Dragon Con 2015, The Best Cosplay Pt 4

The next Dragon Con is less than 6 months away, you guys... which makes this the perfect time to finish up last year's cosplay pics, right? 

Heh, aheh, yeeeeeaaah.

But never mind that I've put this off forever; let's just get on to COSTUMES.

 

First, I went nuts for this post-apocalyptic Wizard of Oz group:

Tin Man is clad in an armor of old road signs! GENIUS.

The Wicked Witch was especially stunning:

DAT FLYING MONKEY.

I like how cheerful Dorothy is with her giant gun - which, look closely - is named Toto.

YESSSS.

The "Cowardly" Lion isn't looking so cowardly, either. Love how her fur perfectly matches her hair!

Here's the most creative Baymax cosplay I've ever seen:

POOFY GOODNESS!

I like the nurse-hat headband, plus the smiley faces in her skirt were back-lit!

A hilarious Jurassic Park group:

The T-Rex bush prop is faaaabulous. Love their expressions.

Anyone remember last year's viral sensation, Kung Fury?

  

Reference:

And here's the arcade flipping off a poodle, because that's just how insane this movie is:

 (You can watch the whole thing at the Youtube link up there, btw. It's only 30 minutes, but I'll be curious to see how far you get. :D)

A steampunk pirate who's mechanical parrot stole the show:

Quick Craft: Ray Gun Stand From Cardboard

So you've made a pretty ray gun, and now you want to show it off, eh?

EXCELLENT. 

(What's that? You haven't?? Then go here for my tutorial!)

 

After all, the world has enough decorative bowls of fake fruit, my friends, but not NEARLY enough non-functioning fantasy weaponry.

SO. Here's an easy way to display that pretty pew-pew:

The triangular shape of the stand is extremely sturdy, so much so that I use this same design - also made from cardboard - to display one of our much heavier glass-and-brass ray guns.

The notched top ensures the barrel doesn't slide off, so it would take a really determined bit of shelf-shaking to make the gun fall over.

Plus, you can decorate it all pretty-like:

  Here it is in shadow...

... and in the light:

 Shiiiiiny.

All you need is a thin cardboard box from the pantry:

"What do you MEAN it's not for me?!" 

 Plus some strong tape to hold the stand together.

If you want your stand to look like mine, then you'll actually need metal tape, plus a little black craft paint to age it. 

Getting the stand's height right requires a little trial and error, but a good place to start is with a 2.5x7.5 inch strip of cardboard. Cut that out, and mark & score two fold lines around 3 inches in from either edge. Then fold the ends up, like this: