Character Glasses Holder Tutorial
Some people wanted a tutorial on how I made my Isaac glasses holder. So here is one!
Featuring Gilbert!
This will be lengthy with photos to help show what I'm trying to describe, so I will be putting this under a cut. (It's honestly not a crazy long process, I am just wordy and trying to be very clear.) As a disclaimer, there may be better ways to do this!! This is just how I did it.
What you will need:
Foam board (usually less than $1 USD in the stores I nab them at), non-super glue (I use a 'Scotch Create' glue pen, which seems to be $7-8 USD), Cardstock (prices vary, still cheapish), self-seal laminating sheets ($10USD, for Scotch brand), x-acto knife (or equivalent), scissors, cutting board, and a (to be printed) sprite of your fave looking directly at the screen!
It's not needed, but I do recommend acrylic paint to kinda seal in the sides of the foam board, once everything is finished.
Notes before getting started:
If your sprite image has not been cleared of a background, I would recommend doing so in order to not waste a bit of printer ink on stuff you will be cutting off.
For any sprite image use, I recommend having them facing the screen directly, rather an at an angle. Additionally, if your image is pixelated, you can use Waifu2x to try and smooth it a little.
Personally, I use google docs for trying to fit images on a page before printing, due to my printer's program being garbage. If you're like me, remember to get rid of the side margins, and shorten the header margins as much as possible. This is usually under the 'file' options as 'page setup', and on google docs, there are rulers on the top and side of the page, where you can manipulate the margins a bit as well.
Everyone's glasses can be sized differently based on, well, how big your head is. My head is huge. You can measure your glasses from the front, including the front of the legs in the overall width, and apply the measurements to any test prints. However, I am stubborn and do not do this.
Similarly, some glasses are heavier than others. I purposely try to buy light frames, so keep in mind that if yours are particularly heavy due to the material used to make it, it might not stay without extra help.
Let's get started!
Size the image however you normally do. I am using google docs! If you're using a word processor to scale/resize the image in a certain way, be sure to make sure 'text wrapping' options aren't limited to following any text, so that you can move the image easier.
Circled areas- ruler for margins at the top and left, and on the right is text wrapping options. All of this combined let me center Gil a bit better on the page.
2. Print off the test page in black and white and on regular paper (if you have any)- to save ink in case it's not sized right- and see how the front of your glasses compare to the sizing of it: Is it big enough to hold the glasses? Remember, we need an okay amount of room on each side of where the glasses would go, so that the foam board can support it without worrying of it breaking.
beautiful
3. I am lucky to where mine doesn't really need resizing for me to be happy! And there is a decent amount of room on each side too. Let's print off in color, on cardstock now, and put a self-sealing laminate sheet on the front of the image. These types of sheets are essentially big clear stickers! We're doing this as a protective layer on top of the image. Yes, it will cause shine, but it's so easy to damage paper! This is for peace of mind. They should have instructions on ways to put it on, just be mindful of bubbles and take it Slow. Once it's on without bubbles, press on the image to make sure it's on Well. (You can also put the sheet on after cutting out the image, if you feel more comfortable doing that)
4. Time for cutting! I recommend using the x-acto knife to cut, in order to get the super small spaces. Be sure to use your cutting board, or a good equivalent, so that you don't cut anything under your paper. Don't be afraid to trim the ends of the fly-away hairs either- in the long run, it's more difficult to work with those thin lines than anything else. When using the x-acto knife, I cut the hair from the base, to the tips, so it doesn't cause issues.
5. Hold your image against your foam board, and cut out a rectangle size that's just slightly bigger. Don't feel bad over 'wasting' foam board, this will just make it easier to work with.
6. With the image cut out and laminated, it's time to glue the back down to the foam board. I do not recommend liquid superglues! If you have one that works swell with paper projects, please feel free! But superglue can bleed through the paper and cause issues.
7. Lay the board to rest- under some flat and heavy objects, like a book or similar. Not crazy heavy! But a good weight so that as it dries, everything is pressed against the board. Make sure it's something that it's okay to get glue on, just in case excess slips out. I usually wait around 30 minutes or longer for it to dry. Eat or clean up the paper scraps while you wait!
8. Almost done! Now that it's dry, it's time to cut once more. I still recommend using an x-acto knife, because scissors cause a lot of issues when cutting foam board.
9. Once cut, it's time to take your glasses again and cut holes for the legs to go through. Keep in mind the width and length of the leg's tip- it needs to be able to fit through. Personally, I am haphazard in everything I do, so I press my frames to the image again and use the x-acto blade to poke just a Smidge bigger than the tips of the glasses legs are.
Surely, there are better ways of doing this.
10. Once both holes are cut, and everything seems to fit well, it's time to make the back! I try to use scraps leftover from the foam board cutting to make them, but you may need to use new pieces from your foam board. We're going to put any straight edges to the back, and glue down. Here, you can use superglue, since it's just foam board to foam board. Trim any excess that goes past your himbo, and test that it can stand on its own.
11. (Optional!!) Paint the sides, carefully, with acrylic. I'm using black, but you can use any color. Don't stress if it gets on the laminate- it wipes off super easily while still wet! I do not recommend using a marker, since if it touches the paper, it will likely bleed through and cause odd splotches. My roommate suggests that puff paint may work as well!
And you're done! Now you have your fave wearing your glasses!
If you end up doing this, especially if you're in the ikemen games fandom, I'd love to see it!
Also, I normally write stuff! If interested, feel free to check it out:
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