Sometimes I wonder why I get the ideas to do stuff... you see, since we are going to the Color Run and our team's name is "The Rainicorns", I decided we needed costumes.
The problem is... I just procrastinated and didn't design us a shirt. So I decided rainicorn horns would be the thing to do. I relied on the internets and the internets didn't let me down.
Have I ever told you guys how much I love cosplayers that spend so much time trying things out and then sharing it with the world? Because I love them a lot.
Anyway, after a bit of research I decided to give it a try and make the horns for my team myself inspired by the cool and professionally made unicorn horns that
Yaya Han makes (I actually met her at Dragon Con briefly and bought some pony ears and unicorn horn from her, if you ever cosplay MLP, I highly recommend her props, they are the best!
Since I didn't have the time nor budget to order from Yaya, I went ahead and tried to make my cheapy version using Model Magic.
I was surprised as to how cheap the material was (it is made by crayola and stored on the kiddy section at Michaels), and it is so light!
So here is a tutorial I made as I figured it out:
Small unicorn/rainicorn/corn... I mean horn tutorial.
Materials:
- Model Magic (any color you would like, I got white so they can get all messy for the Color Run)
- Knitting needle
- Bone folder (if you don't have one, the handle of a normal tea spoon will do)
- Box opener (or kitchen knife)
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| What you will need. |
I think they sell Model Magic at Target and Walmart as well as craft stores. It is very cheap and hardens if you leave it out, also it is super light, perfect to make hair accessories.
When you remove the Model Magic from the pack it will look like this:
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| It's so foamy! |
Grab about this much from the block, it is very soft and airy.
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| A cup? A handful? |
Make the model magic onto a nice ball, you can make sure it doesn't have fissures as you go.
Then start rolling it on a clean even surface to create a bit of a cylinder:
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| We are rolling, rolling! |
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| Behold! My master piece! OK, not really, but you get the idea, right? |
Start rolling the cylinder into a cone:
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| Getting there, I promise. |
After you get to the shape you want, grab the box cutter or kitchen knife and cut off the knobby end. Don't worry if it gets a bit squished, we'll fix it.
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| Nooo! Avert your eyes! OK don't, it's alright. |
After you chop the end off, roll the cone around a bit to regain its shape, see? No harm done:
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| Tell that to my poor stub, it suffers. |
Grab the bone folder or spoon handle and score the cone starting from the bottom and at an angle.
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| Do it with a light touch, you want to just leave a soft groove. |
Roll the cone as you go and it will create a nice spiral.
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| See? |
Once again, don't worry if it gets a bit squished, just roll it a bit once you are done and voila!
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| Rainicorn Horn! |
Feel the magic! Hahaha... yeah... ok... ahem... next we need to create a hole at the bottom of the horn so the elastic band to put it on your head can go through.
Use the knitting needle and pass it through the bottom. Leave some space over the base so the elastic band won't break through.
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| Nooo, not the stabbing again! |
Once you poke the hole roll the horn one last time to keep its shape and you are done!
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| Weee! |
I made enough for my team and it was very easy and fast. I will report back to let you guys know how they dried, I also need to go get myself some elastic band.
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| Party! |
Yeah... and now you are free to wonder how I ever manage to rope responsible, successful and adjusted adults into any of my schemes... I think because deep down they are all as crazy as me, that's why they are my friends after all.
Update!: The horns dried in about 30 hours, you will need to lay them on their side after the 24 hour mark so the bottom can dry all the way too. The results were good, but the horns will crack wherever you have uneven lines left on the rolling phase or if you make the grooves of the horns too deep.
I would knead the model magic a bit more and make sure that the surface was very nice and smooth next time. Also I made extra horns just in case and ended up with just the right amount without big cracks on them or no cracks at all.
They end up being extremely light but won't last more than a 1 or 2 uses, so if you want something more durable and professional looking I'd go ahead and buy them from Yaya Han since hers are nice and can stand a lot of wear to busy cons and even Disney World!
After that I continued coloring with copics:
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| Line Drawing by Anne Chihiro Takogawa, coloring by Saudade - Copic markers on plain copy paper. Aprox 4.5 hours. |
The background is going it be a challenge, but I won't give up!
After that I doodled some... I have no idea why I drew this, but hey, that's how my doodles come to being most of the time, from my crazy mind:
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| Larry the Sloth from Accounting, he loves cupcakes. - graphite and mechanical pencil on plain Moleskine. Aprox 15 mins. |
It is Larry, the Sloth from accounting. He likes to git the cantine and get himself a hot cocoa and cupcake. He loves cupcakes.
And then I drew this:
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| The Happy Sloth - graphite and mechanical pencil on plain Moleskine. Aprox 15 mins. |
If there isn't a cupcake shop called The Happy Sloth, well I then have dibs on the name, if you want it just promise me you will supply me with free cupcakes for life and we'll be even. Hehehehe.
