Sunday, November 8, 2009

What Else to Pack And What Not To Pack In A Cosplay First Aid Kit

Now you know what to take with you. Here are some more helpful tips what else to pack in the Cosplay First Aid Kit:

Tip:

What Else To Pack In A Cosplay First Aid Kit:

1. Buttons- If your cosplay has buttons, make sure that you find the exact same ones and pack them with you. Sometimes buttons are evil little suckers that want to pop off either in the middle of something or at the worst posibble time, like before leaving for the Cosplay Contest. Now, if they're made up, make sure that you created some back ups just in case if one of them falls off and you not even knowing it.

2. Clothes Deturgent, "Shout" spray, and /or "Tide To-Go" pens- Now, I say this is because what would happen if by some chance that you got barbaque sauce or a chocolate stain on your cosplay? Talk about an utter nightmare. If by any chance that the hotel you're staying at has a landury room, then take advantage of it and wash up before continuing to have fun

3. Hair pins, Bobby pins, and Ponytail Holders- Carry these in case if you have to restyle your wig and you need something to hold it in place. It never hurts.
____________________________

Alright, that was that. Now I need to tell you about what NOT to pack.

Tip:

What Not To Pack In A Cosplay First Aid Kit:

1. Spray Paint-
This is a chemical substance! Don't bring that to a place where there's a lot of people around. The last thing you want to do is make yourself or someone else sick if someone is allergic. Of course, you also don't want to damage the property where the convention is held either

2. Any materials with chemicals, like lead and other harmful substance- Alright, seriously folks, the last thing you want is lead poisoning in your bloodstream or to cause harm to others around you. Just make sure you have some safe supplies that are the same color that you need and just carefully hand paint any messups or chips.




3. India Ink-
This is the BIGGEST OF NO NO'S of all!!!!!!! India Ink is a good product; HOWERVER, it's permanant to clothes and to anything that is of cloth material, like bed sheets and blankets for example. In other words, once you spill this on a hotel bed and/or the room carpet, be ready to pay property damage to the hotel staff because IT WILL NOT COME OUT!!!!! The bed and/or room carpet is forever stained!!!

So instead of carrying India ink, carry acrylic paints because that is merciful when you fix your prop, but again, make sure that you fix your prop in the bathroom with the acrylic paint because you can easily clean it up afterwards and not have to worry about leaving a stain.

______________________

Tip:

Try to avoid any messy situations and foods for that matter like barbaque or chocolate. Talk about a situation from Hades itself. If you're hungry and it's a messy meal, either have a big towel over your cosplay or just take it off and slip into something comfy (if you're in the room that you're staying in of course^^;). Then, if you're done eating and want to go back and have fun, then put on your cosplay and have at it again^_^

Tip:
If someone is about to drop something that is messy and they're heading your way, THEN MOVE! Again, being distant can be a good thing at times^^.

Alright, I know it's not much, but here's little tips to help your cosplay stay clean as a whistle without any complications^^ I hope this helps

How To Create a Cosplay First Aid Kit

Okay, I bet you're wondering, "what's a Cosplay First Aid Kit?" and "why do I need one?" Well...... A Cosplay First Aid Kit is what you bring with you to conventions with any sewing or artist like materials just in case. Of course you're thinking, "In case of what?" Okay, may God forbid this on ANY cosplayer, but what will happen if your cosplay suddenly has a thread hanging off, it's coming loose on an edge, your prop is coming apart, etc,? If you don't have a Cosplay First Aid Kit, then your cosplay CANNOT be saved! I'm talking about, utter panic mode, especially when you've already entered a cosplay contest 0o0;
Believe it or not, one of my props, my gun holster, decided to break on me just before I had to leave for the line up of the Cosplay contest. Like a complete idiot, I didn't think to create a Cosplay First Aid Kit. So for me, it's a well learned lesson.

Anyway, in order to prevent any cosplay mishap panic modes, I'm going to show you how to make a Cosplay First Aid Kit^_^
Step 1: Find A Plastic Snap Box
What this means is that either find a box that is similar to an elementary school plastic storage box, only a lot bigger or at least a big plastic carrying case like a big tool box with snaps (the size of a laptop carrying case is perfect).

Shoe boxes are big NO NO'S!
Shoe boxes are very unprofessional looking! If you want to look like you know what you're doing in the cosplay realm, then shoe boxes are O-U-T OUT!

Now, there's only one exception:

1. If you can't find or don't have a big plastic carrying case and you have only a big, huge, thigh high boot box, that could work well.

Other than that, NO SHOE BOXES!!!!!!!

Step 2: What To Pack
If you're tying to figure out what to pack in the Cosplay First Aid Kit, then don't worry, I'll help ya^^

Here's what to pack:

1. Spools of Thread- Make sure that the color thread(s) you used is packed because if by any chance that your cosplay has a rip or tear in it, then all you have to do is hand stitch it with the appropriate thread color and hand sewing needle. If you don't know how to hand stitch, then either find someone to teach you or if they're going to the convention with you, then let them fix your cosplay for you.




2. A pin cooshin- You ALWAYS want to carry one or two of these because they always come in handy. It doesn't matter whether it's a normal pin cooshin or one that you created yourself. As long as it has hand sewing needles, sewing pins, and some safety pins, then you're good to go!


3. Scissors- I would absolutely DIE if I forgot to bring scissors. If there are no scissors around you, then you can kiss that late nighter, robbed Starbucks twelve times, frustrating but worth it, work out the window. MAKE SURE YOU PACK YOUR SCISSORS! EVEN BETTER, BRING TWO OR THREE PAIRS IF YOU HAVE TO!!!!!!!

4. Other artist like materials, like acrylic, face, fabric, misc. paint, hot glue gun(s) and the hot glue sticks that goes with them, duct, masking, scotch tape (in case of hot glue guns are not working), regular Elmar's glue, etc.- Here, I think you've got the general idea. These are just extra things just in case if your prop, may God forbid, is falling apart, your face paint is chipping off, or the paint on your fabric that you hand painted on is trying to fade. Again, you never know.

5. A Special Cosplay Comb- Now here is where we're getting into the hair and wig aspects of cosplay. If you have a comb, brush, or pick that is specially used for cosplay only, then pack it with you because you never know if you may have to recomb or restyle the wig after having fun all day^^


6. A Special Type of Hair Spray For Wigs- Okay, there are special hair sprays just for wigs to help hold up the style.

Now, I wouldn't take the whole big bottle. I strongly suggest that you find a smaller spray bottle like my Skelanimals body mist here:
What I would do is take a small spray bottle like this and make sure that it's empty. Not only that, you may have to clean it out with soap and water if necessary. It doesn't matter what kind of small spray bottle it is, but I'm only using this as an example. Anyway, when it's empty, then take some of the special wig hair spray and pour it into the small spray bottle. Having two of these would be wonderful and this also means that you're thinking ahead^_^

Here's your finished Cosplay First Aid Kit:
Now, I know I said no shoe boxes, but this is only a sample kit. All you have to do now is put a sign on the top, front, and back sides, "Cosplay First Aid Kit" with a red cross on it. You can even go further by decorating it some more if you want^^

Okay, this may sound like a paranoid person, but guess what? You'll be glad that you did it! Let's just say that I don't want to repeat the 2007 insident-_-; That was so not a happy moment. Anyway, I hope this helps you guys^^