Loki's Scepter selfie stick tutorial

Turn your selfie stick from boring to burdened with glorious purpose

Loki: "I come with glad tidings of a world made free."

Iron Man: "Free of what?"

Loki: "Free of boring selfie sticks."

When I was making my Loki running outfit for the inaugural runDisney Avengers Half Marathon (see my recap of the race in my previous post), I had a sudden flash of inspiration.  Instead of just making a prop scepter to carry, why not also make it functional by making it out of a monopod selfie stick?

Can you imagine the uses?  Not only could you use it for costumed races, you could also use it for ComiCon and for Halloween!  And the idea could be extended to other types of props.  How about turning the selfie stick into an Ewok spear for the inaugural Star Wars Half Marathon?  Ok, now you know what I'm going to be running the Star Wars race as.  

[UPDATE:  As of Summer 2015, Disney no longer allows selfie sticks inside their parks.  As of January 6, 2016, runDisney has made even more restrictions regarding the use of costumes and props for security reasons. See my post for further details.]

The "aha" moment when the strangers around me first realized my scepter was really a selfie stick. Basically every time I attached my iPhone to it people commented on the awesomeness of my selfie stick scepter. TAKE HOME LESSON: Loki scepter elevates selfie stick from geeky to badass.

Well, now you can make one yourself.  It's actually quite easy.  I literally made my scepter in the hotel room at 10pm night before the half marathon.  All you need are a few simple materials:

1. Corrugated cardboard or foam board.  I used a groceries box from Costco because I procrastinated and didn't have time to get foam board.
2. Sharp Scissors or a box-cutter blade.  You actually don't even need a box cutter razor because, in a pinch, I actually used one blade of the scissors like a box cutter.
3. Gold (or silver) duct tape.  I had some left over gold duct tape from when I made my Loki horns.  You can find that tutorial here.  I know, some purists might say "But Loki's scepter blade is silver and the handle is gold."  But I wasn't able to find a golden selfie stick, AND it being 10pm before the race, I didn't have the time to spray paint my selfie stick into gold.  So yeah, the colors are reversed.
4. Selfie stick, also known as a monopod.  I found mine at a vendor's cart at the mall for $30, but you can find them on Amazon.com or Walmart.com for much cheaper.
5. Template of the scepter blade.  I used this template from The Woodland Elf as my guide.  However, I didn't have the time or a way to print out a template because I procrastinated, so I actually free-hand drew my scepter based on a screenshot of The Woodland Elf's video on my iPad.
   

STEP 1:  Draw out the shape of the scepter on the cardboard.  You can use a template, or if you're confident in your drawing skills, you can free-hand draw it like I did.

STEP 2:  Cut out the cardboard shape.

STEP 3:  Cover the cardboard with duct tape.  This takes a bit of finesse.  The trick is using small pieces of duct tape, especially for the curved and tight edges.  You also might need to duct tape a few supportive rectangles of cardboard to give the piece more strength.

STEP 4:  Tape the selfie stick to the scepter blade.  I basically wanted my phone to be in the position where the glowing stone is supposed to be [Ahem, there's peculation is that Loki's scepter has a destiny stone, but it hasn't yet been officially revealed it as one in MCU] [UPDATE: My hunch was correct.  The Avengers 2 movie confirmed at Loki's scepter stone is indeed the Mind Stone, one of the destiny stones].  So I placed my phone onto the selfie stick and positioned it until I was satisfied with it's placement.  Once it was in position, I taped the stick into place using the duct tape.  Just make sure that you don't cover up the telescoping parts of the stick.  That way you can still lengthen the scepter or shorten it just like Loki did in the Avengers movie.

STEP 5:  Now go out into the world, wield your scepter, and revel in the awe of the lesser beings.  After all, you are Loki and you are burdened with glorious purpose!

Recap of the inaugural runDisney Avengers Half Marathon at Disneyland

RunDisney + Comic books + Cosplay = 13.1 miles of Geek Heaven!

I've been running in costumes since the inaugural Tinkerbell HM in 2012. But this race was the most fun that I've had ever had dressing up in costume and seeing other people's costumes. I must say it was refreshing to see costumes OTHER THAN the typical Princesses and Fairies that tend to populate the other races.


STARTING LINE AREA

Just being in the starting line area was fun.  More people dressed up for this race than the other runDisney races. There were so many costumes of comic book characters, not just the ones featured in the MCU movies. I was geeking out with excitement just being there in that atmosphere.

I decided to dress a Loki. The highlights of my outfit were the horns and the scepter. I'll post a link here to a tutorial on how I made them in the coming weeks. [Update:  You can find the scepter tutorial here.]

