Nerd Craftiness: R2D2 Fairy Wing Edition

As a side project/hobby, I've made fairy wings for several years now. They're normally pretty straight forward and just kinda fun and funky, but lately I've been wanting to converge my nerd interests with my craft interests. So I came up with the brilliant idea of nerdy fairy wings. I've got a few other ideas floating around, but the first thing to come to fruition was a set of R2D2 fairy wings.

Originally I had the idea of creating a half 3PO/half R2 set of wings, but that seemed a little too all over the place. Plus, I thought R2 wings could nicely round out a Princess Leia costume (senatorial, not slave). I had to change up my techniques since this is such a departure from my normal work, so things didn't go as smoothly as I had hoped. But the end result is still pretty cool, and I know my future nerd wings will be a great success.

And though I won't divulge all my wing-making secrets, I thought I'd walk y'all through the process just for funsies.

So obviously, first, I spend hours looking at pictures of R2 and then scribbling away, trying to figure out which parts I can accurately recreate.
Then there's supply gathering-wire, fabric, paints, glitter. And then later there's more supply gathering, cause I change my mind or run out of stuff.Then I build the frames. This is a touch and important step, cause if I don't get the frames quite right, everything else is doomed.
Then I cover the frames with fabric or other stuff (in this case, I used theatrical gels to make his 'eyes').
Next, I paint all the features. This is where the look really starts to come together.
Next, I use puff paint to go over all the edges and make the details pop. I also added his little copper 'wires' and used shrink plastic to make little lenses.
The last step before mounting the wings is to glitter everything. It's tedious, and my whole house tends to get covered in glitter.
Finally, I mount the wings on a piece of wood, tie on ribbons for straps, and cover everything with faux fur. Voila!So yeah. I'm looking to re-make these and also I've got plans for C3PO wings, as well as some other stuff. I might be exhibiting at NYCC, and if so, I'm hoping to sell these sorts of wings as well as my regular stuff. As I said, I'm not 100% pleased with how these came out, but if you're interested in them, drop me a line at lavinia.wings@gmail.com and we can talk about details. Also, be sure to check out my Etsy shop for less-intense fairy wings. Radical!