My Trip to Phoenix Comicon 2016

I know I mentioned that I was going to Phoenix Comicon this year (see Sailor Moon? No, Just a Uniform), but I never did say anything about how it went.

It’s hard to put such things in words, so I actually made a short video of it.  Here is just a small taste of what it was like.

Now that you finished that, I thought I should give a few more details, at least about what I brought home.

You saw the grab bag I got at J-list in the video…

…and the random stuff that came out of it.  Now what will I do with it all?

The train shaped food tray will probably be fun for lunch and stuff.

I’ve gotten a lot of use out of the travel mug.  I fill it up with green tea for early mornings.  Nothing like tea in a cute mug to brighten the day.

I haven’t yet used the leek pen, but it will come in handy.

I’m afraid the DVD titles aren’t very appealing to me.  I may give them away or take them to Bookman’s.

I’m sure this clock thing will be useful as soon as I figure out how to use it.  I think it’s really cute, but I kind of have the urge to whip out my glue gun and add bows or something to it.

The bento t-shirt is adorable, one can never have too many t-shirts.  And if I don’t wear it as is, I could turn it into something cute.

Here’s a better look at the tag.

And this is the strangest thing right?  I was surprised it was a Sanrio character.  That’s right, the company that brought us Hello Kitty also created Kirimi-Chan.  A character with a giant salmon filet for a head.

And this is a giant inflatable pork chop for you to wear on your head, because one of Kirimi-Chan's friends is a pork chop.  I’m not sure what to do with it, but I kind of want to keep it just because it’s hilarious.

Now the cute stationery set.  I wish I had thought to ask the vendor for a business card or something.  All the stuff they had were so cute including this set.  I’m still at that stage where it’s so cute that I can’t use this stuff for fear of ruining it.

When that’s over, I will probably use the cute bear pencil like crazy for drawing and designing.  The pen would be great for jotting down notes, especially in the notebook.  It’s perfect for shopping lists and such.  The eraser is perfect because one can never have enough, and I can use the pouch to sort out these and all my other pencils and stuff.

Overall, it was super fun and hopefully next year will be fun too. 

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5 a Week: Cute Felt Bags for Dolls with a Tutorial

It’s Sunday, and time for week 4 of this year’s edition of…

 

…The Five a Week Pledge.

If you haven’t been around here, it’s where you pledge to do five things each week of your choice (see here for more info).  I pledged to make five small crafts each week.  Feel free to grab a button and join me.  If you already have, post a comment or a link to share what you accomplished.

This week’s craft:

Cute Bags for Dolls!

I made five adorable doll sized purses using felt, snaps and embellishments.

They are perfect for my dolls (see the doll blog for their reaction.)  And they were super fun to make and super easy.

So easy that I just had to make a video tutorial.

All you need are:

• Felt
• needle and thread
• scissors
• snaps (like these)
• tiny beads

Any any ribbon, lace, etc. you want.  Some fabric glue (like my favorite glue) is optional.

Enjoy, and make plenty of doll purses!

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5 a Week: Cute Doll Mini-Skirts

 

It’s Sunday, and time for week 3 of this year’s edition of…

 

…The Five a Week Pledge.

If you haven’t been around here, it’s where you pledge to do five things each week of your choice (see here for more info).  I pledged to make five small crafts each week.  Feel free to grab a button and join me.  If you already have, post a comment or a link to share what you accomplished.

This week’s craft:

Doll Skirts!

I made five doll sized mini-skirts for my ball jointed dolls using fabric scraps and lace. 

Two off-white ones (with fabric from this dress), a red violet floral one (with fabric from these dresses), a pink one (like this doll dress), and a different one with some red star printed fabric (used for this dress). 

The first four skirts were supposed to be longer ruffled skirts. I started out making them with this tutorial. 

The tutorial was meant for 18inch dolls (i.e.. American Girl size), but you make the pattern yourself based on your own measurements.  It just called for waist and length, but there is something I overlooked.  American Girl dolls have very straight childlike cloth bodies, my dolls are resin and a little more curvy.

So instead of going by the waist measurement I should have used the hip measurement.  I ended up with skirts that were too small to go over their hips.   So I changed things around, turned the top part into a high waistband, added snaps, and now they are cute doll mini-skirts. 

The red one is the only one I didn’t have trouble with because it was different.  The scrap of red fabric was just large enough to make a simple skirt with an elastic waistband.  Sometimes simple is better.

The other skirts did come out adorably, this off-white one is my favorite so I made two.  One for each doll.

