Bat Girl Mask

We recently discovered the awesomeness of foam. Did you know that if you heat foam you can mold it and it will hold the shape?!?!

Bat Girl wanted a hood with ears like Batman, but she also wanted a cool mask. The Masks at the store have ears on them, but it was only $3, so we got it anyway. Mostly cause I wanted to try this. :)

Regular piece of craft foam

Apply heat. We used a heat gun, cause Marisa is AWESOME and just happened to have one. But I have also done this over a burner on the stove. Set the heat to med-low or med. When the burner is hot hold the piece of foam about 6 inches over the burner. When the foam goes limp it's ready to mold. It's hot, but not hot enough to burn you. You can put it on your skin if you want to mold it to a specific part of you. (but I don't suggest putting it on a child's skin)

This is the mask I used as a mold

I learned it's easier to cut teh foam down to size before you heat and mold it. I didn't get a smooth edge cause I had too much excess. 

You can see I just pressed it down and used my fingers to get it into the crevasses (it's really a 2 handed operation)

After it cooled (about 15 secs) This is what it looked like!

I also took a black ball point pen and drew some crease lines on the forehead. Gives it extra depth. :)

I didn't trim up the edges cause I wasn't  sure how I wanted to do the nose, but I ended up just cutting it straight across the bottom. 

Now use a glue water mix. I do roughly 3 parts glue to 1 part water. But I NEVER measure. I just pour some in till the glue is about the consistency of egg nog, or slightly thinner.  Paint it on the out side to seal the foam. 

When the out side dries turn it around and to a layer of glue water, then a layer of fabric strips, and then another layer of glue water on top. This keeps it stiff  and helps it hold it's shape.  (I found out that it's easier to cut teh eye holes BEFORE the glue and fabric. So trim it FIRST)

 This is what it looks like dry and trimmed. Pretty awesome huh!

 Then I just sewed a strap of elastic to the back

 And the mask is done. Just think what else you can do with foam!!

Now we have a formed black mask for the costume box. Zoro, Dread Pirate Roberts, super hero, villain  we can use this for a number of things. 

We have plans for storm trooper armor some time in the future with this technique. :) Seriously, now cool would THAT be?!

Crafting Supplies

Hey everyone! Don't forget to visit the JoAnn website and claim your 50% off coupon for any item! This is a great store for getting supplies for you DIY projects. Especially when it's 50% off! (click on the thin banner in the middle of the page)

Been a Little Busy

Hey Everyone! Sorry for the lack of posts, I've been putting together a Baby shower. I want to post the neat decorations I've been doing...but the person I'm throwing the shower for reads my blog. So my lips are zipped until after the shower. And then I promise I'll have some neat things for all of you.

WINNER!

Anitha S. R. !!! Congrats! 2 Pairs of Earrings coming your way!

Easy last minuet costumes

We have been posting a lot of the costumes that we have been working on this year. Although they are SUPER AWESOME, sometimes you need an easy costume, or cheap/free costume, or a costume that you can throw together in 10 mins. We can do that too. In fact growing up, those are the only kind of costumes we ever really did. (Mom doesn't think costumes are as FUN as we do :) )

PIRATE COSTUME:

Almost EVEYONE has what they need to put together a pirate costume. Bandana for your head, you can do a button up shirt, a solid T or a stripped T. If you have an old T that is to big the the intended Pirate that would be best. Then you can cut it up a bit, make it look ragged. The the bottom and the sleeves like this:  VVVVVVVVV. Throw on a vest if you have one, and an adult belt over the shoulder is a nice touch. You can use regular pants or find some old shorts or sweat pants and cut them like the shirt. Tie a scarf or sash around the waist if you have one and BOOM you have a pirate. 

This is one I did when I was 12. Trick or treating was 10 minuets away and I had NO costume. Mom helped me put this together. 

BABY

 Baby footie PJ's stuffed with paper (or what ever you have on hand) A baby blanket pined around the back of my neck, and the baby "body" pinned to the blanket. We pinned the hands together and stuck a bottle in there. With one hand I held the baby up so it was sitting on something and not just dangling  and with the other hand I held out the diaper bag for my candy. This one got some GOOD laughs. :)

Any kind of Animal is SO easy. You don't have to buy a costume. I made little ears out of felt. (you can use Construction paper, craft foam or scraps of fabric too)

I cut out the shape and used my hot glue gun (tape, staples, or glue would also work) 

And I glued a little loop to go over a head band. 

 Add spots with colored duct tape, felt, craft foam, fabric, or draw on it the clothes with a sharpie. You can sew, glue, tape or pin the spots on.

 Lighten McQueen

I put this together for my 2 year old last year who LOVED Lightening, but didn't like costumes. I cut out the lightening bolt out of felt and sewed it on a red jacket. He still wears it. :)

Did we get your wheels turning?

Giveaway!

Hey DIY Project Crazy fans! We love doing costumes, but we want to hear from you! What kind of costumes are you needing help with. What would you like to see turned into a costume? Comment on this post with a costume idea you'd like to see and enter for your chance to win 2 pairs of handmade earrings. 14k gold plated or sterling silver backs. This giveaway is for non pierced ears too. You get to pick out of the earrings I have made and decide if you'd like clip on's or pierced. These make great gifts and aren't sold anywhere. I started making earrings because I couldn't find any cheap enough that I liked. Like everything else on this blog it was a DIY project. So get those comments flowing and enter for your chance to win 2 pairs of fantastic earrings! Those who follow the blog will get an extra two entries! Entries will end tomorrow morning at 11am. (valid for US residents only) ****Sorry for the mix up. I entered in the wrong ending day for Rafflecoptr. Im trying to fix it now and because of the mix up we will leave the contest open till tomorrow. wednesday)
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Splatted Witch

Hilarious halloween decoration for your front yard. Start with 4 sticks of wood. Make 2 black for the arms, and paint 2 stripped for socks. You're going to need some long screws or nails to keep them sturdy on your tree. Then to keep it an all weather witch, use a black trash bag for the cape, and foam sheets for shoes and hair. Cut your shoes out and hair out. Just make the hair pointy so it sticks out of the bottom of your hat. Screw the shoes to the leg sticks and after your cape is up, nail your hair to the tree and the hat over top. A pair of rubber washing gloves stuffed with walmart sacks finish it off. And for that special touch, don't forget your stick witch broom. After the broom is made it takes a total of 3 minutes to put on your tree. If it's really windy tack down your hat, hair and cape so it covers your witch.