Back to School 2014 - Boys' Uniform (Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya)

Hey, guys! ^^ Here's part 2 of my Back-To-School recipes! Since I covered the girls a couple weeks ago, I'll be covering the boys' uniforms today.

Here's a picture of Haruhi (see previous post for her uniform!) and Kyon, which will be our model. ^^ Many thanks to Eleven Tsuki for letting me use this!

 

 

What you need to assemble it:

• A dark blue blazer
• A white long-sleeved shirt
• A red tie
• Black pants
• Brown loafers

How to assemble:

1. Get dressed.
2. Tie your tie.
3. Put on your shoes, adjust the tie and cuffs and now you're done!

For the rest of the month, I'll be working on this year's 13 Cosplays of Halloween, so keep your eyes peeled. ^^ Hope you enjoy and have a great first day of school!

Back to School 2014 - Girls' Uniform (Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya)

Hey, guys! ^^ Bri here! Ah, the first day of school... Kids in those new Skylanders shirts and jeans, their fresh backpacks with supplies and notebooks. So in honor of the return to campus, I will be releasing two school uniform recipes (one for the girls today and one for the boys on the 9th of September). You can use these for either back to school or for August and September cons.

To open the school year the otaku way, we'll be focusing on the girls' uniform from 'The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.'

Here's the two variations of the uniform. ^^ Many thanks to EZ Cosplay for letting me use this! 

 

Here's what you'll need:

• A bright blue skirt
• A white long sleeved shirt
• Bright blue fabric
• Ribbon in red, yellow and white
• Black socks
• Brown loafers
• A red fabric marker

 



How to assemble it:

1. Cut up some of the red and white ribbon for the blue fabric. Have someone help with ironing or sewing it on.
2. Get most of the costume on. Cut up some of the yellow ribbon and tie up your hair with them.
3. Now for the tricky part. Have somebody align the fabric to match the picture above. Make a bow with another strip of red ribbon and sew it on.
4. With the marker, make an Old English 'M' on the white-ribboned fabric. Now, you're done!

In a couple weeks, I'll post the uniforms for the boys! ^^ Hope you've enjoyed!

"Star Light, Star Bright, First Star I See Tonight..."

"...Wish I may, wish I might, wish the wish I wish tonight."

Hey, guys! ^^ Bri here! Well, yesterday was Tanabata, so sorry for this late post. ^^; For those who don't know what it is, I posted a brief description of it on my previous post.
However, to refresh your memory, it's sort of like a real-life Wish Day (if anybody else is a Wuzzles fan, you'd remember that.). During this day, everybody make origami, write down their deepest wish on a strip of paper and hang them up on bamboo or tree branches. And all this centered around a couple that are forced to meet each other once a year.

And now, to unveil my Tanabata display! *drumroll*

The main branch itself. ^^ I can explain below what everything is.

 

My Build-A-Bears Daryl and Steven as Orihime and Hikoboshi. ^^

 

A Spiderman-themed fukinagashi I made myself. This one was so hard to make! -.-



I know it doesn't look like much, but this was hard work and actually a lot of fun to do. I found an old tree branch since there are no fake bamboo stalks sold in my local craft stores. I cut and folded different things out of construction paper. Best of all, I let my imagination run wild!

Around this holiday, different decorations symbolize either a wish or something related to the story. The decorations I used include:

• Strips of paper (Tanzaku) - used to represent the wish for better handwriting and better studies, but today it's used to write down someone's most precious wish
• Fishing net (Toami) - better fishing and healthy crops, but supposedly represents the Milky Way
• Money purse (Kinchaku) - to be prosperous and rich
• Chains - also represents the Milky Way
• Streamer ball (Fukinagashi) - represents Orihime's weaving fabric

Now for big news before wrapping this up! Starting next month and September, I'll start making a couple school uniform recipes for you guys. I'll start planning for the annual '13 Cosplays of Halloween' in September, too. Hope y'all have a great summer and...

あなたが良い七夕を持っていた願っています！
(Hope you had a good Tanabata!)

Fireworks and Stars and Strips, Oh My!

Hey, guys! ^^ I'm back from my long hiatus! Well, briefly. Anyway, today's Independence Day. ^^ For my friends overseas, Independence Day honors America's fight for independence from England (sorry if I upset anybody from across the pond! ^^;). Nowadays, it's a common BBQ holiday, like many holidays here in America. Every year the night sky is filled with the BOOMs and flashes of fireworks as people nibble on hot dogs, burgers and watermelon (common summer staples here in the States).

For my friends over in Japan, it's also three days until the holiday of Tanabata (Star Festival). On this day, people display their deepest wishes by tying origami and strips of paper to bamboo and trees. Sorta similar to how people decorate pine trees and spruces for Christmas.
Another trait that both Tanabata and Christmas share is that they have stories that are traditionally told on that day. During Tanabata, it's a love story about a weaver and a shepherd (or a cow herder) that are forced to meet once a year.

