Top 5 Cosplay Myths Busted!

I put together a list of the 5 biggest cosplay myths I hear over at MagicCatJenny! I think the biggest issues people have with cosplaying are all related to these myths floating around... so let's talk about them!

1. Cosplayers have to make every piece of their costume.Although many who cosplay are focused on crafting their entire costume, it is definitely not a requirement! Even the best cosplayers will order or commission pieces that are outside their skill level. Someone may be excellent at sewing, for example, but rubbish at prop making, and choose to purchase from an experienced prop expert.

Moreover, it's not a bad thing to purchase items for your costume! My personal rule is if it's cheaper AND easier to buy (or modify) a piece, and it's still accurate, I'll buy it instead of making it from scratch. Some costumes lend themselves to purchasing rather than making, anyway.

For the full post, click here!

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Guest Post: Letters and Care Packages

Psst, I'm in Disney World right now! Wanna keep up with me? Check out my Twitter or Instagram.

Jo and I are exchanging guest posts! I just joined the International Geek Girl Penpal Club and I love Jo's creativity with her letters and care packages, so I asked her to share some! Be sure to pop by her blog to say hello and see some of her other posts.

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Hi! I'm Jo, the writer behind Jo, My Gosh! I'm the fiancee of a sailor currently on a year-long deployment to Afghanistan. I blog about deployment, wedding planning, crafts, care packages, and recipes! I'm so excited to share a small part of my life with you!

Mia asked me to write a little bit about the letters and care packages that I've sent to John over the last year.  With just a few more weeks left in the deployment, I thought this would be the perfect way to look back and recap.

Today is day 351 of John's deployment, and to date, I've written 351 letters to him. I love to write and, at the beginning of the deployment, I thought it would be a perfect way to chronicle the year and ensure that John received regular mail. I'll be honest, Nicholas Sparks was part of my inspiration. You see, I hate Nicholas Sparks, and I hate The Notebook, too. In The Notebook, Noah, sends What's-Her-Face a letter every day for a year. Whatever, I thought. I can do that. And I have been... I'm just 14 days away from completing an entire year of letters.

If you're interested, here are some of my favorite envelope doodles:

Up until last week, I was sending John care packages every two weeks or so. But now, he's coming home, and I can't send anymore! (I don't think I've ever been so happy to have someone tell me that I can't do something!) I try to make sure the care packages are decorated with cute or funny themes.

Here's a veggie-filled package that riffed on Forrest Gump's famous "peas and carrots" quote:

I've sent him a lot of dorky puns, too. Lucky for John, he got a two-fer in this St. Patrick's Day (Root) Beer Pong box.

I also tried to stay topical when possible. This was one of the first boxes John received so he could celebrate the Summer Olympics, too.  I sent him sports-themed items-- Gatorade, sports magazines, a small basketball backboard...

And then there were holiday care packages, too. I sent John an Easter egg hunt in a box in April. (And cookies, too. I always send him lots of cookies and homemade granola bars.)

If you're interested in seeing all of the care packages I've sent John in the past year, check them out here. I'd love to have you drop by!

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Guest Post: Chocolate Cupcakes with Coconut Pecan Frosting

Happy Friday, everybody! Today's guest post comes from my friend and sponsor Keely. Her blog, Hairbows and Butter is right up my alley -- I love baking and bows everywhere. Take it away, Keely! 

Hey lovely readers!  Mia was so sweet as to let me invade her blog today!  My name is Keely and I blog over at Hairbows and Butter (it's been a little slow recently, but there's a lot of great stuff up there!)

Today I'm bringing you a fun baking recipe!  I hope you like cupcakes, and chocolate, and pecans, oh! and coconut!  Yeah, all of that is crammed into one cupcake, go ahead and be impressed. ;)

Ok everyone, turn on your ovens and get your mixers out and let's make some German Chocolate Cupcakes!

Chocolate Cupcakes
makes 24
2 sticks butter
1 cup 
2 eggs
vanilla
salt
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sour cream

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line two cupcake pans.

In a large bowl whip together the room temperature butter with the sugar until they get nice and light and fluffy.  Add the 2 eggs and beat for about another minute.

When the eggs are fully incorporated add in the vanilla, salt and cocoa powder.  Mix well.

Next, measure out your baking soda, baking powder and flour in a medium bowl.  Add about 1/3 of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat until just combined.  Add 1/2 of the sour cream.  Follow that with another 1/3 of the flour, the last of the sour cream and the last of the flour, beating well after each addition.
Scrape the sides of the bowls and mix on last time to make sure it is all combined.