[UPDATE:  As of Summer 2015, Disney no longer allows selfie sticks inside their parks.  As of January 6, 2016, runDisney has made even more restrictions regarding the use of costumes and props for security reasons. See my post for further details.]

The "aha" moment when the strangers around me first realized my scepter was really a selfie stick. Basically every time I attached my iPhone to it people commented on the awesomeness of my selfie stick scepter. TAKE HOME LESSON: Loki scepter elevates selfie stick from joke to badass.

MILES 1 TO 2

The first 2 miles of the race went thru the Disney Parks. The parks were decked out in Christmas decorations, so that was nice to see. Plus the Disney cast members were out there cheering for us.

This is me and my friends giving cast members high-fives to thank them for their service.

During the first 2 miles there were photo ops with 4 of the Avengers (Captain America, Hawkeye, Thor, and Black Widow).

However the lines to pose with each individual Avenger were crazy long, which is not a problem if you are a fast runner who started in an early corral. But if you're a slower runner who started in the G or H corrals (the last 2 corrals), you end up standing in line at your own risk because you might get swept.  I heard that for this race about 100-something runners were swept before mile 3, and about 300-something runners were swept at mile 10.  RUNNER TIP: If you care about achieving Legacy status or getting that Challenge medal, you do NOT want to be swept.

Not wanting to be swept, my friends and I posed for our own superhero pictures.

[UPDATE: We posed in front of the Haunted Mansion for one of the runDisney publicity photographers. Then for the 2015 race, runDisney ended up using that photo for one of their race weekend Twitter posts. How cool is that?]

MILES 3 THRU 6.5

After exiting Disney property, miles 3 thru 6.5 were heading south thru the streets of Anaheim and then southeast thru the cities of Garden Grove and Orange.  The only pretty landmark in that part of the course was Christ Cathedral.

Christ Cathedral

Aside from the weather [which is out of the control of any race director] which was unseasonably windy [hey, it's supposed to be windy in the O.C. in October NOT November], I would say that this was a relatively flat course in comparison to the other California runDisney races so far. [I don't know how it will compare to Star Wars HM because that course hasn't  been released yet].

At this point in the course, the Santa Ana winds [HEADWINDS!] picked up and made the race more challenging because the course ran by some construction sites [DUST!].  Reportedly it was a steady wind of about 15-20 mph with some wind gusts up to 45 mph. This was strong enough to topple over most of the mile marker signs and a few porta-potties. And apparently back at the finish line the winds pulled up one of the family reunion tents which made the race officials evacuate that reunion area.

It's not a toppled-over porta potty, but it is a tumbleweed...in the city.  That's some wind!

MILES 6.5 THRU 8

Then from mile 6.5 to mile 8, the course entered the Santa Ana River Trail. This section of the trail is a paved trail that goes along a golf course and then heads north toward Angels Stadium.  However, this part of the course was pretty narrow and created a 1.5-mile-long bottleneck making it very difficult to pass other people.  And the dust at the bottom of the riverbed wasn't much fun in the wind. Yet despite that, this part of the course featured my FAVORITE part of the race...at mile 7 Club Cosplay was out there in full costumes supporting the runners.

Everyone from Club Cosplay was so energetic and so nice to allow runners to pose for pictures with them. It was great seeing a wide range of Marvel characters being represented. My favorites were War Machine, Gambit, the young Professor X, Star Lord, and of course Loki. Many thanks to everyone from Club Cosplay for helping to make this such a fun race. I heard that runDisney has invited them back to future races. YAY!

This is from Club Cosplay's Facebook page. It shows just how many of them were at mile 7.

Check out this guy's spot-on Loki! He looks a lot like Tom. (He's on Facebook as "Loki Hates You."  Check him out.) He stayed in character, but I was able to crack a genuine smile out of him (see photo on the right) when he saw me go all fan-girl excited.

MILES 8 THRU 9.5

After surviving the bottleneck, mile 8 opened up to Angels Stadium.  Unlike the Disneyland Half Marathon, Angels Stadium felt pretty empty in comparison because it didn't have Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts cheering in the bleachers. But it is an inaugural race, so I have hopes that it will be filled in future years.

My two favorite race signs.
What was my favorite shout-out?  A volunteer handing out water yelled out "Hail Hydrate!"

MILES 9.5 THRU 13.1

The Avengers right before the finish line.

After exiting Angels Stadium, the course headed back towards the Disneyland resort. There really wasn't much to get excited about in that part of the course...except maybe this spectator sign.Once you get to mile 12, you're back on resort property and are pretty much guaranteed to finish without being swept.Near the finish line, the Avengers from earlier on in the race stood together on a stage and announced the our names as each runner approached the finish line.  Right at the actual finish line, there were some black-suited S.H.I.E.L.D agents "guarding" the finish line.













