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I'm a cosplayer who loves to make props. I'm very much a beginner, but this also means I keep things cheap and simple. I thought I'd share some of the things I've made, and how I made them, so maybe other people can keep things cheap and simple too.

[tempuraprops]

Simple and easy to hold magic jewels

I made these for my Rin Tohaska cosplay, but of course this can translate to any character which holds jewels between their fingers. I made them in order to add another layer to my cosplay. However, to save the hassle of placing them between my fingers every time I posed for a photo, I constructed this.

Here is the primary reference I used:

I didn’t get photos while making them, but I have a couple little videos from my Instagram stories

What I used:

Craft foam

X-acto knife

Thin craft wire (and something to cut it)

Red nail varnish

Glue gun

I started by bending the wire around under my fingers and estimated how long I would want them to be, to secure they were tight to my fingers. I made each length around 3.5-4cm - ensuring the wire reaches far enough to keep it secure, but is not be visible above your finger.

I drafted a pattern for the jewels, and cut this shape out of foam. I made three of these. I then dotted some hot glue on approximately the centre of the foam shapes and placed one end of a wire piece. I repeated this so the wire connected all three by the inner facing side of the foam. I added more glue if needed, as when I pressed the wire in it left it didn’t cover the outer side of the wire, and so one of the wires slipped out.

Here is a weird doodle I did of the construction (I added the red lines to more clearly show where the wire is)

This little gif will help give a better visual of the construction:

I apologize for the quality, but this screenshot from the video might help a little more to show how I glued them.

I then covered them in some mod podge to avoid the varnish absorbing, but I don’t believe this was completely necessary. I decided to use nail varnish to colour them, as it gave them a shiny jewel-like finish and to give them some rigidity.

Here are a couple of (somewhat blurry) photos of them in use! Thank you for reading!

[tempuraprops]

Raphtalia Hair Accessories Tutorial

What I used:

Craft foam

X-acto knife

Gold Paint

Glue gun

Sponge cord (diameter 0.5cm)*

*This just happened to be something I had lying around. You could just cut some strips from craft foam to save buying another material. But from a quick search, the cord is pretty inexpensive (and I’ve used it in quite a few other projects because I like the rounded edge.)

This is a pretty simple project, so the explanation will be pretty short.

I started by deciding how long I wanted them to be. I used paper to pattern a rectangle. I estimated a width then rolled the paper to check I was happy with it. The dimensions I decided on were 3cm x 8cm

I used this as a stencil and cut two rectangles out of foam. I then glued them into tubes, by gluing along the shorter edge. Next, I cut the cord to the same width as the rectangle and glued it into a circle, then glued it to the foam tube (I glued it inside so you wouldn’t see messy lumps of glue on the viewable edges.) I repeated this for both ends of both tubes.

Then I just painted them by sponging on the gold paint. To finish them off I coated them in mod podge (but I’m not sure how necessary this step is).

Tips for keeping them on! :

When I wore them they would slide off from time to time, but my lovely mother came up with the idea of using some duct tape, folding it a few times, and tying a hair band around it, so it would bulk up the area and keep the hair accessory on. I’m sure you could use something else, so long as it’s somewhat bulky when folded, but can squeeze to fit over. I’m not sure I explained that very well, so here’s a photo to help illustrate tha0t:

Here’s a shot of them on:

(Yes, my ribbon is not tied in this photo  😭)

Thanks for reading, I hope this could be of use to some people! 

I actually made these for a different cosplay almost a year ago, but because someone complimented them on my Raphtalia cosplay I decided to make this tutorial!

[villageghoul]

Here’s a vague visual process log of my Dominator. I used this >>tutorial<< as a guide  I kinda deviated and I messed up so maybe I shouldn’t have done that I also had to cut corners due to time constraints, so it doesn’t acuratly protray what the turorial suggests you do…

Check it out if you want to have a go yourself! ✽-(ˆ▽ˆ)/✽ ✽\(ˆ▽ˆ)-✽

[tempuraprops]

Rebloging this from my main account. Although it's not my tutorial, it's really useful and helped me figure out my own prop weapon tutorials.

[tempuraprops]

Zero Two Headband Tutorial

When I made this I at first thought it would be a quick simple project that would see me through the day of the con and that would be it. But I’ve found it’s still going strong after a few conventions. Whether this be because I was extra careful with it or just because it was better than I expected. Either way, here’s how I made it:

What you will need:

White foam

Red foam (or just use the same white foam)

x-acto knife

hot glue gun

red paint (optional, if you use red foam)

baking paper/paper to make a stencil

2 hair clips

I started by using references to measure how long I wanted it to be across my head. I went with 21cm. but make sure to measure for yourself so you are happy with how big it is on you. I also made sure to note down how far in I wanted the triangle sections to be from the side edges.

With this number, I started making my stencil. I use baking paper because it does the job and saves buying something else. I drew a straight line of the length I had chosen, leaving room around it the sketch out the other lines. I then cut out a big enough section and folded it in half, to make it easier to work with. Using a straight edge/ruler I drew the triangles. I drew them to be slightly pointed outwards, so that when worn they point more downwards as they do on Zero Two, and made it 2.5cm on the longer edge and 2cm on the shorter, and the width around 2cm. I then drew a curved line, with the height in the middle being 3cm and finishing with a strong point. I had decided this measurement when measuring, assuming it to be a close resemblance on my head to the size it is on her. I then cut out my stencil with an x-acto knife

With the stencil, I then traced the shape onto the white foam and cut the shape out of the foam with the x-acto knife.

Next, I made the horns. I decided to make them with 3 pieces and through trial and error I figured out how I wanted them to look. The 3 pieces seen above are what I went with. I didn’t make a stencil for this, I just made one and then used that to make the other pieces.

I measure the length I wanted my horns to stick out, which for me was 5cm, the length I wanted them to cover the band (2.5cm), and width at the top (1.5cm) I made two halves for each horn (so 4 of these pieces in total).

Note: When cutting the pieces I tried to angle the knife opposite ways for opposite pieces so I could create a more pointed look when combining them.

I also made a little triangle piece to give the horns some dimension, using the width I wanted the horns to be. There was no calculation behind the length of this, but I did make it around 2cm long, to the point, and around 1cm wide.

To glue them together I used a hot glue gun. I did this by first glueing the little triangle to one half of the horn, next glueing the underside of the horn, and then the other top edge to the triangle and the rest of the top horn edge. 

Although this step is not necessary, I did spray paint the horns, as I had some from spray painting my shoes for the cosplay. I then glued them to the base, with the pointed edge pointing in line with the bases triangle point.

Next, I used the hot glue again to attach a hair clip to both sides of the base. I thoughts this part would break the horns off, but so far it is in good condition.

I made them point inwards, so the headband would be easy to adjust and attach to my wig. It should also be noted this is the reason I did not paint the white foam. I was unsure if it would make it more prone to breaking. However, as a result, it is very flexible and therefore able to fit nice and flat on my head.

Here are some photos of the finished project:

And some photos of it on:

Hyper Japan, July 2018

New York Comic Con, October 2018