A🍸ny cosplayer (myself included) knows that when crunch time hits — us෴ually about two weeks before a convention — the adrenaline starts to kick in and we all start to question our skill to its fullest extent. Whether it's that final paint detail, the last few details that need to be hand-sewn, or the final touches on our wig styling, there's no denying it: Cosplay is uber stressful.

It doesn't need to be, though! Using cosplay hacks is a great semi-from-scratch way of creating an incredible cosplay without needing to drive oneself crazy in order to do it. Luckily for all of our cosplayers and fans out there, we've got 30 awesome tips and tricks to (hopefully) help the creative process come a bit smoother. Not everyone is good at sewing, painting, metal-working, crafting, etc., and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. The beautiful thing about cosplay is that any effort is valued and appreciated, even if a costume is bought or commissioned. It's the art and thought behind it that stands out and, in all honest🌠y, any cosplayer who puts on a costume before a convention is a hero in the nerd world.

So check out 30 way𝓰s to jaz🐈z up any cosplay and, just maybe, make life a bit easier next time inspiration hits.

30 Puff Paint Is Gre▨at For Adding Faux Embroidery

Embroidery is not an easy thing to do by any means and it requires skill and patience to get just right. while it might come easy to some people, this isn't always the case for everyone. A neat trick to make a costume appear as though there have been hours of embroidery work put into it is to use puff paint as a base. By outlining the detail in puff paint (fabric-safe, of course,) then sewing around the heightened layer of p𓂃aint, yoꦜu can easily create the illusion of authentic embroidery.

29 Mirror Vinyl: Little-Known Trick For Metalli🐬c💫 Props

Mirror vinyl might as well be a heaven-sent gift for cosplayers but there are many out there who don't know of its existence. The material has a decent amount of stretch to it and is thin enough to be wrapped over or around props. It's great for things 💝such as armor and weapons and will give the natural, metallic and reflective finish that metal is known for. It doesn't cost that much and can be cut into sections and glued quite easily.

28 Purchase A Second Wi⛦g To Give The First More Volume

Wig styling is, personally, the bane of my existe𝄹nce. It's something I've never been able to get quite right and part of the reasoning for that is because wigs don't ꦐfunction as normal hair would. Extra volume is usually needed to create a full and realistic-looking wig, and this can totally be achieved by purchasing a second wig, carefully removing hair from the wig cap, and gluing or stitching extra hair into the original wig. It takes some time and patience, but it's great for bangs, curl details, extra fullness underneath, etc.

27 Sock Glue Fixes J𓃲ust About Everything

For those with legs like mine, it's likely that you live by sock glue when it comes to any cosplays that require high socksꦺ. My particular favorite is Jobst, 'It Stays!' (and it does... for days if you don't wash it off and the stuff is a🦋 miracle glue.) It'll hold anything skin-related, including socks, stockings, shirt details, wigs, the list goes on and on. It's one of those things that every cosplayer should have in their cosplay first aid kit, just in case of slippage.

26 🐎 🧔 Liquid Lipstick Is The Perfect Way To Change Up Eyebrow Color

I do this on the regular because my hair is never a 'normal' color, but it's a fun and creative way for cosplayers to change up their look to be more realistic to a character they're recreating. Liquid lipstick is super cheap nowadays, and all it takes is a thin angled brush to sculpt eyebrows to perfection. A little goes 🐠quite a long way with this stuff, though, so start out with a minimal amount. Wet 'n Wild has a great selection of liquid lipstick colors, all for five bucks.

25 🍎 Don't Be Afraid To Go The Semi-Homemade Route

There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to making cosplays and though some people are against 'bought' costumes, there's absolutely nothing wrong with it. In fact, if there's a specific skill you don't have, buying certain aspects of a coꦐstume in combination with creating from scratch the things you are great at can really make it stand out. This fifty-fifty with store-bought details as well as hand-made details makes it authentic, cohesive, and, let's admi💫t it, so much easier.

24 Concealing Brows Can Be Tricky, But Here's A Foolp𝕴roof Method ෴

A glue stick might be something that gives us hardcore flashbacks of grade school but as an adult, they can do so much more... especially when applied to the eyebrows. Layering up some glue stick glue, smoothing it out, and letting it dry a bit gives a cosplayer the perfect base to draw on their own eyebrows. Throw some foundation and/or concealer over the top of a dry glue stick and you've got yourself some custom eyebro൲ws. Change the color, shape, volume, and you've got some makeup to match your awesome outfit.

23 🐼 Fabric Dye Helps To Dye Synthetic Wigs ꦑ

A common problem with wigs is that the color will always be just slightly off. This isn't always the case but if it is, some synthetic fabric dye can totally help the situation. This will obviously only work for synthetic wigs (which most cosplay wigs are) because the dye is formulated to penetrate the material. The one thing to be wary of is that the dye will stain, so it's always good to do a test run and have a backup w🍎ig, just ওin case.

22 Fabric Paint Is Great Forღ Intricate Details

Fabric paint is probably, by far, one of my favorite things as a cosplayer (besides sock glue.) It's incredibly versatile and allows a cosplayer to create details that wouldn't be otherwise achieved with fabric printing or an iron-on design. Fabric paint can also creat💫e depth and stand out far more with its vibrancy than an🅠y other medium for drawing on details. If you're handy with a paintbrush — or even with a stencil — this is a great option. Plus, it's usually washing machine-safe.

21 Rivets Are Really Just Painted Googly Eyes... 🌳Let Us Eꦆxplain

This is a pretty rad and purely brillia🔥nt way to add rivet details to any type of armor. Googly eyes have flat backs so that they can be easily glued down to paper when crafting, but there's no reason they can't be used for cosplay props. Some of them are even self-stic♓king, which makes the process ten times easier and faster. A little gray or black paint over the top of them (carefully) helps to conceal the 'eyes' and will give them a super realistic metal appearance.