FINISHER'S AREA

After crossing the finish line, volunteers were standing there to put medals around our necks.  I did NOT take off my Loki horns, but the volunteer was a great sport and was able to somehow slip that medal over my horns and around my neck.

After receiving our medals, we took our finisher's photos.  Then we proceeded to receive the standard runDisney post-race swag:  one bottle of Dasani water, one bottle of blue Powerade, one banana, and one standard runDisney box of snacks.  It's a good thing I had a plastic grocery bag stuffed into my running belt.  [RUNNER TIP:  Bring a bag to use at the finish line.  It's handy for carrying all of those bottles and post-race snacks.]  And after getting the swag, runners enter the family reunion area which then leads to the main stage area, where there are tents for medal engraving, etc.

This was my first time dressing up as a bad guy for a race, and I must say it was way more fun than the other character I've been.  So many runners throughout the race course complimented me on my Loki costume, Loki horns, and Loki scepter selfie stick.  And the spectators seemed to cheer for Loki more often than the other characters. Maybe I'll dress as a villain for future races.  I guess I've been converted to the Dark Side. Next stop...Star Wars Half Marathon.

DIY shoelace bracelet tutorial

As a runner, sometimes I have a hard time retiring my old running shoes. That's because they're full of memories: my first half marathon, my first full marathon, my PR, traveling to the Nike Women's Half Marathon to get a Tiffany necklace, etc.

So what is a runner to do if they want to clean out their closet but keep the shoe memories? Keep the shoelaces & upcycle them into a bracelet!  It's even more fun if you are using a colored pair of shoelaces.

STEP 1:  Start with a CLEAN pair of shoelaces. Self explanatory. If you skip this step...yuck!

STEP 2:  Make a slip knot.  Make sure to leave a tail about 4 inches long.

STEP 3:  Pass a loop thru the slip knot.

STEP 4:  Pass a loop thru each successive loop to create a chain. (HINT:  You're finger crocheting.) Continue until there's only 4 inches left.  To end the chain, pass the aglet of the shoelace thru the final loop and tug until it's tight.

STEP 5:  Push the tails in opposite directions thru a bead.  I used a Pandora-style bead that I found at Michael's [UPDATE: I used a bead with an unthreaded 5 mm diameter hole from the brand Cousin Trinkettes.  Here's a link to the exact bead that I used].  If you have a lot of shoelaces of the same color, you could pick a different bead or shoelace charm to signify each pair of shoes/acomplishments/events/etc. Knot the ends of the tails to prevent the tails from slipping out.  Then wear your new bracelet & enjoy those memories!

Upcycled Advent Calendar

My son turned 2 years old a couple of months ago, so this will be his first Christmas season when he'll start to understand what all the fuss is about. What better way to learn numbers, counting, days of the month, and the anticipation of waiting for baby Jesus's birthday than with an Advent Calendar. I've seen a lot of cute DIY Advent Calendars on Pinterest, but some of them only go to 24, which to me is just missing the Reason for the Season.  Some were shaped like houses & others just rectangles. I wanted a Christmas tree shape. So here's what I did.

STEP 1:  GATHER MATERIALS.

* Green tissue paper (I had some lying around after my son's birthday party. Yay! Upcycling!)

* 13 toilet paper tubes

* String (I used the string from an old gift bag. Yay! More upcycling!)

* Scissors

* Elmer's Glue

* Hole puncher

* Sharpie marker

STEP 2:  CUT TOILET PAPER TUBES IN HALF.

This will make 26 pieces. One of them will be left over. I'll save him for a future project.

STEP 3:  ARRANGE TUBES INTO THE SHAPE OF A TREE.

1st row: 1 tube

2nd row: 2 tubes

3rd row: 3 tubes

4th row: 4 tubes

5th row: 5 tubes

6th row: 6 tubes

7th row: 2 tubes

8th row: 2 tubes

STEP 4:  GLUE THEM TOGETHER.

STEP 5:  COVER THE SIDES & BACK WITH TISSUE PAPER.

I applied glue to the rims of all the tubes & then laid the entire tree onto a sheet of tissue paper. When that dried, I trimmed the edges. Then I glued strips of tissue paper to cover the sides of the tree.

STEP 6:  ADD LOOP TO HANG THE CALENDAR.

Punch a hole into the top of the 1st row tube. String a loop into the hole & tie the ends into a knot so that it won't slip thru.

