Search Results for: halloween costumes

Steam(punk) up your goggles

This past Halloween, my husband and I decided to go steampunk with our costumes, so I spent quite a few hours trolling the interwebs for ideas and props. I had great fun making a necklace, bracelet, and earrings to add to the look. I also loved the idea of steampunked-out goggles, but most of the ones I found looked pretty plastic-y and cheap, so I went goggle-less for the evening. <sad face>

I am pleased to report that I recently stumbled across a very do-able steampunk goggles tutorial by Susan Dennard, which, as one commenter put it, is “a billion shades of awesome.” I can’t wait to add a set of googles to my steampunk wardrobe! It’ll be even cooler to say I had a hand it making it myself.

What are some of your favorite steampunk pieces or tutorials? Link us up below!

Links of Interest:

Steampunk goggles tutorial by Susan Dennard
More steampunk crafts on GeekCrafts
More costumes on GeekCrafts

Category: Craft, Geek, Sci-Fi | Comments Off

January 28

Guardians of Geekdoms

Hello All! I’m sure most of you have seen Guardians of the Galaxy by now (and if you haven’t, why?? Go, go! I’ll wait.). Baby Groot is undoubtedly one of the cutest things to hit the big screen, and I joined the masses in trying to create my own version of him for a friend’s Christmas gift.

Since I couldn’t find any plushie versions, I decided to make my own, and documented the process so I could make a Baby Groot tutorial!

There’s only one baby Groot that I believe is cuter than mine:

Featured on FashionablyGeek, Reddit user S7ar-lord’s wife made this costume for their baby boy for Halloween, and Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn tweeted the picture, saying he was “out-cuted”.

If retro-media is more your style, there’s crafts for you too! First, in honor of the “Awesome Mix Vol. 1” that Peter Quill aka Starlord listens to, 30MinuteCrafts created a printable cassette tape box, perfect for any cosplay, or just a geeky place to keep things!

If you’re looking for a place to keep your valuables, Paul Mason the DIY Guy, from Geek & Sundry Vlogs, has posted a cassette tape wallet video tutorial so you can protect your cards and ID in a truly awesome way.

Hope that’s enough geeky awesomeness for you, and happy crafting!

Category: Craft, Geek, Movies, Tutorial | 1 Comment

January 12

Geeky Winter Hat Patterns and DIYs

I don’t know about you, but it’s cold where I’m at. Cold, grey, dead . . . Can you tell I hate winter? To combat my own winter doldrums I love using fun and ridiculous winter hats. It’s hard not to laugh at a Yeti hat, no? (I bought this one at my local grocery store, but you can find one here.)

There are plenty of great patterns and DIYs for geeky winter hats on the intarwebz, so I’ve rounded up a few to help you with your own winter blues. The first is this great, free crochet pattern on Ravelry, by SnappyTots, for a Police Box earflap hat. This would be a fantastic gift for the Whovians in your life.

This hat would be perfect for my 2-year-old nephew. He loves the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as only a two-year-old can, with a deep and abiding wuv. As much as he loves Turtles, he hates wearing winter gear no matter how cold it gets outside. This hat, though, he might never take off. And you could probably find the fleece you need in the scrap/remnant bins at your local fabric store (or in your own stash). You can find the pattern and instructions, all by PiePopper, here on Instructables.

I’m a huge fan of Sharknado, and I absolutely fell in love with this Shark Attack Hat DIY on Instructables (also by PiePopper). It’s not technically Sharknado inspired, but it’s definitely shark-tastic.

Last, but not least, he is: Yoda! I don’t knit, but this hat pattern with giant Yoda ears makes me want to learn. The pattern is free on Craftsy, and it’s by Kaira Anne Designs. The pattern is sized for a child, but she’s got a link (http://aknitica.com/2010/10/01/how-to-knit-a-hat/ ) in her description to a tutorial on how to knit a basic hat, and the tutorial has some tips on sizing.

