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  • Crafty Corner: Instagram coasters and yarn coil jars

    By Ashlee Napier
    Who says you have to buy? DIY!
    Who says you have to buy? DIY!

    We all know the feeling of falling in love with a product in a store, but not falling head-over-heals for its price tag. This is where DIY comes to the rescue! You can create your own knock-offs without anyone noticing the difference. This week, you can DIY your own customized Instagram coasters and Anthropologie-inspired yarn coil jars and pots!

    If you are an Austin native, you have probably come across some really beautiful coasters that have famous local hotspots on them. You can create your own Austin coasters (or any design you want) with the help of your Instagram and these tools:

    - 4X4 Tiles (You can find these at a salvage store)
    -     Mod Podge
    - Sealer (You can use a multipurpose or water resistant/acrylic sealer)
    - Paintbrushes
    - Instagram photos (You can print out 4X6 pictures on photo paper at your local CVS or online shops like Shutterfly and Snapfish)

    Step 1: Cut your photos down to size to match the 4X4 tiles.
    Step 2: Flip over your tiles, and cover the back with a layer of Mod Podge.
    Step 3: Place your pictures on the tiles and allow it to dry for about an hour.
    Step 4: Paint a coat of Mod Podge on top of your image. (This will dry clear!)
    Step 5: Once all the tiles have dried finish them off with a few coats of sealer, and you’re done!

    Anthropologie on Lamar Street is also a local favorite. Their products make the hearts of even the manliest of men skip a beat, but the prices are not always so friendly. One product you can create is your very own yarn wrapped jar or pot for planting. All you need is:

    - Yarn: white and another color of your choice
    - Tin cans or pot
    - Hot glue gun
    - Cotton rope

    Step 1: Cut several pieces of yarn to the length on 14 inches each.
    Step 2: Wrap white yarn around rope and secure with hot glue.
    Step 3: Wrap colored yarn around rope and secure with hot glue.
    Step 4: Continue this process, alternating the colors, until the length of your rope is covered enough to coil around the entire can or pot.
    Step 5: Hot glue coil around your can or pot to secure it into place.

    Both of these DIY creations can be used in your home or will be great gifts for loved ones. The next time you find a name-brand product you cannot live without, try creating it yourself!

  • Can 'Grimm' please have a spinoff?

    By Chin Lin Pan

    Look out, world, more Grimms are coming and they’re going to kick some supernatural butt — or at least that is what I hope happens someday.

    Two supernatural spinoffs are set to premiere this fall: “Once Upon a Time in Wonderland,” from "Once Upon A Time," on ABC and “The Originals,” from "The Vampire Diaries," on the CW. If NBC can greenlight a spinoff of “Grimm,” that would be nice, too.

    NBC’s fantasy/horror drama “Grimm” has qualities that give it potential to move the fans to a new, but yet familiar, territory with many possible storylines to explore in a spinoff series.

    The show centers on the rich and abundant existence of wesen, a generic term used to describe the race of supernatural creatures, which allows for the writers to explore backstories with the protagonist Nick Burkhardt’s ancestors (the Brothers Grimm included). His ancestors documented every type of wesen they came across around the world in many books and stored away special weapons they used against wesen over time. Nick’s late Aunt Marie kept all of this in her trailer which Nick visits every time he comes across a wesen during his job as a cop.

    Depending on how the writers want to develop storylines, the spinoff could focus on a single member or multiple members of the Grimm ancestors.  The time periods could possible differ, transitioning over generations of Grimms. The possibilities for storylines are endless.

    Additionally, the current “Grimm” crew would not have to spend too much money to create masks and accessories and CGI works because these wesen, for the most part, have been revealed on the show. The crew currently uses a combination of masks and makeup and CGI technology to portray when their wesen characters transform into their wesen faces. But the writers could choose to create new wesen to be explored and to keep fans interested, which would entail a bigger budget.

    While I understand that most spinoffs tend to stay in the present focusing on one character and his/her journeys or they move forward into the future with new characters, I think the concept with going back in time to reveal more about Nick’s ancestors is just as promising. “Grimm” takes place in other times, such as the Medieval Ages or the Victorian Era.

    Fantasy dramas are the shows that can have good, potential spinoffs since writers have to get creative to give the show a foundational structure and a “Bible” of rules, so to speak, that the characters follow. In the past, several of these shows and their spinoffs have been successful.

    Joss Whedon’s fantasy action drama “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” which aired from 1997 to 2003, had its spinoff “Angel” air from 1999 to 2004, according to IMDB.com. The shows received many nominations and awards for both cast and crew. The shows were a hit and “Angel” helped cushion the series finale of “Buffy” since it ended the year after “Buffy” ended.

    Additionally, ABC’s fantasy/adventure drama “Once Upon A Time” centers on the existence of a variety of fairytale characters, ranging from Cinderella to Rumpelstiltskin. The spinoff, as the title implies, takes place in Wonderland and sets around the adventures of Alice, back in time before our current “Once” adventures occur.

    The CW’s fantasy/horror drama “The Vampire Diaries” includes vampires, werewolves, witches and hybrids (half vampire, half werewolves). Its spinoff “The Originals” centers on our favorite hybrid and Original vampire Klaus and his brother Elijah who moves back to New Orleans to take back his modernized town and kingdom.

