What started out as a needlepoint sampler for the Serenity Prayer has turned into a very impressive tongue and cheek tribute to Star Wars.
We’ve captured the beauty and power of this prayer as never before – with, um, Slave Leia and Jabba the Hutt. Leia’s chain is actually a metallic embroidery thread, crocheted and woven into the design; and Jabba is complete with little tiny knotted warts.
Check it out here:
Slave to Serenity
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Tags: Crafts, Jabba the Hutt
Creativity | 
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Many of us created scrapbooks of our favorite things as kids, but Star Wars fan and NASA contractor Michael Grabois’s Star Wars scrapbook from 1977 is downright Force-tastic. Michael scanned his scrapbook for all to see. It might be rough around the edges but it’s full of charm.
StarWars.com chats with Michael about his scrapbook and how his love for Star Wars seeps into his work at NASA in unexpected ways.
Before we start chatting Star Wars, what do you do at NASA?
I currently work for a NASA contractor at the Johnson Space Center in Houston where I train astronauts and flight controllers how to operate the Space Shuttle. It’s the second coolest job in the world, behind actually being an astronaut.
What are your first memories of seeing Star Wars?
I grew up in Edison, NJ. My dad got transferred to Houston the summer when I was between 9th and 10th grade. I saw Star Wars and Empire in Edison (in a 2-screen theater that has long since been torn down) and Jedi in Houston.
What made you want to start a Star Wars scrapbook when you were a kid?
My best friend when I was a kid was Mark Bernard, and we were always in competition to see who had the best or the most of something at any given time. I was 3 months shy of my 11th birthday when Star Wars came out (Mark was 2 months younger than me). We were both nuts about Star Wars and we tried to one-up the other with how many times we saw the movie, or who had the most stuff related to the movie, things like that. In order to manage our collections, we each started a scrapbook.
My version mostly consisted of me cutting out movie theater ads, newspaper articles, trading card wrappers, merchandise ads, etc. Mark had more of the toys than I did, but we ended up blowing most of them up with firecrackers (I know, why did I blow them up when we could have saved them mint on the card?). Mark’s favorite character was Han Solo. I liked Han too, but Mark had called it first, and since we couldn’t both have Han as favorite, I chose Luke to be my next favorite. (It made sense at the time!)
4 Comments » | Tags: Crafts, Interviews
Collecting | Permalink
Jenny and Tony Bot transform polymer clay, glass beads and wire to make crafty tributes to cinematic icons including Star Wars characters Princess Leia and Jabba the Hutt.
In our final semester in college, Jennifer and I had the opportunity to create an entire class around our robots. The class known as “A Robot’s Life for Me”, was part of our Cinema Studies minor and cumulated in a book that portrayed some of cinemas finest moments in a more metallic form. Needless to say, the class was a blast and allowed us to explore our robots in a way that we never thought possible. Overall, it was hard work resulting in 60 plus robots, lots of mini props, many many photographs, and lots of patience.
We knew that it would have been ludicrous for us to bypass recreating a Star Wars film for a book based on American cinema. And while we didn’t initially know what scene we wanted to replicate what we did know is we wanted it to be as big of a challenge and as absurd as possible. Therefore, what better scene to tackle then the one you see above. In the end, we were very pleased by the results and it still makes us laugh every time we look at the photo. I mean it isn’t everyday that you get to make a robot into a virtual massive blob and then create a bot that is undeniably one of the nerdiest sex symbols known to man.
Check out all the photos here:
Robots
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Inspired by the pretty in Pink Princess Vader costume, this fan took it a step further to create a purple Darth Vader costume for her youngling!
With last year’s fairy costume in hand I set out to make her dreams come true. We had an old Darth Vader mask that I primed and spray painted lavender. Princess Fierce brought me a broken toy crown that I took apart, painted green, added purple glitter sparkles and mounted to the mask.
I redesigned the straps to the mask to be purple and green ribbon from the sides and one piece with loops across the top. Allowing me to tie a bow through the loop and basically make a net that sat on her head. She was ecstatic. The mask wasn’t too tight but yet did not slip. She wore it comfortably for most of 8 hours.
With mask done I moved on to what every good fairy needs…a wand. I found some adorable lavender flowers for half price at Hobby Lobby. Score! I spray painted a styrofoam ball, with thumb pressed dimple. I added on Death Star detail with a green sharpie then glued it into the flower’s center. Add some green and lavender ribbon to the flower stem and we have the Death Star Flower Wand.
The final touch was Vader’s control panel. Using a picture of Vader for a guide I cut out pieces of purple and green felt and glued them down to a purple panel. Stitched the panel on to the fairy costume and Darth Fairy was born.
