Make These Warrior Belle Leather Bracers... From Fun Foam!

Everyone knows how great foam armor can look, but most of us find EVA foam a bit intimidating. It's kinda pricey, extremely labor-intensive, and all around a big commitment for someone just looking to dabble in foam for cosplay.

Ahhh, but what if I told you you can make these carved leather arm bracers:

From a single 12X18 sheet of kids' Fun Foam from the craft store? And that the only special tools you need are a craft blade and a clothing iron? MUCH less intimidating, amirite?

I made this rose design with a Warrior Belle in mind, but it would also look amazing for Poison Ivy (just add more green) or an original steampunk cosplay. Not to mention you can carve *anything* in this stuff, so sky's the limit!

And check out how realistic this "leather" is:

I'mma teach you how to do that now. 

In fact, I'mma give you templates so you can make a pair just like this.

Ready?

First, some basics:

The first thing you need to know is that Fun Foam comes in 1mm (the most common), 3mm, and even 6mm sheets at the craft store - and the 3mm thickness is perfect for arm bracers.

The second thing you need to know is that Fun Foam - as well as EVA foam - does something quite magical when you carve and heat it. Here's my test with a scrap of thick 6mm white foam:

I sketched the rose out with a pencil, then used a craft blade to cut into the foam slightly.

Now watch what happens when I hit that with a heat gun for 30 seconds:

MAGIC.

The cuts all open up and raise slightly, making the foam look almost exactly like carved leather:

There's still one more trick to making your foam look like leather, but before I get to that, let's make some bracers.

1) Print out this template, then cut and trace two bracers from your 3mm foam sheet:

Now print the rose, if you plan to use it:

2) To transfer the rose pattern to the foam, first trace over the rose lines - twice - with a pencil. Put the pencil-side down on the foam:

 

...and trace the lines again from the back, pressing down to transfer the marks. The foam is like a sponge, so this works pretty well:

3) Use a craft blade to lightly carve the pattern lines into the foam. Don't go all the way through, of course; try to just break the "skin" of the foam:

Carve any extra details you like now, too. I added a border around the edge:

4) Now comes that final trick for getting a leather-like texture:

TIN FOIL.

Yep, crumple a sheet of tin foil, and briefly iron it onto your foam. Repeat 'til you have as many crinkles as you like.

During this ironing your carved pattern will start to open up, but if it's not enough, hit it with a hair dryer for an extra moment or two. While the foam is still warm, you can also bend it to get a nice curve:

Ironing the foam also heat seals it - see the shine? - which means your paint won't soak in as much. VERY HANDY.

(Remember how I said these would look great on a Poison Ivy? You could almost leave this green and just paint the rose and border, since it already looks like leather!)

5) Speaking of paint, let's paint:

First a base coat of cheap acrylic craft paints in brown, red, and green.

Followed by a wash of thin black acrylic to age the brown leather areas.

Note that the black paint may grab & try to pull off your base coat when you wipe it off - which happened to me. (Blurg.) To fix this, I sprayed on a quick clear coat to seal in the base coat, then followed again with the thin black paint. 

6) [Optional] Clear coat the whole thing when you're done, to give your bracers a pretty sheen. You can use a spray lacquer or brush-on Modpodge for this.

My last touch was a gold border of Rub N' Buff, applied with a very stiff paint brush. 

6) To finish your bracers you'll need some lacing or straps. The easiest option is to punch 3 holes up each side and use a bit of ribbon or shoelace to tie them. If you want something a little fancier, though...

Cut out 12 foam tabs approximately 1.5 X .5 inches from the thinner 1mm Fun Foam. Paint them brown, age them to match, and use gold rivets to attach them down the sides of your bracers.

This method is a little more durable, easier to cinch, and looks cool, natch.

If you wear your bracers a little loose you can probably knot the lacing permanently, and slip them on over your hands. Otherwise, just try to tie a better bow than I did. (Srsly, that is TERRIBLE. Ha!)

Daytime Action Shoooot:

Can't you just see flaming arrows ricocheting off my arms? And hear dramatic music? Or is that just me?

One last look:

(I think I may add a second layer of gold, for more shine.)

This whole project only took me half a day - and that includes sketching out the rose and figuring out the template from scratch, so yours should go much faster. So hey, what are you waiting for? Go make stuff!! And then send me pics pleeeaaase.

I do hope this inspires some of you to play more with Fun Foam! Happy crafting!

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Want more? Then check out my Craft Page for ALL of my tutorials and projects in one place!