    Both shows have been well received by critics and fans are looking forward to their respective spinoffs.

    There is without a doubt that “Grimm” should get its own spinoff show. Creativity on the writers’ part could expand the Grimm universe. Grimmsters would love it and new viewers can get hooked on the suspense and witty humor.

  • When your heroes are creators of heroes

    By Andrew Huygen
    Artist Gary Frank puts the finishing touches on his sketch of Superman at the DC Comics booth at San Diego Comic-Con. Frank was just one of hundreds of artists at the convention that took place at the San Diego Convention Center this past weekend.
    Artist Gary Frank puts the finishing touches on his sketch of Superman at the DC Comics booth at San Diego Comic-Con. Frank was just one of hundreds of artists at the convention that took place at the San Diego Convention Center this past weekend.

    Most people dream of someday meeting their childhood idols, getting the chance to breathe the same air and shower praises on the people they looked up to since they were children. For many, this materializes in a musical artist, talented actor or sports icon.

    This isn’t the case for me.

    Growing up, I read my collection of “The Amazing Spider-Man” from cover to cover countless times, marveling at the precise strokes of the pencil that formed into the webbing ejecting from Spider-Man’s web shooters. I would stare in awe at the way artists would portray Superman’s red, majestic cape on the pages of “Superman.”

    I had the opportunity to meet many of my idols at San Diego Comic-Con. This may seem like a pretty simple task, right? Just wait in line for a few minutes and hand over your copy of “Spawn” #1, and Todd McFarlane would sprawl his signature on the cover that he drew nearly 20 years prior. This is not the case at Comic-Con. My journey to acquire their scribbled names on a piece of paper included waiting in line for nearly two hours to board a pirate ship docked at the marina and running across the exhibition floor within the five minutes before I was kicked out at closing time.

    Was it worth it? I can say, without a doubt, hell yes. I have never been as happy in my life as when Todd McFarlane signed my near-mint copies of “Spawn” #1 and “Spider-Man” #1. While I was probably just another wide-eyed fan to him, he was one of my biggest idols growing up.

    Unfortunately, I come bearing bad tidings. Not all of these idols of mine lived up to expectations. Upon hearing Geoff Johns, current creative director at DC Comics, speak at a panel about “Trinity War,” a story arc currently unfolding across three of DC’s flagship titles, I couldn’t help but think that he sounded like a disgusted rock star. It was almost like he didn’t want to be there, among his adoring fans who spent an hour in line to gain access to the panel. As soon as the panel ended, I ran up to the front to get the convention exclusive print of “Justice League” #22 signed by him, upon which he illegibly scribbled his name.

    Listen, I know you’re busy Geoff. But we are your fans. Your true believers. The ones that go to our local comic shop every Wednesday to pick up the newest issue of the multiple titles that you lend your talent to. Show a little appreciation for us.

    Outside of Mr. Johns, the rest of the creative talent that I was able to meet and greet was very humble and grateful of our love for their work. I was able to watch another idol of mine, Gary Frank, sketch his rendition of Superman at the DC Comics booth. It was amazing to see the techniques that he employs to bring static images to life on the page.

    Probably the most humble of them all was Scott Snyder, the current scribe of “Batman” and “Superman Unchained.” At a panel for the upcoming issues of “Batman,” Snyder expressed his gratitude for his fans, referring to us all as one “family.” From his description of the upcoming story, you can easily tell that he has been a fan of comics since he was a child. You can tell that he has had these ideas in his head for decades, and he couldn’t wait to get the chance to tell them to the world.

    And maybe that’s why his fans love him so much – he’s just another dorky nerd like the rest of us.

     

  • “The Americans” ends its first season with equal parts whimper and bang

    By Alex Williams

    The seasonal structure of the cable drama dictates that the finale close the season out with a definitive bang, be it a question mark or an exclamation point. “The Americans” opted to end its debut season on an ellipsis, leaving several balls in the air and plenty of loose ends to be tugged at next year.

    While the season finale tied off several of the season’s storylines, particularly the bug in Weinberger’s office leading to the near-capture of our Soviet heroes and Russian mole Nina declaring her allegiance to her motherland by betraying FBI agent Stan, it didn’t feel like a culmination of everything that had come before. Nonetheless, it was another strong episode in a spectacular debut season, aptly demonstrating the show’s penchant for building tension.

    Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys have been giving subtle, multi-faceted performances as KGB spies Elizabeth and Phillip Jennings, especially in their debates about which one of them would stay with their kids in the event of their mission going horribly wrong. Elizabeth’s tortured expression as Phillip tearfully proclaims that Paige and Henry should stay with their mother was perfectly deployed, and made the moment where she asks him in Russian to come home an emotionally satisfying payoff to an occasionally frustrating plotline.

    “The Americans” may not have wrapped things up with a cliffhanger, but the show’s pervasive sense of dread is better-suited by ending on Paige’s budding suspicions of her parents. FX shows tend to follow up a solid first season with a fantastic sophomore effort, and if “The Americans” keeps operating at the same level of intensity and quality it maintained this year, next season should be excellent.

  • Twitter Taco Suggestions for your Taco Tuesday!

    By Kelsey McKinney

    In honor of our Taco Tuesday package, we have put together a Storify feed full of tweeted suggestions from our followers! To have your favorite taco added to our list, tweet us at @dtlifeandarts or @thedailytexan.

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