Tag: Christmas Ornaments

Geek Girl Brunch + Comic Book Ornaments

Geek Girl Brunch

I don’t think I’ve yet shared the awesomeness that is Geek Girl Brunch. I discovered it via the Female Geek Bloggers G+ Community, and was immediately intrigued. Ladies getting together to share brunch, drinks, and geek-talk? Sign me up!

The group started in New York City, with its own meetups. They had so much fun together that they decided to roll out chapters, not only across the U.S but worldwide! Sensing I had found my geek tribe, I signed up to be notified about news of the Kansas City chapter. I got an email a few months later notifying me that chapters were forming, and would I like to be an officer to help launch the KC chapter? Because I love my hometown and want to nurture its geek culture, I said yes!

We had our first brunch in July – an informal meetup at the Cheesecake Factory, followed by Star Wars Day at Barnes & Noble. In September we gathered at the Renaissance Festival and strolled the grounds together. Other chapters have enjoyed a wide variety of themes, from a Zombie Crawl to a Xena-themed yoga session to a Pixel Perfect ode to video games.

Next week is KC’s third event, with a “Let’s Get Crafty” theme. My co-leader, another brunchette, and I are each leading a geek-craft. My craft is comic book ornaments, as seen in the examples below. I figured it was an easy introduction to decoupage, but infinitely customizable to whatever comic brunchettes might favor, along with whatever ornament base they might choose.

Comic Book Ornaments by Angie Pedersen

Basic instructions:

  1. Select ornaments in shapes that will showcase an identifiable amount of comic art, in shapes that should be easy to cut out.
  2. Page through your comics for images that will fit your ornament. TIP: If the image you want is too big, you can scan it and resize to fit your ornament. That’s what I did for the Dr. Horrible cube above.
  3. Place the ornament on top of the comic page and trace around it. Cut out with scissors.
  4. Brush Mod Podge (I used matte, but glossy would also work) on the ornament and position the comic cut out on top. Smooth out any wrinkles (a brayer helps here).
  5. Brush a coat of Mod Podge over the surface of the comic image to seal.
  6. Optional: embellish the edges of the ornament with decorative washi tape (see Buffy example above) or acrylic paint (see TARDIS example above). For the Dr. Horrible cube, I colored the top of it with a bronze metallic Sharpie (top not shown).

I hope you will check out Geek Girl Brunch and join in on the fun! If you’re in the KC area, stop by and say hi!

Links of Interest:

Jewelry for Band Geeks

Clarinet key earrings-140848-BOA by Hangups in KC

Any Band Geeks out there? My husband played trumpet in his high school marching band, and continued as a member of the University of Wisconsin Marching Band. Now my daughter is following suit, playing his horn in her school marching band. Over the past 20+ years, I have attended and cheered at many a band performance, and developed a definite soft spot for those musical type geeks.

So I am pleased to toot the horn (couldn’t resist the pun) of a local Kansas City duo who is making some pretty cool things out of retired band instruments. Hangups in KC has created the Band of Angels Retired Instrument Jewelry Collection, crafting unique handmade items such as clarinet key earrings (pictured above), guitar string bracelets, and a necklace from repurposed violin wood.

These ladies are passionate about their craft and their commitment to using repurposed materials. I love their brand vision and message, and that they are giving new life to retired band instruments in a unique way. And bonus –  they give 30% of every sale from the collection to Band of Angels, a non-profit that collects used music instruments and makes them available to kids in need so they can join band and orchestra programs. Nurturing future generations of band geeks is something I can get behind!

For Christmas, I gave my daughter one of Hangups’ ornaments made from a retired trumpet mouthpiece. She thought it was pretty cool, then when she heard it helped other kids get started in band, it became an even more meaningful keepsake. Band mom win!

Trumpet ornament by Hangups in KC

Are you a Band Geek? What instrument did/do you play?

Star Trek Craft: Infinite Ornaments in Infinite Combinations

Vulcan IDIC Ornament by Originals by Terry

Looking for some more geeky ornament ideas? Check out this pattern from Originals by Terry – a sparkly Vulcan symbol from Star Trek. She has this plastic canvas cross-stitch pattern in her Craftsy shop, along with other Star Trek images.

This Vulcan symbol represents the IDIC philosophy – “Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations,” which according to the Memory Alpha wiki, celebrates “the vast array of variables in the universe. In the Vulcan language, the term for IDIC is Kol-Ut-Shan.”

I like the simplicity of the IDIC symbol, and that it would just look like any other ornament unless you’re steeped in geek culture. Which of course we are.

How are you geekifying your tree/home this year?

Links of Interest:

 

Geek out for the Holidays with Ornaments

ZombieGingerbreadMan
Zombie Gingerbread Man Ornament by My Zombie Friends on Etsy, credit Adrienne Jones.

To combat holiday stress, I like to decorate with as much geek-tastic awesomeness as I can create and find.  Things like zombie gingerbread men, Teenage Muntant Ninja Turtle ornaments, and 8-bit fireplaces always make me smile.  Why not have a geeky holiday this year and let Geek Crafts give you a head start with some fun, easy tutorials and even a gift idea or two.

Ornaments!

TMNTOrnamentsDIYFor the turtle lover, you’ve got to take a look at The Whoot’s DIY Ninja Turtles. My nephews love the Turtles, and this is the sort of craft you could do with little boys (and plenty of supervision!).

DIYCharacterChristmasOrnaments

My nephews are also in love with the Minions. This awesome DIY features other great fandom character ideas, like Sesame Street and Monsters Inc too.

 

 

MuppetOrnamentsDIYThese Muppet ornaments are super easy to make too, thanks to the great tutorial from Meg on Happy Looks Good on You. These little cuties were inspired by her original tutorial on making superhero ornaments.

LegoOrnamentDIY

Sarah Dees from FrugalFun4Boys.com has some fun Lego ornament ideas (good for girls too!).

Geeky Decor Fun

GeekDIYWreath

Kat and Cam from Our Nerd Home has a some great ideas for decorating the home for the holidays, including this Wreath DIY made from foam core! I bet craft foam would work great too.  Plus, you could totally customize this to all of your own favorite fandom images.

I have to share their 8-bit fireplace DIY too.  This is too awesome for words, and incredibly easy to do.  It’s warm and cozy, don’t you think?

8-bitFireplaceDIY

This last decor DIY is not for the faint of heart, but this Embroidery tutorial from Jessica (from Miniature Rhino) on Design Sponge takes you step-by-step through making this beautiful embroidered constellation table runner.  Perhaps not strictly a holiday theme, I think it lends itself well to any winter themed decor you’ve got going on in your home.

ConstellationTableRunner