Upcycle Old Comics Into Cool Jewelry

ModPodge_bracelet

I got some great free comic books over the last year, and now that I’ve read them, I don’t have a burning desire to keep them.  But I hate to just throw them away.  I mean, the artwork is cool. So I turned to Pinterest for ideas on what to do with old comics, and ran across this great tutorial by Shala on Don’t Eat the Paste. You can make your own stylish, one-of-a-kind bracelet using old comics, Mod Podge, and a bracelet blank.  Shana’s got step-by-step instructions along with pictures that make creating this jewelry masterpiece a snap. Isn’t Mod Podge glorious? I’ve seen great examples of using comics on furniture, shoes, and even coasters.

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3 Last Minute DIY Gift Ideas!

Comic-Book-Magnets-2

The holiday clock is definitely ticking, and if you’ve still got shopping to do, never fear! You’ve still got time to make something handmade. Take those comic book magnets in the picture above. They’re super simple, and they’d make great stocking stuffers. Just check out the tutorial by Amanda Formaro over on her blog Crafts by Amanda for step-by-step instructions.  She’s even got a separate tutorial on making a comic book decoupage picture frame if you’re looking for something a little more special.

Ewok

Mollie over at Wild Olive has a tutorial on making your very own little, cuddly, Mini Ewok Softie.  This little Wicket would make the best stocking stuffer!

stripy-jack-and-mobile-casey

Got a techie on your list? Why not try crocheting a monster phone case? Trish from the blog Genuine Mudpie has got a great step-by-step tutorial on making this fun gift.

Got some last minute DIY gift ideas? Be sure to share them with us!

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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!

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DIY Geek Wedding: Comic Book Bouquet

Comic book wedding bouquet by Amber Lackey

Talk about sisterly love! For her sister’s wedding recently, Amber Lackey of Sissy La-La created unique bouquets using comic book pages.

She cut each comic book page down to two 4×4″ squares and folded them into petals, using five squares to make each flower. The bride’s bouquet featured more than 300 petals and measured about 12-1/2″ across. It took about 150 pages and 14 hours to make. She went on to make two more bouquets.

three comic book wedding bouquets by Amber Lackey

Amber also created a garter using Marvel fabric:

Marvel fabric garter by Amber Lackey

Did you have any geek elements in your wedding, or have you seen some fun references in weddings you’ve attended? Please share in the comments!

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Make Your Own Comic Book Shoes With This Awesome Tutorial!

GeekCraftShoeFeature2

I’ve seen quite a few tutorials on decoupaging shoes, but this one is really good.  I found it on Anomaly Geek Girl Podcasts and Blog (a site well worth investigating!).  It’ll take you step-by-step through the process, complete with pictures.  And the results are pretty awesome.  Just imagine, you could have comic book shoes for every fandom!

Want another idea for up-cycling shoes into geek-tastic awesomeness? This tutorial is all about making your own glittery Police Box shoes! Look below for more fun links, and be sure to share your incredible comic book shoe creations.

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DIY Comic Book Collage Silhouettes

Comic book silhouette collage by The Nifty Nerd

With so many great TV shows and movies out, there’s a lot of attention on comic books these days. It’s always nice to go back to the source material for the full backstory. While you’ve got your comics out, you might want to use some of the extras for this cool collage project, brought to us by Jessica from The Nifty Nerd.

Jessica has kindly put together a Nerdy Craft Tutorial on how she created her striking silhouette collages to adorn her hallway, including cutouts from Spiderman, plus a really cool Rohan horse banner crafted from Fellowship of the Ring book pages – you won’t want to miss that!

She also talked about other cutout backgrounds, like the Hogwarts houses, or Game of Thrones family crests. What fandom would you like to collage? I have a TARDIS in mind, from Doctor Who comic book pages…

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