heaven-sent miracle instruments, Sharpies, to dye synthetics, allow me a brief tutorial:

1.) gather Sharpies in necessary colors

2.) pull Sharpies apart and remove ink-thingys

3.) slice ink-thingys open

Now, in the past I have mixed and made various shades buy combining Sharpie “ink-thingys” in squeeze bottles full of rubbing alcohol. I use these solutions to dye wigs usually. (And it works freaking fantastic!) This time, I threw these ink-thingys into a shallow pot of boiling water after removing from heat and then added the lingerie. I let them soak for about 10 minutes which was probably way more time than even necessary (compared to the hour time with that good-for-nothing fabric dye).

I absolutely loved the way the garter belt came out! The stockings looked great too, an enhanced version of their original state. Thrown all together, a little pinch here and a little altering there, here is the final product (the back of the skirt isn’t well shown but its very bustley back there and when the front in hiked just a tad higher than seen below, the green garter belt really pops):

So that’s that. My 2014 Halloween costume: Steampunk/Burlesque inspired Riddler. I’ll definitely have to post an update with more detailed pictures of the whole costume and my makeup under that mask. I was extremely proud of my brainchild and how it all came to fruition. I’m pretty badass sometimes. The only disappointment with my costume this year is that NPH totally had to steal my shine. He has cuter accessories anyway; I don’t have a foxy husband or adorable twins…

Thanks for reading!