‘Cause they were all fungis

Last September, I won a free weekend pass to Anime Milwaukee, a fan convention held at the Baird Center. 

The girls and I decided to go on Friday and Saturday.  I really wanted to make a mushroom hat following a tutorial I had seen on YouTube.  After seeing the concept, Nova was in too.  Then Esme decided she would like to join our mushroom family. 

The first step was making the frame from cardboard.  You cut a large circle and then cut a hole in the center for your head.  We used some popsicle sticks across the folds from the box for stability then added small arches to make a cradle for the head and larger ones to make the mushroom shape. 

We added lights, holding them down with tape while we hot glued them in place. 

After removing the tape, we added the gills.  I took 5 yards of tulle, folded it half length-wise and threaded a running stitch along the doubled edge.  Then, pulling the thread, I created the ruching.  This got glued down around the opening for our heads in pleats.  The outer edge was glued to the top of the hat and then we added batting to the top.  This was just stapled on.

We covered that with stretchy red velvet and added a lace fringe. 

Then we each cut out spots our of cream colored felt.  I liked small organic shapes, Nova chose large circles, and Esme chose large organic shapes.  I got tired of attaching mine so I didn’t cover the whole thing but I liked how it turned out.  I love that they’re all a bit different. 

Mabel loved the cat bed we made her!  She left some hair where she was laying but we needed to hit them with the lint roller anyway.  We have learned that a lint roller is a great way to take off all of those little spider webs the hot glue leaves behind when glueing on fabric. 

We each styled our own outfits to wear with our mushroom hats.  Nova and I did our own makeup as well.  I wore an Igari-style makeup. This style features a light base with pink blush high on the cheekbones under the eyes giving a sun kissed look.  I thought it really complemented the mushroom costume. 

We got to Anime Milwaukee in time to see some of the opening ceremony then took some time to look at the program and pick some fun things to do today.

As we walked around, we got a ton of compliments.

We went to a talk called “So you want to make a big head” about constructing cosplay heads from foam and fabric.  The instructor works at a company that makes mascot costumes.  She’s worked on costumes for sports team mascots, brand mascots and even for children’s programs.  We got some great tips and Esme wants to try making a “big head” for her Halloween costume this year.  Our work on the mushroom hats prepared us for this next big project since some of the techniques used are the same. 

We saw this cosplayer Issac which is from a video game that Nole plays and asked to take a picture to send to him. 

We met up with homeschool friends and played arcade games and explored the exhibit hall.  The arcade had some pretty cool games and I took some pictures for Cal. 

Before we left for the day, we went to D&D Improv which is kind of similar to the Twenty Sided Tavern show that Nole and I saw in Chicago.  This one used members of the audience rather than actors.  The result was less funny than the professional show but still entertaining. 

Esme was exhausted at this point.  We had been at the show for almost 9 hours and my girl needed a nap.  Nova and I were not hard to convince to leave either, especially because we are going back tomorrow.  It was a fun, full day and we will definitely be keeping the mushroom hats for a future easy and comfortable costume!