Curiously Carmen

DIY Easy Pikachu Ears/Headband (No sewing necessary)

Pikachu is one of the most lovable and adorable characters from the Japanese based show/media franchise, Pokemon!

Pikachu ears done

For an extreme rookie like me, making these ears were relatively easy. I’m pretty sure a young child is capable of making these ears too hahhaha….. that’s how easy it is 🙂

Pikachu earsMaterials:

  • Yellow and black felt (I used foam because I had some left over from my Minnie costume last year)
  • Hot glue gun, scissors, pencil
  • Random ear clip ons

Pikachu ears bunny

1) Find a random animal ear headband or clip on. The most important part is that it is sturdy, it doesn’t matter what type of animal it is. We will be gluing it over.

I found some bunny ear clip ons for mine!

Pikachu frontThe idea is to basically wrap the original animal ears with yellow felt. It took me three tries to finally get an ear shape that I liked.

Pikachu cut outs

2) After finding a shape that you like, continue to trace and cut four ears out.
Pikachu glue gun

3) Now comes the fun part- gluing! I would recommend gluing the front part of your bunny ears first, or else you risk gluing higher than you actually meant to in the back (which means a lot of the white bunny ear part would show in the front or you would have uneven ears).

Be careful to check where you are gluing before you actually do it, once you add in the hot glue gun, you won’t have much time for changes!

I also marked down which felt edge should match up with the other felt edge, to prevent myself from accidentally flipping one side and making it asymmetrical.
Pikachu ear tips4) The hardest part is now done! That wasn’t too bad right? 🙂 Next up is just the black tips on Pikachu’s ears. For this, I traced the finished yellow ears onto a piece of scrap paper and drafted up some designs on how I wanted the tips to look.

After I drew a black ear tip that I was happy with on the scrap paper, I cut it out and traced it onto the black foam and hot glue gunned them on.

You are also welcome to use black felt, construction paper, black tape, marker, etc etc. I felt that construction paper wouldn’t be as durable, and felt that marker may look a bit ugly or uneven with my art ability. Construction paper and marker tips might get damaged or smudge if it begins to rain and you’re outside…

Pikachu ears doneAnd there you have it! Super easy Pikachu ears for those who don’t want to sew.
pikachu diy ears costume

Happy early Halloween!

Minnie and Mickey Mouse DIY Costume from Halloween 2013!

-Carmen

Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette

I love my Urban Decay products.  I was introduced to the UD Primer Potion in Grade 9, and have been loving their products ever since, from their 24 hour liquid liner, to the Naked Skin foundation (review here), and finally, their Naked palettes.

So far, UD has launched 3 Naked palettes which have all seen insane reception from the beauty community. Whenever they announce a release, Youtube blows up with beauty gurus reviewing the product. For good reasons too, this is one of my beloved eye palettes! I have Naked 2 and Naked 3, but like the Naked 2 more because of the shades!

photo 3 (3)Simple packaging of the product. The physical palette is pretty sturdy, you can throw this into your bag without damaging the product. I brought the Naked 3 for my trip to Disneyland back in January, and it lasted fine all throughout moving around from my luggage to the hotel room and what not. I’ve noticed that some cheaper eyeshadow will fall out if moved around or dropped, but not the “case” for this.
photo 4 (3)Ahhhh…the beautiful shades. You can tell which shades I love using more than others. When it comes to eye shadow, I only wear champagne or golden tones. I used to wear purple a lot, but bright colours haven’t really been in style anymore and I love how champagne colours make my eyes look brighter and whiter.
Application: The brush that the palette comes with is really good as well. It is called the Good Karma shadow brush and is double ended, with both a shadow and crease brush. The shadow brush is used for general application, while the crease brush is used to add dimension (to your outer or inner corners of your eye, for example).
Long lasting?: I always use my UD Primer Potion with my eye shadow. If I don’t, my eye shadow will crease within an hour and it will fade away. With the primer, my eyeshadow will last at least 6 hours with no touch up, which is good considering I have oily skin. I’ve worn this to work, and even if I sweat or run around cause it’s a busy shift, my eye shadow looks untouched or unsmudged with the primer. For the sake of the review, I did not wear the primer tonight. I noticed that after four hours, the eye shadow was pretty much gone. I would highly recommend using a primer, or have the kit with you to touch up.

Value: Naked 2 at Sephora is $62 Canadian. Naked and Naked 3 are the same price as well. It just depends on which shades you like. Considering the quality and colour of the palette, I would say that it’s a good investment as the palette is very versatile and durable!

Pros:

  • Beautiful range of shades!!! (ranging from neutral to dramatic looks)
  • Can experiment with many different colours to create a look that you love
  • Comes with a their Good Karma shadow and crease brush & mirror
  • Easy to carry on-the-go
  • Comes with 4 samples of their different primers
  • No fall out!! (major pet peeve of mine, urgh)

Cons:

  • It is $62, so it is definitely an investment
  • Lasts longer with primer potion (I suggest the UD Primer Potion, as you can sweat a lot but it’ll still hold up)
  • Would not recommend if you do not like sparkly eye shadows or shades (Naked and Naked 3 have different shades than the 2)

Up next: Maybe the Urban Decay Primer Potion or Naked 3? Which one would you like? Thanks for reading!

-Carmen