Scoop into the cupcake pans using a 2 oz ice cream scoop, or filling about 2/3 of the way full.  My rule with chocolate cake is that it should look like chocolate ice cream before it bakes.

Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool.

Coconut Pecan Frosting
adapted from the Joy of Baking
1 cup sugar
1 cup milk
3 egg yolks (beaten)
1 stick butter, cut into pieces
1 1/2 cups shredded coconut
1 cup pecans
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

This frosting is not the norm, it is not just butter, cream cheese and powdered sugar whipped into my mixer.  This is a bit more complicated, but you can still do it!

Combine sugar, milk, egg yolks and butter in a medium sauce pan.  Cook over medium-high heat until the butter is melted and the mixture is boiling.  Make sure to stir continuously while cooking, this prevents the egg yolks from coagulating.

After cooking, add in the coconut, pecans and vanilla.  Stir to combine and then allow to cool for 30 minutes to an hour.

Spread on top of the chocolate cupcakes and top with a pecan half.  

Enjoy!

I hope you enjoy the recipe, let me know how it goes if you make it!  You can find me on twitter @bowsandbutter and you can stop by the blog anytime!

Thanks for the delicious looking recipe, Keely! Please check out her blog for more baking goodness.

Guest Post: Pirate Kitty Crafts

Today I'm interviewing my friend Cat, who spearheaded Hardstyle Princess and is the owner of Pirate Kitty Crafts, a small business on Etsy. Cat loves decoden, lolita, and assorted nerdery! 

A chocolate pencil case decorated with cute things, syrup, and whipped cream.

What is Pirate Kitty Crafts?
PKC is just a little pet project of mine. I like experimenting with a variety of crafting techniques, and my Etsy shop is a way for me to share some of my creations. 

Where did you get the idea for the name, Pirate Kitty Crafts?
I used to cosplay on a regular basis, and "Pirate Kitty" was my handle for a while. I have loved pirates for ages, and my name is 'Cat' so... Yarrr! XD

What is Decoden? How did you discover it?
Decoden is a fun, crafty way to make your world more sparkly and delicious! There's a lot of different styles, but it basically comes down to decorating items in fun, colorful ways. Most of the things I decorate look like super shiny, technicolor sweet treats, but there's also people who just do straight up non-food related designs, as well as those who make very realistic miniature items. Everyone seems to pick a style that appeals to them and there are so many talented crafters out there! 

Cute deco headphones!

I came upon Deco after being involved in lolita for a while. Deco accessories are very popular with many of the girls that wear the fashion. I was eager to try it out myself, so I started watching tutorial after tutorial until I thought I was ready. When I actually got started, it was a ton of fun, and I wondered why I had waited so long!

I was lucky enough to be at your first deco workshop panel at San Japan! What was it like to teach a large audience, and do you think you'll do another one?

Oh wow, it was so much fun, and I was so happy to teach people what I know, but I was learning a lot myself! I've done a lot of panels and several workshops, but the deco panel was a new experience. It was really popular, all of the seats were filled at the tables, which was a fantastic surprise. I found myself talking to the group at a super fast pace because I was so excited for all of them to get started! Everyone was really patient with me while we did things like distribute supplies and explained how to use them, and I saw some great pieces being made, some of them by first timers! I would love to do this panel again, but with more...everything! More time for people to work, more space, more supplies, maybe even a helper or two to give more hands-on instruction to the participants. I'm always looking for ways to improve my panels and this one has a lot of room to grow!
 

Legend of Zelda stained glass necklace.

Other than deco, what are some of your other hobbies?Oh, several! I'm a fairly active member in my local lolita community, and I love planning and attending meetups. This also gives me an opportunity to exercise one of my other passions- cooking! I do love making sweets that people can actually eat! Other than that, I'm a fairly standard nerd who collects comics, figures, and lots of cute toys... I've also gotten in to tabletop gaming lately. I'm running a totally kicking Pokemon campaign right now. We're the bad guys! :3

That's it for the interview! Any final thoughts?I love your blog and I miss youuuuu! <3

All items in this post are from Pirate Kitty Crafts! If you shop now and use the code AHOYAHOY, you can get 10% off your order.

I miss the ATX lolitas so much! I'm so happy to still be able to communicate with all the wonderful ladies I met online. Thank you for the interview, Cat!