Q and A with Jewel Staite and a Kaylee craft

Jewel Staite, who played Kaylee Frye on “Firefly” and “Serenity” was in Kansas City for Planet Comicon this weekend, and a local movie theatre took advantage and showed “Serenity”, followed by a short Q&A with her. As Browncoats, my husband, daughter and I were pleased to attend.

The Q&A was fairly quick but interesting. Here are some highlights:

Jewel is apparently an “adventurous” foodie and has a food blog. She said while many in Hollywood “juice”, she does not: “I don’t juice. I steak.”
She has enjoyed all the food she’s had in Kansas City, saying that what she’s eaten has been “top notch”. She specifically mentioned Jack Stack BBQ and Genessee Royale.
She loves wine and enjoyed visiting Amigoni Urban Winery. She said if she wasn’t an actor, she’d probably be a winemaker. As much as she enjoys wine, however, she said Adam Baldwin is an even bigger “wine snob” than she is, but that’s ok, because he usually picks up the tab.
When she is at cons, she is often too busy to seek anyone out, but tries to make time to find cast members from “Lost“. She is a big “Lostie”; Matthew Fox is one of her TV crushes.
She hated wearing the ruffled dress in the episode, “Shindig” – it was just too cumbersome and hard to maneuver.
Someone asked if she kept any of the props from the “Firefly” set – she said Nathan Fillion took most of them and has his own “museum.” She also said Adam has the head of the “Hero of Canton” statue from the episode, “Jaynestown.”
Her favorite “Firefly” episodes were “Out of Gas” and “Objects in Space.”
She said Nathan frequently tried to prank her on set, such as putting lotion on the door handle of her dressing room.
She talks and texts with other “Firefly” cast members “all the time”: “I took away eight friendships.”
She has two dogs and loves animals.

To make this post geek-crafty, I found you a Kaylee-inspired craft: Kaylee in her Shindig Dress Cross Stitch Pattern (shown above, originally shared on Craftster – click to see other Firefly cross-stitch projects)

If you had attended the Q&A with Jewel, what question would you have asked?

Kaylee Cross Stitch Pattern
More Firefly crafts on GeekCrafts
More Cross Stitch crafts on GeekCrafts

Category: Craft, Geek, Girly, Movies, Sci-Fi, TV | Comments Off

November 2

How To Make Monster Teeth

Allen Hopps of Mesquite TX, also known as Slilt Beast Studios, is an imaginative designer, actor, and sculptor who is driven by an incredible passion for the haunted attraction industry. Well known for “thinking outside of the box,” Allen is constantly looking outside of the Haunted attraction industry for products and techniques that can be adapted or remade to fit the need of Haunted attractions.

With just two colors of hot glue sticks, Allen has a video tutorial that shows you how to make prop teeth for sets, costumes, props, and masks.

For a list of Allen’s other tutorials, check out his website. Get cracking on your Halloween and haunt decorations now…you’ve only got 363 days until next Halloween!

Category: Craft, Horror & Gore, Tutorial | Comments Off

July 27

Everyone Needs Minions

My husband and I saw “Despicable Me 2” last weekend (it was his idea…he hasn’t watched an animated movie or a cartoon with me since “Toy Story” came out!), and as before, those little minions are just wildly funny. And according to the great vast internet, they remain pretty popular.
Brain from Kansas posted a tutorial on how he turned his son into a minion for Halloween, with the bulk of the costume coming from a garbage can. “As soon as my son saw Dispicable Me, my son immediately knew he wanted to be a minion. I had made his costumes for the past several years…, so I started working on this new challenge. He can be pretty shy, but once he was in this costume, his personality lit up.” Brian has some really great photos in his tute, which would be easy to recreate, or turn into a static display for a porch for a Halloween decoration.

Up next, an unknown family goes total “Despicable Me” cosplay! I really wish there was some way to ID them here. This is an awesome group costume!

And someone, please, tell me if I’m seeing this right…Check out Vector there in the photo. Does anyone else think that looks like Kristin Wiig, or is it just me?

BTW, if you go see “Despicable Me 2,” stay through the credits. There’s some funny minion stuff during the credits, but nothing afterwards.

Category: Craft, Geek, Movies, Tutorial | Comments Off

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