I'll do a follow-up post in a few days where I'll show you all my Tanabata tree. ^^ Until then...
Have a great and safe Independence Day! [|:3>

Easter 2014 - Berii Shirayuki (Tokyo Mew Mew A La Mode)

Hey, guys! ^^ Bri here. Today, it's a day full of eggs, candy and bunnies! Yep, it's Easter! ^^ And speaking of bunnies, we'll be focusing on my favorite Mew Mew, Berii Shirayuki.

Here's a picture of her! ^^ Many thanks to Zerochan for letting me use this!

 

Sadly, I couldn't find a good colored picture of her, so just bare with me on this... Anyway, here's what you need for Berii:

• A white or creamish-yellow balloon dress
• Ribbon in both dress's colors and red
• White lace
• Round or 'jingle' bells
• Matching white or yellow gloves
• White or yellow boots
• Bunny ears
• A white cat tail

Here's how to assemble the costume:

1.  Put on the dress and the boots. Have somebody cut up the gloves, so the cuffs look jagged and triangular.
2. Take some ribbon (the one that's the same color as the dress), cut it off and make a couple tailless bows. Somebody can safety-pin these to the sides of your hips.
3. Repeat step 2 with the red ribbon, but this time, the bows have tails. For the garter, line one strip of ribbon with the lace, sew it on and slip it onto your thigh. For the other one, tie it to your cat tail and sew on a small bell.
4. Pin your tail to the dress, slip on some bunny ears and you're done! TIP: For a better effect, align the tail with your coccyx (a.k.a. your tailbone) and pin it there on the dress.

Hope you enjoyed and...

Have a happy Easter! =^v^=

I'm Sorry!

I deeply apologize for a long absence. I decided to use my computer less often because my hand felt like it was gonna have Carpal Tunnel. Ouch... That and I'm very busy cleaning out my room. I'm getting a new bed. Yay~ ^w^

Anyway, I promise I'll make an Easter recipe in April to make up for it. Again, I'm deeply sorry for the long absence...

Hinamatsuri 2014 - DIY Doll Display

Hey, guys! Bri here! ^^ I thought I'd do a filler recipe until St. Patty's, so here it is: How to do your own Hinamatsuri doll display using figures and toys found around the house.

For those who are wondering what Hinamatsuri is, it's a holiday in Japan, also known as Girls' Day. Traditionally, there's a group of dolls that are displayed to represent the wedding of a Heian emperor and empress. The displays can vary from three tiers to a tall seven. As the name implies, the holiday is mostly focused on young girls, with the dolls acting like good luck charms for health, growth, love and marriage in their future.

Here's an example of a three-tier display. We'll use this as a model. I forgot who let me use this, but many thanks to them! ^^ If this is your pic, kind sir or ma'am, I'll kindly credit you for it.

 

Here's my display! ^^ Cute, isn't it? I know it looks pretty ghetto, but I don't really have that many materials needed to make real ones.



These can be pretty easy to make, so here's what you need:

• Long cardboard boxes in any size
• Several figures, figurines or plushes
• Old t-shirts (one blue for the emperor, one red or pink for the empress)
• Construction paper
• Pink or gold ribbon
• A red blanket
• Glue

How to assemble it (I'll add notes about mine on these, just so you know.):

1. Look for a large empty spot in either the living room or any room in the house. Stack the boxes up into some stairs. Glue the boxes together and after it's dry, drape the blanket over them. For mine, I have it in my bedroom using an extra end table, some paintings of mine and some manga magazines. For the blanket, I used a Spiderman blanket as you saw in the second picture.
2. For the emperor and empress, you can use any kind of toys and fit them into the shirts. I would recommend using plushes, so you wouldn't have to cut up the shirts to make the kimonos. For mine, I used my two Build-A-Bears, Steven the Triceratops as the emperor and Daryl the cat as the empress.
3. For the rest, it's three figures on the second shelf and five figures at the bottom. For mine, I just used some ceramic figurines. In a regular Hinamatsuri display, the second-shelf dolls are the court maidens that bring sake (saw-keh, more commonly known in the West as rice wine) and the bottom shelf are the musician that play at the wedding (three drummers, a flute player and a singer).
4. Now for the accessories! Just snip out some ribbon and lots of shapes out of construction paper.* The ribbon will be used as the empress' headdress.
5. Bring in a couple small bowls between the maidens and throw in some candy (it's supposed to bring in extra luck, according to an issue of Shojo Beat!). Put a sheet of yellow or gold paper behind your royal couple and now you're done! ^^

*The things needed to be cut out of paper include:

• The emperor's hat and baton, known as a shaku (shock-koo)
• The empress' fan
• The maidens' sake equipment
• The musicians' instruments, which include three different types of drums, a striped flute and a fan for the singer

Oh, another thing before wrapping this up, you have to put the dolls away exactly on the 3rd of March. According to tradition, it could mean a late marriage for the girls if they're up past that date. My suggestion to avert leaving the display up is to take pictures of it. Anyway, hope you enjoyed, good luck and...

偉大なひなまつりを持っている！ (Have a great Hinamatsuri!)