DIY: Super Mario Princesses (Tennis Edition)

Shadowklepto
Nov 19, 2019
5 min read

So this is one of the Cosplays that we got store bought as it was a last minute decision. We bought the Dresses, Shirt and Shorts from Miccostumes. Incidentally their sizing runs a little small. I'm usually a Large but after looking at their sizing guide went with the XL as it was the largest size they did. if it was too big I could alter it down but as it turns out she was a touch snug but the material was stretchy so was workable. Lynda (Rosalina) also got the XL and the skirt was a touch on the small side hence the need for leggings. My Sister (Peach) got the L and despite being a touch small was manageable.

So the Costumes we bought came with their respective Dresses, or in the case of Daisy Shorts and Shirt. Earrings, Wristbands and Crowns. if you order these costumes I highly recommend reinforcing the glue on the hair clips that are attached to the crowns as it's hot glue and came loose quiet easily. Alternatively find someone who can 3d print you one.

Having a Majority of the Costumes sorted we still had to work on the remaining pieces. The Wigs. Mostly bought from E-bay and one of the stalls at the Sydney Markets. The Peach wig came in two pieces. a bob style wig and a clip in pony tail. it took extra bobby pins to offset the weight from the ponytail. It also required a little styling for the fringe part but a hefty dose of the Got2b Glued hair spray had that sorted. The Daisy wig I ordered from E-bay was decent but the slight curve at the bottom did flatten out a little so extra styling was required but it was minimal. The white wig for Rosalina was a stand in as we were unable to find the right shade of pale blonde but frankly the white looks pretty good.

Now onto the tricky bits...

The shoes. We looked around for a while to try and find some suitable shoes that would work. Tried sports stores, Shoe stores, Target, Big W but it was in K-mart we found these little beauties for just $8 each. The plain white canvas shoes made for a great starting point.

Step 1:

Remove the laces, flip the tongue to the outside of the shoe. Mix fabric paint medium with any acrylic paint. In the case of my Daisy shoes it was Hot Orange. a Model Colour paint. from my collection of paints for doing miniatures. Now these tubes of paint are small as they're not intended for huge areas. I ended up doing two coats and using up the whole little bottle. I've since learnt to buy the bigger tubes of paint. Mostly the Sonja's colours acrylic paints as they're of a consistency I like to work with.

Step 2: Masking tape I worked out how far down the shoe I wanted the orange to go then tapped across the toe. Then covered the rubber soles before applying the fabric paint. I let it dry for around 4 hours between coats then gave it a quick blast with a hair dryer to set the colour in. (The directions on the bottle of fabric mixing medium said it needed to by ironed but it's hard to iron shoes).

Step 3: Once the fabric painted area is totally dry I taped over the orange section and got applied spray paint to the rubber soles.

This was my first mistake!

I did not prep the surface before hand, nor did I apply a primer.

The end result was that the shoes still weren't dry two whole days later. So I took to the internet and discovered that I should have done the prep work. But I was in this far now and so I sought out ways to fix the still tacky feeling shoes. I tried a hair dryer. I tried letting it sit longer. but it didn't really do anything. Then I discovered the Corn flour method. Now this was a last resort before I went out and got new shoes.

You get a paintbrush and you get some cornflour and you lightly dust the cornflour on if the surface is a little tacky but not outright sticky. You have to be gentle. and gradually the shoes get less tacky and become smooth. I was concerned that it would still rub off or would be a temporary fix, But I'm 6 months along and we're still good.

Step 4: If you can find laces in the colour you need great! if not then the fabric paint medium come into play again. because the laces that came with these shoes are nylon or polyester or something cheap they didn't take to being dyed. So I used the fabric paint medium and some yellow acrylic paint and painted the laces. While they came out ok the end result was some pretty stiff laces. At one point I pulled on one to tighten it and the eyelet on the top of the shoe popped out. So if you can find laces int eh colour you need then I'd definitely go that route. Or even swap laces for ribbon instead.

The Tennis Rackets

So lastly we needed our props. I had a good look online and it was quickly apparent that these weren't easily available. So I'd have to tackle another DIY project. I'm actually really happy with how these turned out.

Step 1: Buy $8 tennis rackets from K-mart. (I love k-mart). Totally forget to sand them down before applying a coat of white primer spray paint to basically the whole racket. Remember to cover the handle part with some masking tape. Spray the whole racket including the strings. (I guess you could restring the racket but that'd be tricky.

Step 2: Once the whole racket is coated with white spray paint (think it was around 4 coats because I forgo to sand off the glossy layer that was already on there). Remove the masking tape while the paint is still wet and you won't get bad lines. Then get some acrylic paints and paint the frame in the colours you need.

Step 3: Print out the symbol you need for the strings of the racket in the size you'll need. then tape to one side of the racket. this is to be used as a guide so you know what strings ot paint what colour. Once dry. turn racket over and do other side.

Step 4: Print out symbols for the grip and butt off the racket. (about 1 inch circle for butt and 2x 1.5cm for grip) if you doubt your freehand skill then use a hole punch to cut out the paper. Glue onto racket with regular PVA glue. Then give a light coat over the top image to seal it in place. Apply a couple layers of clear glossy spray paint to the painted portion fo racket. (basically everything but the handle)

Step 5: From the chemist or medial isle of the sports store get some Physio tape(rock tape or equivalent). You're going to peel off the foam layer that the racket has for a handle. making sure to get the staple out as well if there is one. Then apply the physio tape the handle wrapping first from the butt of the handle to the top of the grip then back down again. Once you reach the bottom then cut the tape at an angle. Then with the PVA glue go along the edge of the end of the tape. and if needed the visible edges of the tape. You don't need alot it's just to keep the tape from fraying and coming off.