Read more about this awesome here:
Making Darth Fairy
1 Comment » | Tags: Costumes, Crafts, DIY, Holidays
Creativity | Permalink
Want a stormtrooper helmet but can’t afford it? Drink some milk and make your own! Here’s a super-easy & fun craft for fans of all ages. I’m filing it under the “Wish I Had Thought Of That” craft.
Milk Jug Stormtrooper Helmet Craft
(via Filthwizardry.com)
3 Comments » | Tags: Costumes, Crafts, DIY, Halloween, Holidays
Creativity | Permalink
Yoda Oreos and Blue Milk! Princess Leia cupcakes! Han Solo in Carbonite Jell-O! Double-sided lightsaber hot dogs and bacon-wrapped pretzel lightsabers! This may be the coolest (and tastiest) kids’ Star Wars party we’ve seen yet!
StarWars.com chats with Jenn from JustJennRecipes.com about her awesome Star Wars party and how you can throw one of your own!
Why did you decide to throw such an awesome Star Wars party?
Right now is a funny point in my kids lives, they are really into The Clone Wars and just starting to put two and two together about who Anakin really is in the older movies — “Numbers 4, 5, and 6″ as my youngest son calls them. I’ve been a fan for a long time, so now I feel like we are all on the same page, liking the same things — it’s great!
What part of the party got the biggest reaction?
People loved the Princess Leia cupcakes. I blog different cupcake recipes every week on my recipe site JustJennRecipes.com so I’m always trying to think up something new.
What was your favorite part of the party?
My favorite part of the party was drawing up all the new recipes. I know the movies pretty well and it was hard to stop myself from going overboard (believe it or not). The Han Solo in Jell-O was the most fun to make, just because I thought it was going to be hilarious and it turned out even better than I had hoped.
Why do you think fans of all ages need to throw their own Star Wars parties?
The movies provide so many references, the theming is endless! I don’t think it matters how old you are, Star Wars is fun for everyone. While this was a kids party, it was the adults who got the biggest kick out of all the recipes I came up with.
4 Comments » | Tags: Crafts, DIY, Food
Creativity, Fans and Community | Permalink
This may be the coolest and creepiest fan-made costume of General Grievous yet. I’m not sure if it’s the impressive costume or the fact that it’s filmed in someone’s living room, but I can’t help but wonder how many people this would freak out if they crossed paths with him in a dark alley.
Eindrucksvoll, Rick!
WATCH VIDEO: Rick’s General Grievous… German…
WATCH VIDEO: Rick’s General Grievous Kostüm-Suit
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SOURCE: Great White Snark
5 Comments » | Tags: Costumes, Crafts
Around the Web | Permalink
Every year we do a Star Wars craft demo at Bay Area Maker Faire to show fans of all ages how to make something fun and show off their love for Star Wars at the same time.
In the past, we’ve shown kids how to make Yoda dolls, Star Wars marble magnets, Ewok sock puppets and Yoda stick puppets.
This year since puppets were such a hit, we showed fans how to make Star Wars bag puppets of Admiral Ackbar, Yoda, Princess Leia and an Ewok.
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Creativity, Events | Permalink
Photos by Heather Leah Kennedy
Bed by Kayla Kromer
When we first found out about the Force-tastic Millennium Falcon bed made by fan and artist Kayla Kromer, we had to know more.
We asked Kayla — who happens to be a 1st grade teacher hailing from Austin, Texas — why she made a bed fit for every Star Wars who has ever dreamt over co-piloting the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy.
Why did you decide to make that awesome Millennium Falcon bed?
I mostly like to have fun, and I like making things. The original idea was to make a Death Star bed, but my idea was too big to execute in my room. But the idea of doing something spacey stuck.
What materials did you use?
The bed is a ’70s round mattress. The sides, cockpit and triangular pieces are foam. The comforter is a down comforter my mom donated. The duvet and everything is covered in gray flannel. The sheets are just white sheets modded for a circular mattress. I used a variety of fabric paints for the detail work.
27 Comments » | Tags: Crafts, Interviews
Creativity, Fans and Community | Permalink
The parents and kids at Kid Test Labs shot this awesome video reviewing the new book Draw Star Wars: The Clone Wars (written by Bonnie Burton, illustrated by Grant Gould) published by Klutz Books.
The video shows various kids as they draw everything from General Grievous to battle droids using the tutorials and tracing pages from the book.
Bonus points to the young artist who took up the “double dog dare” challenge to draw a “a fairy princess General Grievous” complete with gnomes!
WATCH VIDEO: Get Klutz Wit It
2 Comments » | Tags: Art, Books, Crafts
Books and Comics, Creativity, The Clone Wars | Permalink
