It’s Never Too Early For Christmas Crafts

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This might be the simplest Christmas ornament ever and I love it! SparkOut had this posting on Imgur. An even though this is representative of the Red Shirts of Star Trek: The Original Series, it lends itself to some creativity. With a change of sequin colors for the round ornaments, you could make almost any uniform from any Star Trek series: blue for the Sciences and Medical from TOS, command yellow from TOS, burgundy and black for command on TNG, or even teal for Counselor Troi, to just name a few ideas.

Batman’s Original Utility Belt Was Made Out of Sponges

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Who didn’t want to own a Batman utility belt as a kid? In the 1960s, the Ideal Toy Company manufactured one for purchase, complete with Bat-Cuffs and “Bat-A-Rang.” It was fun but looked nothing like its TV counterpart. The bright yellow, pouch covered belt hanging around Adam West’s waist was an iconic part of his Batman outfit.

Let’s peek into the Batcave closet and take a closer look at the secrets of the belt. There were several versions and add-ons during the production of Batman.

Believe it or not, one of the utility belts was made of kitchen sponges. When the show was first broadcast, such source material would never have been noticed. However, with our HD broadcasts, the detail is right there on screen. You can see the dishwashing-ready accessory up top.

Thankfully, the absorbent “pouches” were later replaced with wood blocks, sometimes covered in leather, which were then painted with yellow latex gloss paint.

The pouches were, in some cases, interchangeable to add the deep triangular pouch used to holster the Batarang on the belt. As for the tubes that are seen on the belt, those were simply wooden dowels painted and added to break up the belt a bit from the rectangular pouches.

With a little time and effort, you might be able to make yourself. So get ready, chums. Be it for cosplay, Halloween or for fun, you can make “those wonderful toys” for yourself.

Yakko Warner at RCCC

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This is actually the second time I’ve posted about a Yakko Warner cosplay, and I think this one takes the cake!

Brady Danger Gage creates amazing costumes. This Yakko Warner was created for the 2016 Rose City Comic Con in Oregon. Brady also made Wakko and Dot Warner costumes as well, AND he created costumes for those costumes: Batman for Yakko, Superman for Wakko, and Wonder Woman for dear little Dot. They were surprises for the awesome Keith Tucker, based on his own artwork.

And if you click here, you’ll be able to watch a short video of Rob Paulsen, talented voice-over artist and the voice of Yakko, meeting the Animaniac in real life.

From a practical point of view, if you’ve ever thought about making a mascot-type foam head for a costume, you might want to check out Brady’s Facebook page. He’s got a series of pictures that show how to stack the foam, how to start sketching on the faces, and how to wrap it in fabric. It’s a good tutorial.

One, One Birthday Cake! Ahh ahh ahh!

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This Craftster post caught my eye because from the thumbnail, I thought this was going to be a felt hoop. But rather, it was about cake, and that’s pretty good too.

Pottermouth of Savannah, GA, was asked by a friend to use a vintage Wilton cake pan of “The Count” from Sesame Street to make a birthday cake for her daughter.

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The one special request, make him look, “less high” than he did on the package. You be the judge with the pictures here, but I think Pottermouth did a fantastic job! Just a tweak to The Count’s eyes and he’s good to go.

“The Walking Dead” Art Dolls

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I’ve posted about my love of “The Walking Dead” art dolls I’ve been as a travel the internet, and Nerdplusneedle has a new set of dolls to check out.

Ever since season six ended with the introduction of Negan, she started toying with the idea of making a few little art dolls. And little they turned out. Nerdplusneedle kept downsizing and downsizing her pattern because they just looked so cute being so small. They’re 8inches / 20cm tall, with a good portion of that total coming from their heads.

Initially, she thought to make them simple, but then she just kept adding…and adding..and adding. The zippers are real, but the zipper pulls were way too big for them (one was as big as Michonne’s whole vest) so she made teeny tiny ones out of craft foam. And why make plain shoes when you can give them itty bitty laces? With clay soles and added heels? Of course, she made real applique wings that are only a couple centimeters big.

Eyes have been painted and the facial hair is laid on by hand. She wasn’t happy with the painting entirely, but she’s recently purchased some tiny nail brushes so she can –hopefully– get cleaner lines on her next wee faces.

Crochet BMO Scarf

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Rose Henderson actually wrote this crochet pattern in 2014, but since the southeast part of the United States is finally starting to get chilly, I thought it was time to share this.

Rose said her 9 year old asked if she could make him a scarf that no–one else had at school. They compiled a list of his favorite TV programs, had a look around to see what was available in local stores and whittled the list down to BMO from Adventure Time. Thoughtfully, Rose posted her entire tutorial on this scarf on her blog, and even included a PDF of the pieces of BMO’s face, to trace onto felt.

Amazingly enough, this was Rose’s first crochet tutorial and it’s very clear and concise.