It was fun making them for my doll, Usagi, and even more fun taking pictures of her in them.  You can see more of them here on my doll blog.

Now what’s to come up next week?  More doll clothes?  Maybe a tutorial too?  We shall see.  Look forward to it.

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5 a Week: Cute Doll Tank Tops with a Tutorial

 

It’s Sunday, and time for week 2 of this year’s edition of…

 

…The Five a Week Pledge.

If you haven’t been around here, it’s where you pledge to do five things each week of your choice (see here for more info).  I pledged to make five small crafts each week.  Feel free to grab a button and join me.  If you already have, post a comment or a link to share what you accomplished.

This week’s craft:

Doll Tanks Tops

I made cute little drawstring tank tops for my doll (you can see her reaction here).  I say drawstring, but will always think of them as pillowcase tops.  The first time I learned how to make tops like this was from a tutorial for a top using a pillow case I saw in a magazine.  Since then I have made several (see Dolly Dressing and Give Me a Doll With Hair).

The first I actually made two of, one for both of my ball jointed dolls.  Simple with cute thin pink ribbon.

The second one I used lace instead of ribbon.  It also has lace running along the neckline.  Cute and a little dressier.

The third top has the ribbon tying in front instead of at the side.  I think it’s a nice touch, or least it’s different.

And the last one is a little rough.  I left the edges unhemmed and uses some fabric strips instead of ribbon for the ties.  By the way all these tops where cut from t-shirt scraps from previous projects.  Great way to use up the leftovers.

Now as an extra bonus, I decided to make a video tutorial for these cute doll tanks tops.  Now everyone can dress their dolls easily for summer.

Enjoy!

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5 a Week: Jewelry for Dolls

 

It’s Sunday, and time for week 1 of this year’s edition of…

 

…The Five a Week Pledge.

If you haven’t been around here, it’s where you pledge to do five things each week of your choice (see here for more info).  I pledged to make five small crafts each week.  Feel free to grab a button and join me.  If you already have, post a comment or a link to share what you accomplished.

This week’s craft:

Doll Sized Jewelry

Most of the projects from last year were doll items because I had just gotten my ball jointed doll (see Catching Up: A New Friend) and because small things like doll clothes, etc. are perfect for this challenge.  I thought since I got another doll (see Two of a Kind Doll Dresses), that I should continue this idea so she can have plenty of things too.

That being said, this jewelry wasn’t actually made for the new doll.  I made one bracelet for her but the rest is for the older doll, Hikaru (See my doll blog for her reaction to the jewelry). 

It’s been a year since I got her so it’s technically her “birthday”.  Actually it was her birthday last month, I got her toward the end of May and in my head I thought it was June.  Anyway, jewelry is a perfect present for a doll right?

First up is the bracelets, as modeled by my new ball jointed doll, Usagi.  The two on the left are simply faux pearls on elastic, I added a bow to the one on the right because I made it for Usagi. 

They are made with larger pearls than the ones for the necklaces because the elastic was too thick to use for the small pearls.  No problem, there’s nothing wrong with having a chunkier bracelet.

Now the first necklace was made with the smaller pearls strung together with an ordinary clasp at the back.  Simple as can be but very cute.  I bought these pearls ages ago at Joann Fabric and Crafts intending to eventually make doll necklaces (see The Biggest Craft Haul Ever).

I didn’t want the second necklace the same way as the first and I had plenty of the thin ribbon, so I tried this idea I found for making bracelets with beads and ribbon.  I’m afraid I can’t remember where I saw it, but I thought at the time that it was super cute an looked easy to do.  It took a bit of time even at doll size, but it was easy enough and the result is very cute.

And since ribbon is used, no need for a clasp.  I actually don’t like clasps and usually avoid them when I can.  I kind of want to make another one of these necklaces for myself now.

Now I have pretty necklaces and bracelets for my dolls, and good ideas for myself.  Now what’s in store for next week.

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It’s Back, The Pledge

I mentioned there will be a special surprise.  Well, for this summer I decided to bring back a little something I did last summer.  It’s…

 

…The Five a Week Pledge.

For those who missed it, it’s where you pledge to do five things each week of your choice.  Feel free to grab a button (<--it’s over there) and join me.  Pick a goal and pledge to do it 5 times each week than share your results.

 

I am again pledging to make five small crafts each week, and I will post the results each Sunday.  This will go on until the end of July.

 

Now time to get started.  Meet you back here next Sunday!

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