STEP 7:  FILL THE CALENDAR WITH TREATS.

I had lots of leftover Halloween candy & thought that this would be a good way to use it up.  I love the sound of my son's voice when he says "choc-O-lot" but I don't want him to binge & overdose on the stuff.

STEP 8:  COVER THE FRONT WITH TISSUE PAPER.

Apply the tissue paper to the front using the technique from Step 5.

Then use a Sharpie marker to write on the numbers. I felt that the 25th is the most important date, so I placed it on the top of the calendar.

Et voilá!  An upcycled Advent Calendar.

DIY: Upcycled vintage-style dress for Disney Dapper Day

I was invited to my first-ever "Dapper" event at Disneyland which meant that I needed a Dapper outfit.  What is "Dapper?" Well basically the concept comes from Dapper Day, an independent social gathering event when fans show up at the Disney Parks dressed up in clothing styles from 1901-1966 (the years Walt Disney was alive).

So where did I turn for artistic inspiration to find my Dapper outfit? Pinterest of course!  To my disappointment, there weren't a lot of DIY tutorials when I searched for "Dapper Day," just mostly were beautiful photos of other people's outfits. Well, being the Crafty Mom that I am, I decided to accept the challenge of making the outfit myself...doing so in an Eco-friendly way, and adding it to Pinterest.

STEP 1:  FIND INSPIRATION.

Isn't the above outfit from the 1940s just beautiful? I also started falling in love with Peter Pan collars & sailor collars.  I wondered if there was a way to combine the collars with the dress. Then I found this:

The "Vixen 60s Oh So Striped A-line Dress" from Top Vintage.

STEP 2:  GO THRIFT SHOPPING.

The next thing I did was go to a local thrift shop, and luckily I scored these:

STEP 3:  BEGIN DRESS SURGERY.

I cut both dresses at the waistline. I saved the bottom half of the striped dress to make sleeves and the triangle-shaped flare of the skirt.

I saved the top half of the black dress to make the collar.

STEP 4:  PIECE THE FABRICS TOGETHER.

I cut a slit on the side front of the black skirt. Then I sewed a triangle-shaped wedge of striped fabric to fill in that slit. Then I sewed the black skirt to the striped top.

STEP 5:  HOW TO ADD SLEEVES TO A SLEEVELESS DRESS.

I Googled "sleeve pattern" and found a bunch of photos showing that sleeves have the same bell-shaped curve on the top. The difference in fit is based on how STEEP the curve is & how LONG the curve is.

If the curve is STEEP (aka. tall & skinny), then the finished sleeves will lie more vertical & have less comfort, like a suit blazer. But if the curve is SHALLOW (aka.  short & fat), then the finished sleeves will lie more perpendicular to the body & be more comfortable, like a T-shirt.

In order to fit properly, the LENGTH of the sleeve's curve has to equal the circumference of the arm hole.  So I  placed a piece of string around the edges of the armhole to get the circumference & then cut the string into the length of the circumference.  I then taped both ends of that piece of string to the corners of the paper sleeve pattern.  I shaped the loose part of the string into a bell-shaped curve. Once I was satisfied with its shape, I traced its shape onto the paper.

Once I made that rough pattern, I traced it onto a new sheet of paper but this time I added 1/4 to 1/2 inch of seam allowance.  I then used this final pattern to cut out the sleeve material.

Then I sewed the sleeves onto the dress.

STEP 6:  HOW TO ADD A SAILOR COLLAR OR PETER PAN COLLAR TO A TOP.

I drew this pattern myself using the technique described by Erin of Sutton Grace on the Leafy Tree Top Spot blog.  Once I was satisfied with the shape of the front & back collar pieces, I retraced those pieces onto another sheet of paper, this time adding 1/4-1/2 inch of seam allowance. Then I used this final pattern to cut out the collar material.

Then I sewed the collar onto the neckline of the dress using the technique described by Erin of Sutton Grace.  I made a binding strip out of leftover black dress material {Yay! More upcycling!}, then used the binding to cover the raw edges of the collar/neckline.

STEP 7:  ADD THE FINISHING TOUCHES.

I had some old white buttons that had been salvaged years ago from another piece of clothing {Yay! More upcycling!},  so I sewed them on for decoration.

I also added a piece of white grosgrain ribbon to the collar to serve as a tag, but this is just optional. {I just like seeing a tag when I'm getting dressed because it helps to orient me to which side is inside & which side is the back.}

Et Voilà!  A Dapper retro upcycled dress is complete!

P.S.  Dressing in Dapper attire with my husband was fun!  I'm looking forward to planning another outfit for a future Dapper Day.