Kitsune Preview!

SoonerCon is at the end of this month, and I've been working since February to get this costume together from thrifted and crafted pieces.  This is the first time I've created a character and costume from scratch from a crazy idea that I wanted to make a realistic fox tail out of yarn.

Yep, I'm a masochist.

I think it's turned out beautifully.  I will definitely participate in the costume contest, but I don't think it's worthy of winning any awards. I've never participated in the Masquerade at any con I've been to and I'm not quite sure what to expect.  It should be an adventure and getting me out of my comfort zone is always a good thing.  I'm not sure if I'll have to have a performance or not, so I'm preparing one just in case.

Steampunk Mini Top Hat Tutorial

I love the steampunk aesthetic of layered leather, lace, and metal. I am also developing an unhealthy obsession with mini hats and fascinators, even though I rarely wear them because I don't often have an excuse to get that dolled up.  I think they're all amazing works of art.  Crafty bonus: they're pretty easy!. I learned how to make them from Bev Hale over at Otherwhen Oddities at Octopodicon in 2013. Bev's class used an 8 oz plastic cup and felt to make the hats, but here I'm using craft foam because it's what I happen to have at hand. If you don't happen to have all of these materials, get creative with what you have around. All of the dimensions for this project are directly proportional to the craft foam size I had, which was 5.5"x8". You can scale up or down as you need to.

　
You'll notice that I did not glue a single gear on it. Gears are totally steampunk, but steampunk is not always gears.
　


Difficulty: Beginner. This project will take 1-4 hours depending on drying times and how much stuff you put on the hat.